Can they take our house

sharpe106

When you say the house is half yours, when you had the mortgage was your name on it? i.e. can you prove it is half yours rather then you just saying that so they can’t claim against it. But take proper legal advice, reply to the insurance company that you are waiting to take legal advice, not much else you can do at the moment.

Levikelly

Yes my name is on the house  deeds and all legal paperwork we've now managed to speak with a solicitor and won't be signing anything as he didn't knowingly or intentionally breach his insurance

Manxman_in_exile

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?

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?

But the insurer cannot elect not to pay out if a claim is passed to them, can they?  They're legally obliged to pay out if there's a policy on the vehicle (irrespective of whether the insurer claims it's invalid because of an unsafe load).

I suppose what I'm getting at is that I don't see any advantage to the policy holder in complying with the insurer's request to sign an indemnity in these circumstances.  I certainly wouldn't want to sign any sort of indemnity at this stage.  Yes - after the insurer has paid out they may be able to recover that from me, but I'd cross that bridge when I reached it.  And I don't see that the insurer would necessarily incur any legal costs - they can write to me saying "Under the terms of your policy you owe us £xxxxxxxx and if you don't pay we'll sue you".  Then I can decide whethe to pay up or be sued and incur uneccessary expense.  I just wouldn't want to sign a blank cheque saying "I indemnify my insurer against any and all costs they incur in settling this case".

OP - my views above are in no way intended to be legal advice!

Manxman_in_exile

Levikelly said:

Yes my name is on the house  deeds and all legal paperwork we've now managed to speak with a solicitor and won't be signing anything as he didn't knowingly or intentionally breach his insurance

I'd let the solicitor deal with it now, but I'd also want to be checking what the policy actually says about "unsafe loads" etc.  I would have thought that if he hadn't intentionally left the load unsafe, then the policy would remain valid (it would be pointless if it didn't).

Out of curiosity, how has the insurance company arrived at the conclusion that the load was "unsafe", and that therefore the policy is invalid?  Has he been charged/prosecuted/convicted?

I would suggest this thread might be better transferred to the Insurance board rather than stay here on Consumer Rights

unholyangel

davidmcn said:

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.

I agree, but always pays to check. 

unholyangel

Manxman_in_exile said:

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?

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?

But the insurer cannot elect not to pay out if a claim is passed to them, can they?  They're legally obliged to pay out if there's a policy on the vehicle (irrespective of whether the insurer claims it's invalid because of an unsafe load).

I suppose what I'm getting at is that I don't see any advantage to the policy holder in complying with the insurer's request to sign an indemnity in these circumstances.  I certainly wouldn't want to sign any sort of indemnity at this stage.  Yes - after the insurer has paid out they may be able to recover that from me, but I'd cross that bridge when I reached it.  And I don't see that the insurer would necessarily incur any legal costs - they can write to me saying "Under the terms of your policy you owe us £xxxxxxxx and if you don't pay we'll sue you".  Then I can decide whethe to pay up or be sued and incur uneccessary expense.  I just wouldn't want to sign a blank cheque saying "I indemnify my insurer against any and all costs they incur in settling this case".

OP - my views above are in no way intended to be legal advice!

Not for the third party, but for their policy holder they can. Although I suppose there's probably minimal damage to the partners vehicle if any, given the circumstances. 

It's never wise to sign an indemnity. May as well sign a blank cheque.

Jumblebumble

I would certainly want to make a formal complaint and then see what the ombudsman would have to say about the repudiation of liability rather than letting someone who may not be looking after my interests inform me I owe them 50K

sharpe106

Jumblebumble said:

I would certainly want to make a formal complaint and then see what the ombudsman would have to say about the repudiation of liability rather than letting someone who may not be looking after my interests inform me I owe them 50K

 We do not know why the load was unsafe or what the actual policy says. Why is why the OP first port of call should be professional advice. 

Jumblebumble

sharpe106 said:

Jumblebumble said:

I would certainly want to make a formal complaint and then see what the ombudsman would have to say about the repudiation of liability rather than letting someone who may not be looking after my interests inform me I owe them 50K

 We do not know why the load was unsafe or what the actual policy says. Why is why the OP first port of call should be professional advice. 

The OP can make their choice
Professional advice does not guarantee anything costing money and being an opinion albeit hopefully a very well informed opinion
The ombudsman's decision is law
I am not a lawyer and have no idea what happens to court cases if a complainant is waiting for the ombudsman to rule.

Manxman_in_exile

Is the ombudsman's decision "law"?  I thought the customer still had recourse to the courts if they were unhappy with the ombudsman's decision?  (Not sure whether the insurer is bound or not by the decision, but if they thought the ombudsman was wrong in law, are they bound?)