received solicitor letter for damages fall outside my house

steve-essex

Hi All
I hope someone can advise on a worrying letter i got today. It was from a personal injury solicitors and is on behalf of a claimant who i do not know and have never heard from before. Anyways the claim is for damages sustained when the client tripped and fell due to a sunken drain cover on 20th September this year.

Now around that time i did have some builders in, but i have no drain cover anywhere near my front door where im assuming the guy must have come? But im not sure what to do or how to respond as its the first i have heard of this so called injury, but the letter says i must respond within 21 days.

Any advice appreciated

forgotmyname

Do you have a sunken drain anywhere on your property? Not just by the front door.

If not reply back stating this. You believe there to be a mixup as you have none on your property.

If you have then pass it onto your insurance.

magpiecottage

Pass it direct to your insurers unanswered.

Tell them you do not know anything about it and, if true, that you have no sunken drain covers.

steve-essex

Thanks guys, i just have standard drains. At the time of the alleged fall i did have a builder here who was sorting out the drains by the side of the house but that is away from the front path and front door. The person is making a claim but never reported it at the time and im worried i will get extra charges added if i were to ignore it but im seriously non-plussed. Im assuming he was some kind of delivery driver or something, but i dont know why he is after me and if he can do this out of the blue?

Yorkie1

Anyone can write to anyone else out of the blue, without having raised the issue at the time.

As others have said, pass it on to your insurers. Tell them what you've posted on here. They will probe further about the details of what is being claimed, and come back to you if need be.

I can't see that you would get extra charges for not responding directly to them within the time limit they have chosen to give you.

Equaliser123

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I can't see that you would get extra charges for not responding directly to them within the time limit they have chosen to give you.

I expect the law firm is referring to the Pre-action Protocol for Personal Injury which sets out time requirements for responding and moving forward to Court. If they are not followed, then there could be costs implications.

Very unlikely however!

OP - suspect it is a try-on but as others have said notify your insurers.

sarahg1969

It's not one of the builders who's claiming, is it?

Poppy9

OP if you are worried about not responding in time then just send a short letter informing them you have passed the matter to your insurers.

It maybe helpful and speed up things if you send photographs of all outside drains on your land.

ValHaller

Poppy9 wrote: »

It maybe helpful and speed up things if you send photographs of all outside drains on your land.

No. Someone is making a claim. Let them be upfront with their evidence and provide a coherent basis for their claim without hte benefit of pictures of your drains.

Poppy9

ValHaller wrote: »

No. Someone is making a claim. Let them be upfront with their evidence and provide a coherent basis for their claim without hte benefit of pictures of your drains.

I meant to their own insurers who will probably ask them for them by return.

paddedjohn

If it does turn out that it's a genuine claim and not just someone trying it on then maybe it will be down to the builders insurance to sort out