County court claim for RTA??

Footy1978

Hi,

Just looking for some advice for a friend of mine who has today received a county court claim form looking for £1200 worth of costs for car hire from a car accident that happened over 18 months ago.

1. The letter had the surname spelt incorrect, the road name incorrect and the post code also wrong. I'm actually suprised it arrived and on that my advice would be to ignore it, any thoughts? It also has wrong details for the location of the accident.

2. At the time everything was dealt with by the insurers and as far as they knew all resolved. The need for a hire car is very much questionable, the accident was a reverse out of a drive and happened to hit a parked car behind leaving slight body work damage and a flat tyre which could have been easily swapped for the spare. The claim has a solicitor name on who is clearly one of these who calls around looking for accident "victims". . is the claim valid and why would the insurer not have dealt with this?

3. I've advised speaking to the old insurer (if she can remember the details!) And also current insurer to see if legal cover can help. Also suggested contacting the citizen's advice bureau. . any other suggestions?

This came as a real out of the blue shock and has obviously caused panic. Any experience of this or advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Marktheshark

how incorrect is the name

Footy1978

1 letter wrong. Street name is similar but totally different word and postcode is for another town!

Car_54

The insurers have dealt and are still dealing with the claim. Any correspondence etc. should be passed (unanswered) to them and they will do whatever is necessary. It's normally a policy condition that you must do so. Simples!

If your friend really can't remember who the insurance company was, then perhaps a call to her current insurers might get the answer.

Footy1978

Really as simple as that?? She's in a panic as £1200 is a lot of money!

Car_54

Footy1978 wrote: »

Really as simple as that?? She's in a panic as £1200 is a lot of money!

Yes, that's what she was paying the insurers for.

Footy1978

Is there not a risk the court will reach judgement if the insurers don't reply and find her liable in her absence as the claim is addressed to her (sort of)

George_Michael

Footy1978 wrote: »

the accident was a reverse out of a drive and happened to hit a parked car behind leaving slight body work damage and a flat tyre which could have been easily swapped for the spare.

Not that it impacts on the advice given so far about simply passing it on to the insurance company, but hitting another car and causing enough damage to a tyre to deflate it could well have resulted in far more damage than was visible causing the vehicle to be off the road for a fair bit of time for repairs.

EdGasket

Footy1978 wrote: »

Is there not a risk the court will reach judgement if the insurers don't reply and find her liable in her absence as the claim is addressed to her (sort of)

Yes that is a real risk which is why you need to contact your insurers at the time as soon as possible and take advice. Ask them to confirm in writing that they will handle it BEFORE the deadline otherwise it might sit in someone's intray for a month.

Footy1978

It was just the bumper bending into the tyre causing puncture. . but that aside I assumed insurance would cover all this. She's going to call them tomorrow

arcon5

Im afraid your advice is terrible and likely to create further and more severe problems! You don't ignore county court claims, even if one letter is wrong and the address questionnable. All that will happen is they'll spot the error at some point, recitfy it with the court, get default judgement then find your friends 'new'/'correct' address which is where they'll send the baliffs.