Help - being asked to pay for a car accident 3+ years ago.

PetyaDT

Hello
My partner received a letter from a solicitor's firm that he needs to pay over £2000 for an accident that happened on 17th February 2016. He run at the back of DHL truck. The driver said that there is not any damage and that there wasn't any point of taking my partner insurance details. Because of that my partner fixed his van himself as wasn't such a big damage.
Now 3+ years he receives a letter from solicitors asking to pay?
Is this right? And what can he do? They can even prove that it's been him! And the report they sent for assessing the vehicle is from 23/08/2019.!!!
Thank you in advance for your help.

MovingForwards

They have 6 years from the date of the accident to claim.

Did he report it to his insurance company?

Rainbowgirl84

PetyaDT wrote: »

Hello
My partner received a letter from a solicitor's firm that he needs to pay over £2000 for an accident that happened on 17th February 2016. He run at the back of DHL truck. The driver said that there is not any damage and that there wasn't any point of taking my partner insurance details. Because of that my partner fixed his van himself as wasn't such a big damage.
Now 3+ years he receives a letter from solicitors asking to pay?
Is this right? And what can he do? They can even prove that it's been him! And the report they sent for assessing the vehicle is from 23/08/2019.!!!
Thank you in advance for your help.

Did your partner inform his insurance company in Feb 2016 that he had been involved in accident as he would be required to do so?

PetyaDT

No, he did not as the other driver said that it is OK.

PetyaDT

I am sorry there is a typo. They cannot prove it's him.

Carrot007

PetyaDT wrote: »

No, he did not as the other driver said that it is OK.

Still required to tell the insurance he had been in an incident.


If he had he could have made a claim on it.


Now he might end up paying more in insurance a year than the small £2000 request.

DanParks87

PetyaDT wrote: »

I am sorry there is a typo. They cannot prove it's him.

But you already admitted it's him, he ran into the back of the other person's vehicle.

Unfortunately there's no point in trying to dispute this. They have up to 6 years to file a claim (as another user said) so your best bet is to forward any correspondence to your insurance company and hope they don't refuse the claim due to late notification.

I appreciate the other driver said at the time that there was no damage, but with the greatest respect he is probably not a qualified motor engineer and probably didn't realise there was some underlying damage. This isn't enough for you to dispute the claim, and £2,000 really isn't much for a motor accident.

MEM62

PetyaDT wrote: »

No, he did not as the other driver said that it is OK.

Your partners insurance policy would have a clause on it requiring him to report any/all accidents that he is involved in. Regardless of fault or whether any damage appears to have been sustained by any of the vehicles. As he did not meet his obligation in that respect he is going to be hit in the pocket.

PetyaDT wrote: »

They cannot prove it's him.

Don't be so sure of that. You do not know what evidence they have but you do know that it is at least enough to be able to trace him. (I suspect a rear facing camera on the UPS truck)

Caz3121

has he declared the accident in renewals / new insurance?
generally it asks whether involved in an accident in last x years (which he has even though there was no insurance claim)

lisyloo

I would ask for the evidence they have that it was his car involved.
Also evidence that the damage from the 2019 report was done in 2016.
Before deciding what to do next.

I buy standalone motor legal insurance these days (and standalone for household).
This would enable you to get legal advice independent of your motor insurance.