CCJ against me for an insurance claim

Herzlos

Manxman_in_exile said:

Maybe I'm missing something obvious(?)... but surely all the OP needs to do is to pass all this on to their insurer?

In theory, yes. However if they drop the ball and don't acknowledge it in time the OP will land with a CCJ which will screw his credit for years and is an uphill battle to resolve.  I think this is also going to be for a high enough amount that bailiffs could get involved pretty quickly.


I suspect it's like the parking scams where they are hoping someone will miss a step and then just pay up to get rid of it.

Teme9

Jenni_D said:

sourcrates said:

There should be a response pack, which includes the form N9A or N9C.

Also a defence pack, which includes form N9D.

You won`t get anything from the court, these forms can be down loaded from the web.

Calling the court would be my next move yes.

Are you sure? If someone had actually raised a claim against me then I would take anything they sent me as incidental information - the only thing that would matter would be receiving the actual claim form and instructions from the CCBC. (This would include the claim number and password for logging on to MCOL to acknowledge the claim).

Unless things are different for civil claims that are not on the small claims track? (The value of this claim suggests it would not fall within the small claims track. However is the track decided when the claim is filed, or after the defendant has acknowledged it then submitted a defence? I think it's the latter, which is why I posted the paragraph above).

Speaking to the court, it was a civil claim filed by the solicitor which has yet to be filed by the court hence why I have received no paperwork from the court. 

However they did advice that the safer bet is to reply within 14 days of receving the letter as the solicitor could then file for a CCJ if no response is received within the 14 days.

user1977

Teme9 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

Maybe I'm missing something obvious(?)... but surely all the OP needs to do is to pass all this on to their insurer?

Surely the OP's insurance policy (ie the one that was in force at the time of the incident) will instruct the OP that on receipt of any third party claims, they must immediately inform the insurer of the claim and pass all claim related documentation on to them, and let them handle everything from there.

If I were the OP I wouldn't be doing anything other than informing whoever was insuring me at the time of the accident about the claim, and asking for their instructions as to what - if anything - I should be doing.  I'd want to make sure I didn't do anything that might go against the T&Cs of my policy.  In particular, I'd contact them urgently by 'phone and ask if I even ought to be acknowledging the claim at this stage (the OP has given no dates) or whether I should leave it to them - my insurer - to deal with.

Whether or not the third party or their solicitor has already had a claim against the OP's insurance company rejected is irrelevant - the OP paid their premiums for the insurance company to deal with claims and that's who needs to handle this one.  If the OP contacted the relevant insurer on Thursday (am I understanding that correctly?) I don't know why they haven't given him clear instructions as to what (if anything) to do about this.  (I assume that if they had given clear instructions, the OP wouldn't be posting here over a weekend?).

[Edit:  Wouldn't the OP be best advised to get this thread moved to either the Insurance or the Motoring boards to get the most appropriate advice?  I'm not sure Credit File & Ratings (?) is the best place?  I only found it looking for something else]

I'm also seriously considering counter suing for false claim and undue stress but we'll see on that front. 
 

Don't be silly. Have you ever heard of anybody (successfully) claiming for "false claim" (whatever that is) and "undue stress"? The stress is any legal claim is inherent, not something additional you can sue for.

Jenni_D

Teme9 said:

Jenni_D said:

sourcrates said:

There should be a response pack, which includes the form N9A or N9C.

Also a defence pack, which includes form N9D.

You won`t get anything from the court, these forms can be down loaded from the web.

Calling the court would be my next move yes.

Are you sure? If someone had actually raised a claim against me then I would take anything they sent me as incidental information - the only thing that would matter would be receiving the actual claim form and instructions from the CCBC. (This would include the claim number and password for logging on to MCOL to acknowledge the claim).

Unless things are different for civil claims that are not on the small claims track? (The value of this claim suggests it would not fall within the small claims track. However is the track decided when the claim is filed, or after the defendant has acknowledged it then submitted a defence? I think it's the latter, which is why I posted the paragraph above).

Speaking to the court, it was a civil claim filed by the solicitor which has yet to be filed by the court hence why I have received no paperwork from the court. 

However they did advice that the safer bet is to reply within 14 days of receving the letter as the solicitor could then file for a CCJ if no response is received within the 14 days.

Sorry but I don't understand that ... if the court* haven't processed the claim, how can the solicitor (acting for the claimant) file for a CCJ if there's no claim yet processed?

* Can you clarify who you mean by court please? Do you mean the County Court Business Centre, which is not a court but an office which processes claims. It only gets to a real court once a claim has been defended, the claimant decides to proceed to a hearing (and pays the fee), the N180 defence questionnaires have been filed, and a court and claim track has been allocated. And the clock for doing the Acknowledgment of Service (AoS) doesn't start ticking until the CCBC have sent out the claim paperwork to the defendant. (You have 14 + 5 days from the claim date to do the AoS, although once 5 days have passed there's nothing to be gained by delaying the AoS, then a further 14 days to file a defence - so 33 days in total to file a defence to the claim).

Manxman_in_exile

I think the OP needs to be absolutely clear what they've received (they originally said they had a CCJ against them, not a claim) and who from, and they also need to be clear what their insurance company has told them to do - or not do.

Manxman_in_exile

Herzlos said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

Maybe I'm missing something obvious(?)... but surely all the OP needs to do is to pass all this on to their insurer?

