Car Insurance recovering money from third party

jonnyb1978

Involved in a small collision last year.  The other driver refused to give details and drove off. I reported to police. He went into the side of me as my light was on green. He is also saying his light was on green at a crossroads. 
My insurance have always stated it was the other guys fault and I was not required to pay excess. 

Just received an email from a solicitor representing my insurance to recover money paid out from the third party and/or his insurance through court proceedings. 

It had asked me for details of incident, courtesy car etc etc.

Will I need to possibly go to court? Is this standard practise from insurance companies etc..

Not had this before so don't want it to become a big issue.

Thanks

[Deleted User]

You may need to go to court if they refuse to pay out - though it's more likely they will fold before going to court - perhaps the driver is not passing on the letters from your side (they are always sent to him as the driver and he should pass onto his insurance). Hopefully you have photos and details from the scene and the crime reference details.

Keep in mind though, this is the reclaim PPI insurance forum, you should really post in the insurance forum

Catsacor

I was in a similar situation.
My car was parked, no-one inside it, someone reversed into it .... very long story -  but i was asked to go to court by my insurance company, to prove i actually existed they said 🙄🙄🙄😡

In my opinion it was a waste of my time and lost wages, waste of the courts time and for what ?
It could easily have been sorted without me being there, i didn't need to be.
So, yes, you may well have to go.

DullGreyGuy

jonnyb1978 said:

Just received an email from a solicitor representing my insurance to recover money paid out from the third party and/or his insurance through court proceedings. 

It had asked me for details of incident, courtesy car etc etc.

Will I need to possibly go to court? Is this standard practise from insurance companies etc..

You can only go to court once for an incident and so the solicitors have to ensure that they are including all of the outlay in the case otherwise they may issue for your insurer's losses and then find out too late you paid out £5k in hire charges or have been suffering from whiplash ever since and they havent been included.

It is unusual for non-injury cases to end up in court, it does happen but in most cases a negotiated settlement is considered more economical even if neither policyholder likes it. Of the cases that do get as far as issuing many more are settled before the court date too.

Even if it does go to court that doesnt automatically mean you have to attend, some cases are settled based on the written evidence submitted. Even if the judge does want to hear people's own statements it can often be done remotely these days rather than having to turn up in court in person. 

martinbainbridge1975

unlikely you will have to go to court, the 3rd party insurers are known for denying liability until your insurer issues court proceedings at which point they will pay out