Insurance company not settled 3rd party claim

craig_herbert

Hi all,

I have been issued with a small claim court summons, after a RTC at the start of 2022. I was fully comp and I expected my insurance to pay out which they have failed to do so. 

Can I please have some advise on what action I should take?

Many thanks

Keep_pedalling

First thing to do is contact the insurer and inform them of the claim against you and ask them what the next step is. 

Car_54

Your policy almost certainly requires you to pass the summons immediately to them, unanswered.

tifo

Let both insurers and their solicitors deal with it.

m0bov

Contact your insurance?? Like asap.

Aretnap

Pass it on to your insurance company immediately. Do not attempt to deal with it yourself without consulting with your insurance company first.

Your insurance company hasn't paid the third party what they are asking for. This could be because they are disputing liability or the size of the claim, or it could be because the overworked claims department is just being slow. Either way, if the third party wants to force the issue they have to issue court proceedings.

Now any proceedings have to be issued against you personally - you are the one who (allegedly) caused the accident, so ultimately liability lies with you. The third party can't take your insurance company to court unless he is claiming that your insurance company damaged his car. So instead he takes you to court, and you have to ask your insurance company to deal with the claim on your behalf in accordance with the terms of your policy.

It's unlikely that the case will actually get as far as court but rest assured that even if it does it will still be your insurance company who eventually put their hand in their pocket, not you personally.

DullGreyGuy

craig_herbert said:

Can I please have some advise on what action I should take?

Phone your insurers and follow their instructions... in my day it'd have been to post it to us by Special Delivery. 

As others have said, there are various reasons why a claim goes unsettled, some positive (they're defending against excessive claim costs etc) and some negative (backlogs)