In theory, yes. However if they drop the ball and don't acknowledge it in time the OP will land with a CCJ which will screw his credit for years and is an uphill battle to resolve.  I think this is also going to be for a high enough amount that bailiffs could get involved pretty quickly.


I suspect it's like the parking scams where they are hoping someone will miss a step and then just pay up to get rid of it.

If I were the OP I'd simply stick religiously to the terms of my policy (or any specific instructions given to me by my insurer).  The only mis-step I foresee is if he doesn't do so.

If his insurers screw it up because of their incompetence, but the OP has complied fully with the T&Cs of his policy, I'd expect the insurers to sort that out for him before it had any impact on his credit rating.  If they didn't, it would strike at the whole principle of trust that the insurance industry is based on, wouldn't it?  Insurance companies must deal properly with 100s of claims like this every day - why would this one be any different?

Nobody - neither an insurance company nor an individual motorist - is going to pay up £20k just to make a bogus claim "go away".

But maybe I'm being very naive and the OP really is best advised to do his own acknowledgement of service etc and not trust his insurance company to do so.  I'm no insurance expert but I thought you paid them premiums to do all this for you...

Teme9

Manxman_in_exile said:

I think the OP needs to be absolutely clear what they've received (they originally said they had a CCJ against them, not a claim) and who from, and they also need to be clear what their insurance company has told them to do - or not do.

County Court claim. Paperwork received from his solicitors who have processed the county court claim form.  Not a CCJ yet. I have never received such paperwork and assumed that it was a CCJ when I had made the thread.

Insurance company has said we'll be in touch. It was only until i contacted the solicitors that the insurance pays for that i was told the case will be 'dealt with by our litigation team' and  I 'have nothing to worry about'.

Teme9

user1977 said:

Don't be silly. Have you ever heard of anybody (successfully) claiming for "false claim" (whatever that is) and "undue stress"? The stress is any legal claim is inherent, not something additional you can sue for.

i guess you're right, they can respond with 'but we believed our client was right'

Teme9

Jenni_D said:

Sorry but I don't understand that ... if the court* haven't processed the claim, how can the solicitor (acting for the claimant) file for a CCJ if there's no claim yet processed?

* Can you clarify who you mean by court please? Do you mean the County Court Business Centre, which is not a court but an office which processes claims. It only gets to a real court once a claim has been defended, the claimant decides to proceed to a hearing (and pays the fee), the N180 defence questionnaires have been filed, and a court and claim track has been allocated. And the clock for doing the Acknowledgment of Service (AoS) doesn't start ticking until the CCBC have sent out the claim paperwork to the defendant. (You have 14 + 5 days from the claim date to do the AoS, although once 5 days have passed there's nothing to be gained by delaying the AoS, then a further 14 days to file a defence - so 33 days in total to file a defence to the claim).

you have to forgive me, my knowledge on legal proceedings is limited so feel free to correct me 

I had spoken to the county court business centre on the phone, they said that a solicitor can process a county court claim and the ccbc will just stamp it making it a valid claim. The person on the phone was not a legal professional and gave me a lay person response that better to respond asap rather than giving the opportunity to the claimants solicitor to request for a CCJ if i have not responded within 14 days. 

From what I gather, the person on the phone was saying that we have not filed the claim on our side but it had been issued by the solicitor and as you received the paperwork, you should respond within 14 days of receipt. 

Manxman_in_exile

Teme9 said:

Jenni_D said:

sourcrates said:

There should be a response pack, which includes the form N9A or N9C.

Also a defence pack, which includes form N9D.

You won`t get anything from the court, these forms can be down loaded from the web.

Calling the court would be my next move yes.

Are you sure? If someone had actually raised a claim against me then I would take anything they sent me as incidental information - the only thing that would matter would be receiving the actual claim form and instructions from the CCBC. (This would include the claim number and password for logging on to MCOL to acknowledge the claim).

Unless things are different for civil claims that are not on the small claims track? (The value of this claim suggests it would not fall within the small claims track. However is the track decided when the claim is filed, or after the defendant has acknowledged it then submitted a defence? I think it's the latter, which is why I posted the paragraph above).

Speaking to the court, it was a civil claim filed by the solicitor which has yet to be filed by the court hence why I have received no paperwork from the court. 

However they did advice that the safer bet is to reply within 14 days of receving the letter as the solicitor could then file for a CCJ if no response is received within the 14 days.

So the court hasn't actually issued or served a claim on you yet?  Maybe we are all talking at cross purposes, but I'm not sure if you should be acknowledging a claim that you haven't yet received from the court?  (And as I've suggested in earlier posts I'm not sure you should be doing anything other than passing it all onto your insurer and letting them deal with it all for you anyway - unless they instruct you otherwise).

Who did you speak to at the court?  I'm afraid it's unlikely that they have any legal qualifications at all so I would not be confident that they could correctly advise you to do anything.  Did you explain this claim would be handed over to your insurer for them to handle?  

The only people I would ask for advice as to what to do is my insurance company.  That is one of the things you pay them - not court staff - for. 

But as I said earlier, maybe I'm mistaken and my view is wrong.

(Have you never received a Letter Before Action or a Letter Before Claim?  Are you sure that isn't what you've just received from the third party solicitors?  If you are a junior doctor (for example) have you been changing addresses so mail could go astray?  Did you get such a letter shortly after the accident?)