Car reversed into my bicycle and driver wants me to pay for scratches to window and rear bumper

iainscomputer

Hi, if he was reversing it was his fault, I had a similar accident years ago, I was reversing, it was my fault due to this fact according to my insurance company.

Ergates

ArneL wrote: »

but am now worried that he may have been filming me while I was potentially saying something that could lend credence to his version of the story.

I would have thought that a fairly effective counter to anything you may have said on film would be: "I'd just been hit by a car, I was in shock"

ArneL

facade wrote: »

Make sure that you get any paperwork from Court if this happens, open it immediately, and post on here or elsewhere for advise.



You will have 14 days to reply to any claim he registers, if you don't, the Court will likely award it to him, as you did not object.

This has gotten me very worried - I sent him my work address for any court correspondence and then immediately proceeded to block him. Two worries here:

1) the message may not have been received because I blocked him before he could read it - does anyone know whether this is true on WhatsApp? It does have two blue tick marks against it so he should have read it

2) what if he deliberately sends the claim to my old address (the one from my licence which he took a picture of)? He's probably aware that he will win by default if I don't respond within 14 days so he may try this, claiming he wasn't aware it wasn't my current address? I've been told that it would cost £250 to ask the judge to retract an order to pay because the claim was sent to a wrong address.

I'm probably overreacting (I've been incredible anxious about this) but any word of advice on this would be much appreciated!

On another note, I do find it very odd that anyone can just claim that someone owes them money, sent a letter to their address and put them in a position where they need to respond within 14 days. What if the letters gets lost in the mail or the person is on holiday? This seems highly unfair to me.

Car_54

ArneL wrote: »

This has gotten me very worried - I sent him my work address for any court correspondence and then immediately proceeded to block him. Two worries here:

1) the message may not have been received because I blocked him before he could read it - does anyone know whether this is true on WhatsApp? It does have two blue tick marks against it so he should have read it

2) what if he deliberately sends the claim to my old address (the one from my licence which he took a picture of)? He's probably aware that he will win by default if I don't respond within 14 days so he may try this, claiming he wasn't aware it wasn't my current address? I've been told that it would cost £250 to ask the judge to retract an order to pay because the claim was sent to a wrong address.

I'm probably overreacting (I've been incredible anxious about this) but any word of advice on this would be much appreciated!

On another note, I do find it very odd that anyone can just claim that someone owes them money, sent a letter to their address and put them in a position where they need to respond within 14 days. What if the letters gets lost in the mail or the person is on holiday? This seems highly unfair to me.

It would be unfair, if true. However, the courts expect him to send a "letter before action", and allow time for you to respond before starting court action. It would be very unlikely for both that letter and the court claim to go astray.



Advise him again of the correct address, ideally by letter. Keep copies. Are you sure it's wise to use your work address? Do you want your colleagues to see court documents arriving?

ArneL

My colleagues are aware of the situation and our CEO suggested I use the work address. Given that he lives on my road and has been fairly aggressive throughout this all, I do not want him to know my personal address.

I don't think that's unreasonable?

Car_54

ArneL wrote: »

My colleagues are aware of the situation and our CEO suggested I use the work address. Given that he lives on my road and has been fairly aggressive throughout this all, I do not want him to know my personal address.

I don't think that's unreasonable?

I suspect the court won’t agree. And if you were to lose, your boss might not be happy when the bailiffs turn up.

facade

ArneL wrote: »

My colleagues are aware of the situation and our CEO suggested I use the work address. Given that he lives on my road and has been fairly aggressive throughout this all, I do not want him to know my personal address.

I don't think that's unreasonable?

Provided that you can be contacted at the work address, I don't see a problem.



As Car 54 posted, he will have to send you a "letter before action" in which he sets out how much he thinks you owe him and why. You then have a reasonable time to reply, in writing, stating why you believe that you don't owe anything.



These letters will form part of his submission to small claims court.




My point was that if you have given him an address that makes it difficult to contact you, you may be disadvantaged. If the post at work comes straight to you, there won't be a problem, even if he does go the court route.



My other point was that even though he was reversing and the fault usually lies with the person going backwards, he may genuinely believe that it is your fault, which is why he is pursuing it.

boliston

[quote=[Deleted User];76562029]I suspect the court won’t agree. And if you were to lose, your boss might not be happy when the bailiffs turn up.[/QUOTE]


They can't simply send bailiffs! If the case was awarded against the OP (highly unlikely) the OP would need to be given a chance to pay first.

ArneL

facade wrote: »

My other point was that even though he was reversing and the fault usually lies with the person going backwards, he may genuinely believe that it is your fault, which is why he is pursuing it.

I think you're right and he does genuinely believe it is my fault. This is why I would be very surprised if I don't receive a letter from him. I'll keep posting updates.

reeac

ArneL wrote: »

I think you're right and he does genuinely believe it is my fault. This is why I would be very surprised if I don't receive a letter from him. I'll keep posting updates.

There are people around who are never wrong and never in the wrong.....at least that's what they think. Judging by the facts presented here I don't think he has any chance of winning this one.