Need help re PI claim against me already paid cash

debtdebt

The third party has up to 3 years from the date of the accident to bring a claim for personal injury so it's not surprising he's bringing it now. He may have initiated the claim earlier but it could have taken this long to filter through to the MIB and for them to contact you. The fact that the MIB are involved means that you definitely were not insured. The first thing the MIB do is search for any other insurer that could deal with the claim as they are the body of last resort and will only deal when there are no other insurers on record for you.

The PI claim may not even be quantified yet. There will be a medical report to support the claim. The third party may be waiting for updated medical evidence as he is still suffering from symptoms. The payment you made for half of the damage to his motorbike will not have any effect whatsoever on his personal injury claim as this is a totally separate head of damages.

The fact that you claim to have paid for half of the damage to the bike is your word against his. You need to make this clear to his solicitors and the MIB so that he does not make a double recovery in that respect. Hopefully he will confirm this and they will net this off what is being claimed for vehicle damage. It's no use claiming fraud against him it won't affect your civil liabilities. It will be no use claiming fraud against his solicitors either as they will be merely following his instructions and if he has signed a schedule of loss stating that he has incurred that loss, they haven't committed any fraud.

The fact that his tax had expired also won't have a bearing either.

My advice would be to let the MIB handle the claim. They should send out a Form of Consent and Indemnity to you. It will allow them to deal with the claim on your behalf but it also means you agree to repay them their outlay. Dependant on how co-operative you are, they should let you pay in instalments.

Enough17

Thank you debt debt, that is exactly what I've decided to.

debtdebt

Try not to worry too much. Let the MIB deal. They will still fight the monetary aspect of the claim even though liability has been conceded. They will not simply pay out, they will still dispute what is being claimed. They will for all intents and purposes act as your "insurer". They won't really ask much of you apart from the issues you raise regarding the payment for half of the repair costs of the third party vehicle.

When it comes to repayment of their outlay, they will send out a form seeking your financial position and will take this into account when considering repayment plan.

Back in another life I used to work for a Defendant firm of solicitors who acted on behalf of the MIB so even though I'm a faceless poster on the internet, my advice should hopefully be considered as sound!

brianposter

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

A £5k repair bill is entirely possible.

There has to be a strong suspicion that the "nice man" is a chancer who thinks that insurance claims are free money.

It seems to me that the OP needs to rule out this possibility, and that the safest course is to find a (good) lawyer who will craft replies to both the MIB and the solicitors.
However the first thing I would look at are the solicitors. Are they a claims-chasing firm ?

debtdebt

brianposter wrote: »

There has to be a strong suspicion that the "nice man" is a chancer who thinks that insurance claims are free money.

It seems to me that the OP needs to rule out this possibility, and that the safest course is to find a (good) lawyer who will craft replies to both the MIB and the solicitors.
However the first thing I would look at are the solicitors. Are they a claims-chasing firm ?

I'm not sure how the type of solicitors firm can have any bearing on whether the third party is "a chancer" or not. It can be a magic circle city law firm, a local family law firm or a specialist personal injury law firm - a claim is still a claim. The OP has stated that he is at fault for the accident so the claim is a valid one.

Does the OP really want to be spending even more money hiring his own solicitors? He'll be looking at over £100 an hour hiring someone to do a job that the MIB will already be doing on his behalf. As liability is not in dispute and he is in fault, the OP can agree to let the MIB deal with the claim on his behalf bu signing a special form allowing them to do so. He will also have to agree to repay their outlay too. He has admitted he was uninsured so there is no way of getting out of that aspect either. What is a solicitor going to do that can change that?

If you're not quite au fait with motor insurance law, don't bother responding.

brianposter

debtdebt wrote: »

It can be a magic circle city law firm, a local family law firm or a specialist personal injury law firm

I repeat my advice to the OP. What sort of firm are the solicitors that have written to you ?
A quick internet search should be enough to find that information.

Enough17

They are a specialist personal injury solicitor

brianposter

Enough17 wrote: »

They are a specialist personal injury solicitor

Which would suggest that the guy may well be a chancer who has not realised that the OP would be involved in his claim. He may also not have realised that claiming insurance at the same time as being paid directly could turn out to be not very clever.

The simplest next stage seems to be to ring the guy and point out that if there have to be any more replies to solicitors or MIBI, it looks likely to appear that he has made a fraudulent insurance claim.
Make sure the discussion stays entirely civilised and remember that there may be an entirely innocent explanation for what has happend.

Enough17

Thanks Brianposter. Advice from elsewhere confirms what you have said and that i should report him to his insurers and also the solicitors for dealing with it. But as one poster said above what if the cash he got from me was to cover his policy increase? Although I'm sure I've read that his ncb won't be affected or policy price. Because I was uninsured.

I have decided to go with what debtdebt has suggested and deal with MIBI. The other advice given advised against contacting him
direct.

missile

Enough17 wrote: »

... Although I'm sure I've read that his ncb won't be affected or policy price. Because I was uninsured. ...

That is incorrect.