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Help! Received County Court Claim for a Car Accident
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Hi everyone, a newbie here!
My partner has been involved in car accident in June 2010. He drove a very old car and bumped into a Mazda drove by a woman. His car had to be written off but the Mazda that was bumped into only suffered from dent and scratches, and could still be used to drive. He gave his insurance details to the woman who drove another car. Since then, this woman had never made any insurance claim whatsoever.
His car had been written off in December 2010 just before Christmas and since then he terminated his insurance. My partner didn't need the car anyway since his office is just two minutes walk from our apartment.
All of sudden he received a county court claim today from a solicitor (no win no fee solicitor) acting on behalf of the Mazda woman. The woman is now claiming for the cost of car hire of a Mercedes (instead of a Mazda equivalent!) for a week, amounting to £2400 in total. No claim was made about the dent or scratches.
The county court claim did not attach any bill or other evidence, nor mentioned why didn't she claim from my partner's insurance or why it took her two years to file a claim. Plus the car hire was way over the top of what she should have hired, and her Mazda could still be used even after the accident. Even though the accident was his fault but he's not prepared to pay the claim at all since the woman should have contacted his insurance to settle the claim.
1) He never had any county court claim before, so what should he do next?
2) Does he need to pass the claim to his insurance (even though he's no longer with them now)?
3) Which one is better: enter the defence by himself or hire a no win no fee solicitor?
4) If he wants to defend himself and enters a defence, does he need to lay down all of his arguments as to why he shouldn't be paying the claim? He's afraid that if he does this, the claimant's solicitor might change tactics.
5) Is there a list of solicitors that my partner can contact about this?
Thank you kindly.
Laura
My partner has been involved in car accident in June 2010. He drove a very old car and bumped into a Mazda drove by a woman. His car had to be written off but the Mazda that was bumped into only suffered from dent and scratches, and could still be used to drive. He gave his insurance details to the woman who drove another car. Since then, this woman had never made any insurance claim whatsoever.
His car had been written off in December 2010 just before Christmas and since then he terminated his insurance. My partner didn't need the car anyway since his office is just two minutes walk from our apartment.
All of sudden he received a county court claim today from a solicitor (no win no fee solicitor) acting on behalf of the Mazda woman. The woman is now claiming for the cost of car hire of a Mercedes (instead of a Mazda equivalent!) for a week, amounting to £2400 in total. No claim was made about the dent or scratches.
The county court claim did not attach any bill or other evidence, nor mentioned why didn't she claim from my partner's insurance or why it took her two years to file a claim. Plus the car hire was way over the top of what she should have hired, and her Mazda could still be used even after the accident. Even though the accident was his fault but he's not prepared to pay the claim at all since the woman should have contacted his insurance to settle the claim.
1) He never had any county court claim before, so what should he do next?
2) Does he need to pass the claim to his insurance (even though he's no longer with them now)?
3) Which one is better: enter the defence by himself or hire a no win no fee solicitor?
4) If he wants to defend himself and enters a defence, does he need to lay down all of his arguments as to why he shouldn't be paying the claim? He's afraid that if he does this, the claimant's solicitor might change tactics.
5) Is there a list of solicitors that my partner can contact about this?
Thank you kindly.
Laura
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Comments
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Hi everyone, a newbie here!
My partner has been involved in car accident in June 2010. He drove a very old car and bumped into a Mazda drove by a woman. His car had to be written off but the Mazda that was bumped into only suffered from dent and scratches, and could still be used to drive. He gave his insurance details to the woman who drove another car. Since then, this woman had never made any insurance claim whatsoever.
His car had been written off in December 2010 just before Christmas and since then he terminated his insurance. My partner didn't need the car anyway since his office is just two minutes walk from our apartment.
All of sudden he received a county court claim today from a solicitor (no win no fee solicitor) acting on behalf of the Mazda woman. The woman is now claiming for the cost of car hire of a Mercedes (instead of a Mazda equivalent!) for a week, amounting to £2400 in total. No claim was made about the dent or scratches.
The county court claim did not attach any bill or other evidence, nor mentioned why didn't she claim from my partner's insurance or why it took her two years to file a claim. Plus the car hire was way over the top of what she should have hired, and her Mazda could still be used even after the accident. Even though the accident was his fault but he's not prepared to pay the claim at all since the woman should have contacted his insurance to settle the claim.
