I am worried sick

pampam

At the end of December my partner was knocked down by a hit and run driver on a Pelican crossing.This happened around 4pm when he was on his way home from the shops.

The police attended the scene and there were witnesses. The licence plate number was given to the police and my partner was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

he sustained injuries consisting of a dislocated shoulder, broken ribs, a cut to this head and a lot of bruising. He was very lucky to survive. He was thrown over the bonnet of the car and left for dead in the middle of the road.

The police contacted us later that evening to say that the car involved was a hire car (Thrifty) and that they had the drivers details but they had not managed to speak to him.

Over the next 3 weeks we kept phoning the police to ask if they had any news but they said that they hadn't managed to speak to the driver.

On January 9th the police told us that the hire car had not been returned to the hire company on the due date and the driver had just informed them that it had been stolen!!

Later that day the police phoned again to tell us that they had found the car abandoned and that the case had been passed over to CID who would contact us in due course! Apparently the driver is well known to the police.

We have just recieved a letter from CID informing us that they cannot take any action against the driver as they cannot prove he was driving the car at the time of the accident!!!!

Apparently he has told the police that he went to stay with his daughter from 24th December until 4th January and had left the hire car at home??? He said he didn't know it had been stolen until he returned home.

We are so worried. My partner is self employed and he has been unable to return to his trade as he is still unable to lift his right arm due to his shoulder injury. He is under going intense physio but it is not doing much good. He cannot drive. We have enough savings to pay one more months mortgage and bills then thats it. We could possibly lose our house over this.

Our solicitor is unable to give us any reassurance regarding any compensation as she is still awaiting a reply from Thriftys insurance company. Apparently there is a chance that we won't have a claim as the insurance may invalid due to the unusual circumstances.

Sorry if I have gone on a bit but I needed to share this and hope that someone will be able to give us some support.
Thanks
Pam

dacouch

You can claim via the MIB http://www.mib.org.uk/Customer+Services/en/Accidents+in+the+UK/Untraced+Drivers+Agreement/Untraced+Driver+FAQs.htm

pampam

Oh thank you. I have read the link and it does look promising doesn't it.
The main problem is the length of time these claims take to pay out. We will probably have gone bankrupt by then!!

BertTheRaccoon

As said above the claim simply gets pursued against the MIB under the Untraced Driver Agreement.

These are not massively appealing to a solicitor on a no win no fee agreement as the standard costs paid are £500 regardless of how much work is done.

With your partner's claim there will be a fair bit of work to be done. So odds are the solicitor will want your partner to sign a Contingency Fee Agreement where they take a share of the winnings. This should not be more than 25% of the damages though.

I would also be speaking to the benefits office to see what you can claim for when the money runs out.

Speak with creditors to explain your situation rather than just defaulting and allowing threatening letters to pile up as that just causes more stress.

Remember to keep ALL receipts for any losses and expenses you incur as a consequence of the accident.

For your partner's loss of earnings claim, you'll need to dig out the tax returns for the last couple of years to prove what actual income is being declared to HMRC, profit & loss accounts are not enough.

pampam

BertTheRaccoon wrote: »

As said above the claim simply gets pursued against the MIB under the Untraced Driver Agreement.

These are not massively appealing to a solicitor on a no win no fee agreement as the standard costs paid are £500 regardless of how much work is done.

With your partner's claim there will be a fair bit of work to be done. So odds are the solicitor will want your partner to sign a Contingency Fee Agreement where they take a share of the winnings. This should not be more than 25% of the damages though.

I would also be speaking to the benefits office to see what you can claim for when the money runs out.

Speak with creditors to explain your situation rather than just defaulting and allowing threatening letters to pile up as that just causes more stress.

Remember to keep ALL receipts for any losses and expenses you incur as a consequence of the accident.

For your partner's loss of earnings claim, you'll need to dig out the tax returns for the last couple of years to prove what actual income is being declared to HMRC, profit & loss accounts are not enough.

Thank you so much
I knew I would get some support from this forum.
With regards to benefits I don't think we will get anything as he is self employed and also gets a monthly pension of £300 from a previous employer. I will look into it tomorrow though.

We can have a 6 month payment holiday on our mortgage but they say this will cost us dearly at the end of the mortgage period. I will look further into this.
Would our accountant have the HMRC details you mention?

I really appreciate the advice
Thanks
pam x

BertTheRaccoon

If he uses an accountant to file his tax returns, that will be the best place to ask first.

The claim will take a fair while to settle fully as it will be some time until a final prognosis can be given on the injury side of things.

Make sure the solicitor is on the ball and ask them what can be done (once the MIB claim is submitted) to request an interim payment from them to help with any hardship. You are looking at months though before even an interim will possibly arise, so plan for the worst case scenario and the claim taking over a year to resolve.

geri1965_2

Wouldn't Thrifty's insurers have to deal with it anyway as "insurer concerned"? It's been a while since I dealt with motor claims so I don't know if things have changed.

BertTheRaccoon

A couple of other things...

1- You don't have to use a lawyer, you can submit the claim form yourselves, but I would wager a better settlement will come out in the end with the use of a lawyer, whether this pays for the upto 25% share of the winnings the lawyer would take is not easy to calculate.

2- The story the person hiring the car gave to the police sounds like a load of smelly brown stuff. Why would anyone hire a car to park on their driveway? - Thing is, unless the driver identity can be proven it will always end up being a MIB untraced claim, so probably best not to dwell on that one.

pampam

BertTheRaccoon wrote: »

If he uses an accountant to file his tax returns, that will be the best place to ask first.

The claim will take a fair while to settle fully as it will be some time until a final prognosis can be given on the injury side of things.

Make sure the solicitor is on the ball and ask them what can be done (once the MIB claim is submitted) to request an interim payment from them to help with any hardship. You are looking at months though before even an interim will possibly arise, so plan for the worst case scenario and the claim taking over a year to resolve.

thank you again!
I will be our solicitors worst nightmare!! lol
pam

BertTheRaccoon

geri1965 wrote: »

Wouldn't Thrifty's insurers have to deal with it anyway as "insurer concerned"? It's been a while since I dealt with motor claims so I don't know if things have changed.

Sadly not, the identity of the driver (or even a passenger in the scenario of a stolen car) has to be established for the covering insurer to have to deal as RTA insurer.

pampam

BertTheRaccoon wrote: »

If he uses an accountant to file his tax returns, that will be the best place to ask first.

The claim will take a fair while to settle fully as it will be some time until a final prognosis can be given on the injury side of things.

Make sure the solicitor is on the ball and ask them what can be done (once the MIB claim is submitted) to request an interim payment from them to help with any hardship. You are looking at months though before even an interim will possibly arise, so plan for the worst case scenario and the claim taking over a year to resolve.

Yes It is a load of BULL ****
The police know that and we know that but these criminals seem know the law better than most. We know his name and have googled him. He sounds like a real nasty peice of work, also a known drug dealer.