Can they take our house

Levikelly

I currently co own my house with my boyfriend its owner outright so no mortgage. he had an accident at work in October the ladder fell off the top of his work van after he secured it and hit an on coming lorry causing damage to the lorry and injuring the driver he notified his insurance company who have now written to him saying that because it was an unsafe load his insurance is invalid but under the rroad traffic act 1988 they have to pay the claim but they want him to sign the consent and indemnity form and agree that he then needs to reimburse the insurance company every penny which they've stated in the letter could be upwards of £50k he's a self employed window fitter with 3 young children one of which is only 2 weeks old we have no other income and he hasn't worked for 6 weeks now due to covid .the underwriters have said they will settle and then send him the bill and come up with a payment plan but I'm concerned that they could take our home? Were not married and the house is half mine I understand that he needs to be accountable for the accident but Its nothing to do with me where do I stand ? Its the last thing I need right now.with a new baby and being isolated from family and friends the thought of losing my house through no fault of mine  tlerrifies me  when we worked so hard to pay it off 

davidmcn

Hasn't he taken any legal advice?

Levikelly

He's been trying to get legal advice for 3 days he's getting passed from Piller to post most solicitors are working on ghost staff so we're waiting for call backs 

Aylesbury_Duck

You need that legal advice.  The opinions of (almost exclusively) non-legally trained strangers on the internet are not going to be helpful and could be dangerously misleading.  Make getting that legal advice a priority.

macman

What insurance? Do you mean his motor insurance, or his professional indemnity insurance? The latter may well include legal cover.
They can't just 'take your home', your mortgage provider has first claim on that anyway. As above, you need proper legal advice, which should be easily done by phone.
In the meantime, tell him not to sign anything, nor to admit liability!

Aylesbury_Duck

macman said:

What insurance? Do you mean his motor insurance, or his professional indemnity insurance? The latter may well include legal cover.
They can't just 'take your home', your mortgage provider has first claim on that anyway. As above, you need proper legal advice, which should be easily done by phone.

There is no mortgage provider.  OP is the outright owner.

Manxman_in_exile

Slightly off-topic perhaps, but to what is the OP referring here: "...but they want him to sign the consent and indemnity form and agree that he then needs to reimburse the insurance company every penny..."?  I've read of such "indemnities" on other threads where the insurer is threatening to recover payouts from the policy holder.  What is their purpose and what benefit - if any - does it give the policy holder?  If I were the policy holder, why would I sign such an indemnity?

Back on topic - as suggested OP, you and your partner really need legal advice in this situation.  Have you any other insurance that offers legal cover?

bris

If he is indeed liable then it's likely they will put a charge on his share of the house. They will never get a court order to repose due to you and the kids.

He needs legal advice, getting it just now is another matter but he can delay signing anything until he has spoken to a solicitor.

Torry_Quine

Check your house insurance, you may have legal cover with it.

unholyangel

Manxman_in_exile said:

Slightly off-topic perhaps, but to what is the OP referring here: "...but they want him to sign the consent and indemnity form and agree that he then needs to reimburse the insurance company every penny..."?  I've read of such "indemnities" on other threads where the insurer is threatening to recover payouts from the policy holder.  What is their purpose and what benefit - if any - does it give the policy holder?  If I were the policy holder, why would I sign such an indemnity?

Back on topic - as suggested OP, you and your partner really need legal advice in this situation.  Have you any other insurance that offers legal cover?

Well to look at what benefit they might get, you need to look at what potentially happens if they don't sign. 

If they don't sign, the insurance may elect not to pay out. Or they may pay out and then rely on a contractual clause to recover the monies. But in either event, you're looking at potential legal action (either from own insurer or the other party) and the costs/fees that accompany it. 

As for OP.....when you say accident at work....is he self employed or was he driving as an employee?

davidmcn

unholyangel said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

Slightly off-topic perhaps, but to what is the OP referring here: "...but they want him to sign the consent and indemnity form and agree that he then needs to reimburse the insurance company every penny..."?  I've read of such "indemnities" on other threads where the insurer is threatening to recover payouts from the policy holder.  What is their purpose and what benefit - if any - does it give the policy holder?  If I were the policy holder, why would I sign such an indemnity?

Back on topic - as suggested OP, you and your partner really need legal advice in this situation.  Have you any other insurance that offers legal cover?

As for OP.....when you say accident at work....is he self employed or was he driving as an employee?

I presume from the reference to "his" insurance that he's self-employed. They'd be going after the employer if he was an employee.