Help! Received County Court Claim for a Car Accident

Hermione_Granger

Notmyrealname wrote: »

It will be now. He may end up getting his current insurance cancelled

What current insurance would that be then?

Notmyrealname wrote: »

as I bet he never put down the accident when applying for cover

Which cover would that be that they applied for then?


I do wish people would actually read what people have written instead of jusmping in feet first just to scaremonger or make themselves appear knowledgable.

fatbelly

Notmyrealname wrote: »

A third party has up to 7 years to make a claim.

Six years .

lauravw

DaveF327 wrote: »

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.

Thanks Dave, just to clarify, there hasn't been a CCJ entered yet, we just received the claim letter from the court today.

One hypothetical question: Can the insurance decline to help because he didn't contact the insurance to inform about the accident? He was relying on the woman to make the claim from his insurance and since nothing happened between then and now, he just assumed that the claim has been settled. Would be grateful for guidance. Many thanks.

lauravw

AlexisV wrote: »

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?

Yes Alexis it's just a claim, not a CCJ. Particulars of the claim are just that he was negligent and then he wanted to recover the car hire cost. You were totally right, he can't expect a refund for something extravagant. There is no letter or communication from the claimant whatsoever since the accident took place until we received the claim today.

sarahg1969

lauravw wrote: »

Yes Alexis it's just a claim, not a CCJ. Particulars of the claim are just that he was negligent and then he wanted to recover the car hire cost. You were totally right, he can't expect a refund for something extravagant. There is no letter or communication from the claimant whatsoever since the accident took place until we received the claim today.

If it's just a claim for hire, the woman might not even know about it. It's more likely that the solicitors are actually acting on the instruction of the hire company, if it was credit hire.

And they may well have been corresponding with his insurers. If they've not nominated solicitors to accept service of proceedings on your husband's behalf, then they have to be served on him.

Notmyrealname

Hermione_Granger wrote: »

I do wish people would actually read what people have written instead of jusmping in feet first just to scaremonger or make themselves appear knowledgable.

Pot, kettle, black looking at your posting history.

slyracoon

lauravw wrote: »

One hypothetical question: Can the insurance decline to help because he didn't contact the insurance to inform about the accident? He was relying on the woman to make the claim from his insurance and since nothing happened between then and now, he just assumed that the claim has been settled. Would be grateful for guidance. Many thanks.

Hypothetically, yes they could refuse., you'll just need to pass the documents to them and contact them to explain the situation.

Disclosure of an accident is a term of most policies whether you/a third party plan to claim or not, as others have mentioned third parties have a number of years to make their claim so its important to inform the insurer at the time of the accident. Non-disclosure of the accident is grounds for the insurer to void the policy.

Quentin

lauravw wrote: »

Yes Alexis it's just a claim, not a CCJ. Particulars of the claim are just that he was negligent and then he wanted to recover the car hire cost. You were totally right, he can't expect a refund for something extravagant. There is no letter or communication from the claimant whatsoever since the accident took place until we received the claim today.

The insurer will deal with this.

He shouldn't respond at all to the claim, but send it unanswered on to the insurer to deal with.

rtho782

The insurer may say he has breached their terms and conditions and try to recover money from him, but they have to pay out in the first instance as they will be a Road Traffic Act insurer.

£2,400 for a hire car for a week is a blatantly inflated claim anyway, especially replacing a mazda with a merc.

EdGasket

Quentin wrote: »

The insurer will deal with this.

He shouldn't respond at all to the claim, but send it unanswered on to the insurer to deal with.

Maybe in an ideal world but if it's anything like my insurance experience, the ccj will be awarded against you before the insurance company pull their finger out and get around to looking at your post !
Personally I would respond as required to the County Court to thoroughly dispute the case, especially as you are not 100% sure the insurer will help. I think you only get 10 days or so to respond so you can't hang around. Also try the insurance route and see if you can get them to accept responsibility on your behalf.