1) He never had any county court claim before, so what should he do next?
2) Does he need to pass the claim to his insurance (even though he's no longer with them now)?
3) Which one is better: enter the defence by himself or hire a no win no fee solicitor?
4) If he wants to defend himself and enters a defence, does he need to lay down all of his arguments as to why he shouldn't be paying the claim? He's afraid that if he does this, the claimant's solicitor might change tactics.
5) Is there a list of solicitors that my partner can contact about this?
Thank you kindly.
Laura
Did your partner (as he is required to do) inform his insurance company of the accident? If he has, just forward what he recieved to them with a covering letter for them to deal with it.0 -
Looksguywalker wrote: »Did your partner (as he is required to do) inform his insurance company of the accident? If he has, just forward what he recieved to them with a covering letter for them to deal with it.
Thanks, I don't think he did as he was relying on the woman to make the claim and she didn't do that for 2 years until today. Is this going to be a problem?0 -
It will be now. He may end up getting his current insurance cancelled as I bet he never put down the accident when applying for cover so basically committed insurance fraud by making a false statement. Accidents must be declared regardless of whether or not a claim was made.
A third party has up to 7 years to make a claim.0 -
£2400 for a 1 week hire of a Mercedes? That's over almost £350 a day!"You were only supposed to blow the bl**dy doors off!!"0
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That's quite an assumption, don't you think? Whilst there may be drivers out there who are guilty of this, but there is not even a hint in the first post that the OP has done so. You can't go around accusing people of fraud without any evidence.Notmyrealname wrote: »He may end up getting his current insurance cancelled as I bet he never put down the accident when applying for cover so basically committed insurance fraud by making a false statement.
@ OP: Option 2 is the best thing to do. Even if your policy has expired, it was still in force at the time of the collision, so your insurers are obliged to pay third party claims once a valid claim has been put to them. It sounds like they have already been involved in a court case for things to have gone as far as a CCJ. The court is obliged to send the judgement to the respondent, not the insurer. The respondent merely passes it on for payment.0 -
Notmyrealname wrote: »It will be now. He may end up getting his current insurance cancelled as I bet he never put down the accident when applying for cover so basically committed insurance fraud by making a false statement. Accidents must be declared regardless of whether or not a claim was made.
A third party has up to 7 years to make a claim.
He doesnt drive, and doesnt have a car, or insurance at all since the incident0 -
maninthestreet wrote: »£2400 for a 1 week hire of a Mercedes? That's over almost £350 a day!
Exactly!!! :eek:0 -
That's quite an assumption, don't you think? Whilst there may be drivers out there who are guilty of this, but there is not even a hint in the first post that the OP has done so. You can't go around accusing people of fraud without any evidence.
@ OP: Option 2 is the best thing to do. Even if your policy has expired, it was still in force at the time of the collision, so your insurers are obliged to pay third party claims once a valid claim has been put to them. It sounds like they have already been involved in a court case for things to have gone as far as a CCJ. The court is obliged to send the judgement to the respondent, not the insurer. The respondent merely passes it on for payment.
Thanks Dave, I've clarified the first point above. Re your suggestion, I will tell him to contact the insurance. The insurance didn't contact him since the accident at all, and the woman who made the claim didn't do so either. So this is completely out of the blue. I will tell him to send a registered letter to the insurance will all necessary details, do I need to ask them to acknowledge it? What does he need to do after that, respond to the court by stating that the matter will be dealt by the insurance company and that the claimant should correspond with the company rather than my partner? Thank you.0 -
If it makes you feel better, yes, although it shouldn't be necessary. It's been many years since I've had to deal with anything like this, but from memory, I just phoned my insurer to clarify the department I'd send the CCJ to, they told me and I sent it. Never heard a thing since.What does he need to do after that, respond to the court by stating that the matter will be dealt by the insurance company and that the claimant should correspond with the company rather than my partner?0 -
A CCJ? I thought this was just a claim form? What are the exact particulars of claim?
You are expected to minimise your losses - ironically the usual example of this is that you shouldn't hire a Rolls Royce and expect a full refund.
You can hire a supermini for a week for £190.
And where is the letter before action?0
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