Car accident claim

roddydogs

10yr old car, £1000? Write off surely.

utab007

Hello

I signed a CFA which I believe is on a no win no fee basis. The solicitor acting on my behalf has already made a claim to the OPs insurance and are awaiting a response. The OP is a taxi driver, after initial conversation he stopped answering my calls and gave me a false reg number. He also lied about the taxi firm he was working for. I manage to track down details and complained to his current taxi firm about him. And guess what, the OP has contacted me and admitted liability to me on the phone. He has taken a photo of the damage of my car on his phone and is claiming the estimate he got is for £250. The is much lower than the estimate I received from a professional body shop for £1000.I don't think £250 is a fair offer for the damage, so I don't want to accept. But the problem is I don't think he will admit liability to his insurance. I have a feeling he will make up some bullsh*t story to try getting off. So I'm worried I may not end up getting anything if I continue my claim through his insurance using my solicitor.

What should I do? Plz help!! I may be able to get a better cash offer out of him, but if I do - where does it leave me with my solictor and the CFA I signed?

Thanks

Quentin

Leave this to your solicitor to deal with.

They are dealing with the third party insurer not the third party ( who you say has already lied to you)


(Your agreement with the solicitor probably precludes you doing your own deal anyway)

utab007

Quentin wrote: »

Leave this to your solicitor to deal with.

They are dealing with the third party insurer not the third party ( who you say has already lied to you)


(Your agreement with the solicitor probably precludes you doing your own deal anyway)

Okay, thanks. I used the voice recorder app on android to record our phone call. And in this conversation I asked him if he accepts it's his fault and he replied 'yes, of course I know it's my fault'. :j

Is this evidence good enough for my solicitor to claim from his insurance?

Quentin

You don't need "forensic" evidence. In #23 you say your no win no fee solicitor has already put in a claim to the insurer, so be patient.

You can let your solicitor know of this recording,though the fact they are taking your case on is a good indication you won't be losing!

Nasqueron

It's a dubious legal point to record someone without their knowledge and then release it to a third party without the consent of the person recorded, I wouldn't put too much weight on it being valid in your case.

While this is a civil, not criminal, issue, attempting to use it may still come back to bite you - can you prove it was a full, complete and unedited conversation, could it be considered entrapment or deceit to get them to admit to something when they didn't know it would be recorded? There is also the issue of the RIP act 2000 which covers intercepting communications through public/private telecom system and it is an offence to do so without the consent of both parties (or a warrant).

I'm not a lawyer and I would bow to someone more qualified in this matter but I'd suggest you don't go pinning your hopes on a silver bullet of a conversation recorded without the knowledge and consent of the other party

nobbysn*ts

Civil cases tend to avoid the (text removed by MSE Forum Team) though. If it was used in court, there's a fairly good chance the judge will simply ask the taxi driver if he said it. He won't usually accept any waffle, just a yes or a no. And they're usually smart enough to know if it's a truthful answer But as you say, he may just say it can't be played. But as the hearing is to rule based on balance of probabilities, not absolute certainty, a lot of things do get by that wouldn't in a criminal court.

utab007

Quentin wrote: »

You don't need "forensic" evidence. In #23 you say your no win no fee solicitor has already put in a claim to the insurer, so be patient.

You can let your solicitor know of this recording,though the fact they are taking your case on is a good indication you won't be losing!

Well, i think I've been patient. The accident happened on 30/06 and today is 13/07. Problem is my wife is without a car as the body shop told her it's not safe to drive as he hit the wheel. And as we got no courtsey car it's causing inconvenience.

Quentin

speak to your solicitor about hiring a car and passing the cost on to the third party.

utab007

It's interesting coz i think the solicitor tried phoning OP at fault but he never answered. I would have thought they also record calls and would put this forward to insurer as evidence if he had answered and accepted liability. Perhaps i misunderstood...