40K + solisitors fees please help

scooby0502

i was involved in an accident 4 years ago when i was not insured because the car i was driving was not insured by any one else though i thought i was as i was fully comp any car on my other car so 3 years -2days the person i had an accedent with has put in a personal injurys claim witch as i was uninsured has gone to the motor insurance buro who are asking me if its ok to settle at 40k plus solisitors fees then there recovery department will be incotact with me for repayment it will take me and my partner the rest of our lives to pay off this amount of money can they sell our flat which has little or no equity in it and our car which is on finance we are so stress about this we just dont know if we are coming or going but can afford leagal advice and leagal aid say we earn to much for that any advice and im=nformation would be apreciated thx
Please note i was not intentionaly nor would i condone driving without insurance

Asiacat

If you were not insured then you will be liable to pay if the accident was your fault.

However you can inform the motor insurance bureau that you do not agree to the 40k settlement and ask that it be dealt with by the courts.

This is a risk though as you may get stung for an even higher figure.

Was the other driver severely injured or is it the standard whiplash claim?

withabix

But you were not insured.

Get a specialist Solicitor for a start.

Go to court, contest the personal injury claim and then go bankrupt when you lose?

Emigrate?

There isn't much else you can do other than agree to a payment plan.

chanz4

Did you ignore the MIB when they were writting or even visiting you? Thats the only way without going to court to contest, but this is a prime example of whipcash claims normaly its the insurance paying out. One issue you do have is you cant go bankrupt for pi.

scooby0502

his injusys were quite serious he broke a leg and collarbone but i was advised by mib's solisitors that if i tried to contest it as he was speeding at the time tho it was my fault it may reduce his claim but with all the solisitors fees and expert witnesses etc it would most likely end up costing me more in the long run but i dont contest that i will have to pay even if it only be £10 a month as me and my partner dont have much more than that left as it is but the thing we are most worried about is can thay take our house and car even tho there is very little if any equity in our property and our car is on HP and if we cant go bankrupt is there any way to reduce the total payment like an IVA or something like that so this isnt hanging over us for the rest of our lifes

scooby0502

i didnt ignore the letters but i never recived any paperwork about the claim until about 5 months after it was started and what i did get was just a letter saying they were taking me to court i only recived more details after phoneing round the courts and everywhere else trying to findout what was going on and spoke to mib's solisitors who then posted me out most of the details of the case that i should have recived months ago

bubblebath_2

Can you clarify something?

So you injured someone in a car collision and you thought you were insured but it turned out you weren't?

You got 1 letter 5 months later to say that they are taking you to court but the first time you've heard anything is now 3 years and 2 days later after the incident (there is a limit of 3 yrs after the injury for them to make a claim against you)

Who sent you a letter saying you owe over £40,000 in legal fees/court costs?

I guess the only thing you can do now is state to the judge your situation?

At the time of the incident what happened to you for not being insured?
Did you get banned?

TSx

bubblebath wrote: »

Can you clarify something?

So you injured someone in a car collision and you thought you were insured but it turned out you weren't?

You got 1 letter 5 months later to say that they are taking you to court but the first time you've heard anything is now 3 years and 2 days later after the incident (there is a limit of 3 yrs after the injury for them to make a claim against you)

Who sent you a letter saying you owe over £40,000 in legal fees/court costs?

I guess the only thing you can do now is state to the judge your situation?

At the time of the incident what happened to you for not being insured?
Did you get banned?

The Motor Insurers Bureau deal with any claims where the driver is uninsured (and for them to be involved, there must have been no insurance at all on the vehicle).

They are effectively saying they are prepared to settle the case at £40k plus solicitors fees - the alternative being to allow the case to proceed to court which could see the costs rise further.

As said, this is serious - and this debt will be with you until paid, as I do not believe there is any way to effectively discharge the liability (as said, bankruptcy will not discharge the debt, nor will an IVA to my knowledge). I do not know if they would be able to take your house but they may be able to place a charge on it?

I would strongly recommend speaking to CAB at a minimum, but you would be better seeking legal advice from a solicitor given the amounts that we are talking about.

bubblebath_2

TSx wrote: »

The Motor Insurers Bureau deal with any claims where the driver is uninsured (and for them to be involved, there must have been no insurance at all on the vehicle).

They are effectively saying they are prepared to settle the case at £40k plus solicitors fees - the alternative being to allow the case to proceed to court which could see the costs rise further.

As said, this is serious - and this debt will be with you until paid, as I do not believe there is any way to effectively discharge the liability (as said, bankruptcy will not discharge the debt, nor will an IVA to my knowledge). I do not know if they would be able to take your house but they may be able to place a charge on it?

I would strongly recommend speaking to CAB at a minimum, but you would be better seeking legal advice from a solicitor given the amounts that we are talking about.

Thanks for that.

It sounds serious..

What if the OP had no assets and no job, would they set the fee based on his income??

Would that 40k be based on looking at a portfolio of the driver and his earnings etc?

TSx

bubblebath wrote: »

Thanks for that.

It sounds serious..

What if the OP had no assets and no job, would they set the fee based on his income??

Would that 40k be based on looking at a portfolio of the driver and his earnings etc?

Most likely, I'm not sure how much paperwork the MIB would give out (they may cite DPA) but they would have been given a claim for loss of earnings, pain and suffering, alternative transport costs and so on. Given the extent of the injuries it's not unusual for these cases to drag on for several years whilst medical reports are being obtained and progress is monitored. Any loss of earnings (either for now, or future earnings) would have been based on the claimants job and salary level.

There's potentially some good advice here, although I would still strongly suggest seeking professional advice.

bubblebath_2

Wow that is a huge thread with a lot of sound advice on there for the OP.

There are sample letters on there too and a reply from the MIB

It's a shame we did not get to see the final result from that and as to whether or not he did pay back the 80k in the end or offered them £10 per month..