Do I need to be worried ???

Somerset

I had a car accident 06/03. My car insurance company talked to the other guy's insurer. My company found equal fault and paid for my repairs. I thought that was the end of it.
Today I've received a claim form in the Liverpool County Court issued by solicitors. It seems to be an unspecified amount for medical/whiplash etc.
I don't think I've even got the old insurance details ???? It was three insurers back !!! I think I had legal expenses cover but it was so long ago, I assume I have to send this on to the old insurers but what if I've thrown the stuff out and can't find them again ? Also I'm going on holiday tomorrow for 2 weeks, can I leave this till I get back ?
This has really p****d me off - it was 2 years ago !!!! and apart from the first 3 months after the accident when things were being sorted out .......... nothing till now.

maclean2

Hi - I would try and find the details of your old insurance company if you can before you go on holiday.This is because the time limit for your insurance company to deal with the legal proceedings is only two weeks.If they don't get the documents quickly you could end up with a CCJ against you because the solicitors are entitled to enter judgment against you if they have no response within two weeks.This would make it awkward for you to get credit HP mortgages or loans.

telly-addict

Agree that you need to do something before you go on holiday. Just leaving things will result in judgement in default, which could lead to the problems outlined by mclean2.

If you can't find out your old insurance details, try contacting the claimants' solicitors. They will no doubt have a record of previous dealings with your insurers - I wouldn't be at all surprised if they have been dealing with your insurers prior to the commencement of proceedings. It's unusual for a claimant solicitors imply to issue proceedings without warning - they are in fact under a duty (under the Road Traffic Act) to give you notice prior to commencement of proceedings.

It is in the claimant's interests to pursue the claim against your insurers - they will be able to satisfy any judgement, you might not!!

If you can't get in touch with the claimant solicitors, you're probably best off contacting the Citizens Advice Bureau for assistance. They may be able to assist in arranging a holding defence while you are away on holiday.
You won't need legal expenses cover - this will be covered under your standard third party motor cover.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on.

Somerset

Have managed to trace the relevant payment/broker via credit card statement but can't speak to them till Monday. Hopefully can get ins details off them and talk to ins co,
Just a thought - Accident was 06/03. There's a medical report dated 10/03 and 12/03, Then another medical report dated 11/04 in the 'particulars of claim'. Is it possible they've been pursuing this with the insurance company all along, been rejected, and are now coming after me ? Should my insurance company have kept me appraised of this - on the basis that what has happened, might happen ? And I kind of don't understand why they're coming after me, when they know I'm insured and possibly my ins co has already rejected it. And PLEASE someone tell me ( just to reassure me ) that as I had fully comp ins at the time & the accident etc was fully reported to the police and ins co, and the ins co supposedly dealt with it - that I can just pass all this stuff to the ins co ( when I find them ) and let them deal with it ?
One cancelled holiday !!!

maclean2

Hi - glad you've found details of the insurance broker and your policy.The reason the Claim Form has been sent to you and not the insurance company is because the rules of the court are that it must be served on you personally.As you have reported the accident your insurance will pay for the other guys claim and his legal costs and you won't have to pay anything towards it.Just send it to the insurance company on Monday preferably by recorded delivery.

Then just go off and enjoy your holiday and put the whole thing out of your mind.

telly-addict

maclean2 wrote:

The reason the Claim Form has been sent to you and not the insurance company is because the rules of the court are that it must be served on you personally.As you have reported the accident your insurance will pay for the other guys claim and his legal costs and you won't have to pay anything towards it.Just send it to the insurance company on Monday preferably by recorded delivery.

Not strictly true that the Claim Form has to be served on you personally. If your insurers have been dealing, they could (and perhaps should!) have nominated solicitors to accept proceedings on your behalf.

In any event, agree that as you seem to have complied with all the policy conditions your insurers will indemnify you against any third party costs (both damages and legal costs).

Somerset

Will update you on Monday. After the euphoria of finding the premium on the credit card, I'm still worried. Something ain't right here.

Bossyboots

Somerset wrote:

Will update you on Monday. After the euphoria of finding the premium on the credit card, I'm still worried. Something ain't right here.

As the driver of the other car, it is you that needs to be named on the claim. However your insurers should have nominated solicitors as has been mentioned and those solicitors would then have written to inform you what was going on. Send the paperwork to the insurance company and notify the solicitors acting for the Claimant that you have done so and that they should now only contact them.

That should then be the end of it for you. The insurers will appoint their own solicitors to deal with it.

The thing I find a bit confusing is that you have been told it was a 50/50 fault accident so there should be no claim. I think this is a try-on that has already been rejected by your insurers.

Don't stress over the paperwork though. It is the responsibility of the insurance company. Get it to them as quickly as possible.

telly-addict

Bossyboots wrote:

The thing I find a bit confusing is that you have been told it was a 50/50 fault accident so there should be no claim. I think this is a try-on that has already been rejected by your insurers.

Afraid that it's not quite as simple as that!

If the claim has been agreed 50/50, the third party insurers are liable for 50% of your losses and similarly your insurers are liable for 50% of the claimant's losses. The insurers may well have sorted out their respective outlay, but this claim probably relates to uninsured losses - policy excess, loss of use, inconvenience, personal injury, etc.

If the amount of this uninsured loss claim is in dispute, then the claimant may well have commenced proceedings to pursue this loss. Assuming the 50/50 liability split, your insurers will have to pick up the tab for 50% of these losses (once they have been agreed either by negotiation or by the Court).

50/50 is not the same as the now defunct knock-for-knock agreement, where each insurer agreed to bear the cost of their own outlay.

However, I do agree that once you have turned this matter over to your insurers, you should have nothing further to worry about. If liability has been agreed, you wouldn't even need to attend court if the matter should proceed that far (which is unlikely!).

Somerset

Thanks for all the input. Logic tells me I should pass this on and the ins co will sort it out. It's just I've had no communication about the accident during the two years less 3 month sort out period. Since it's a personal injury claim ( whiplash ) wouldn't the other party have been dealing with my insurer during that period ? I've had no communication from anyone about this ( including my insurer ). It just arrived as a bolt out of the blue.

Bossyboots

Thanks for explaining that telly-addict. It makes sense now.

I think you are quite right when you say this is uninsured losses being pursued. I still believe that they have been rejected, at least in part, by the insurance company as the limitation period still has a year to run and there would be no reason at this stage to issue proceedings simply to hold their position.

Still, it is for the insurers to deal with and as you say with liability already decided it should simply be a financial battle between the insurers and the claimant.