Summons received for car accident i was deemed at fault

alias47

This morning i have received a letter / packs from winns solicitors.

i had an accident back in january i was deemed at fault as i hit the other person. They emergency stopped on a roundabout due to a hgv pulling out in front of them. i checked over my shoulder as i changed lanes as i looked back i see the vehicle stationary in front of me i hit the brakes but unfortunately my car slid into the back of theirs. The person in front of my seemed genuine and told me they would report the fact it was all caused by the hgv driver who infact drove off!

I immediately contacted my insurance when this occured.

i have since had my claim settled and been paid out for my vehicle.

id assumed this was all done and dusted and everything had been handled.

low and behold this weighty letter arrived with court summons roughly 4 months later.

the claim is for nearly £40,000 mainly for car hire of a Mercedes at £420 a day for numerous days !

Im scared stiff , this is an inconceivable amount of money to me. 

I have sent photos of the pages / letter received to my insurer. but there is time constraints im slightly panicked that my insurance wont act quick enough...

do i need to contact winns to let them know it was received or is contacting my insurance enough?

any advice would be greatly appreciated feel like im going to have a breakdown.

DullGreyGuy

Leave it to your insurers, you should send them the original document too... personally I'd phone them to let them know its coming. They will respond on your behalf.

It sounds like the third party went into credit hire and could well be your insurer is disputing the nearly 100 days of hire (based on your numbers). Its an insured loss for you so nothing to worry about

alias47

thank you that makes me feel a little better.

i will post them what i received many thanks really appreciated.

TELLIT01

alias47 said:

thank you that makes me feel a little better.

i will post them what i received many thanks really appreciated.

As said above, PHONE your insurer as well as posting what you have received.

daveyjp

£420 a day car hire shows how accident (mis)management companies add hugely to insurance costs.

Even if the figure is disupted and not paid it isn't free to dispute the charges as everyone involved in the dispute expects payment.

alias47

TELLIT01 said:

alias47 said:

thank you that makes me feel a little better.

i will post them what i received many thanks really appreciated.

As said above, PHONE your insurer as well as posting what you have received.

i phoned first thing this morning and sent pictures of the letters via email.
i have now also just contacted them via live chat for a postal address to send the documents too.
i will send them recorded.

DullGreyGuy

daveyjp said:

£420 a day car hire shows how accident (mis)management companies add hugely to insurance costs.

That depends on what vehicle the TP had, even the ABI agreed rates for an SL500 is north of £400/day inc VAT... if they arent party to the ABI GTI then rates are likely to be higher.

I have always struggled with the idea of people definitively needing like for like replacements, especially when you get to £75k+ vehicles (with the possible exception of certain luxury chauffeur types). Fine you've 5 kids so you need a 7 seater or you have 1 kid so need a 5 door. Your an exec so need a certain image whilst meeting clients but you could slum it in a E220 for a week or two and over halve the bill. 

chrisw

DullGreyGuy said:

daveyjp said:

£420 a day car hire shows how accident (mis)management companies add hugely to insurance costs.

That depends on what vehicle the TP had, even the ABI agreed rates for an SL500 is north of £400/day inc VAT... if they arent party to the ABI GTI then rates are likely to be higher.

I have always struggled with the idea of people definitively needing like for like replacements, especially when you get to £75k+ vehicles (with the possible exception of certain luxury chauffeur types). Fine you've 5 kids so you need a 7 seater or you have 1 kid so need a 5 door. Your an exec so need a certain image whilst meeting clients but you could slum it in a E220 for a week or two and over halve the bill. 

This may be true but why should you take a lower spec vehicle just because some numpty has ploughed into you as you're driving along minding your own business.

I've just had a top spec C220 as a credit hire car, I would have been really annoyed if they'd said there's only 2 of you so a Corsa will do for a month or so.

Having said that, those costs above do seem excessive, the C220 was billed at £49 a day, still a lot but not excessive in my view.

DullGreyGuy

chrisw said:

DullGreyGuy said:

daveyjp said:

£420 a day car hire shows how accident (mis)management companies add hugely to insurance costs.

That depends on what vehicle the TP had, even the ABI agreed rates for an SL500 is north of £400/day inc VAT... if they arent party to the ABI GTI then rates are likely to be higher.

I have always struggled with the idea of people definitively needing like for like replacements, especially when you get to £75k+ vehicles (with the possible exception of certain luxury chauffeur types). Fine you've 5 kids so you need a 7 seater or you have 1 kid so need a 5 door. Your an exec so need a certain image whilst meeting clients but you could slum it in a E220 for a week or two and over halve the bill. 

This may be true but why should you take a lower spec vehicle just because some numpty has ploughed into you as you're driving along minding your own business.

I've just had a top spec C220 as a credit hire car, I would have been really annoyed if they'd said there's only 2 of you so a Corsa will do for a month or so.

Having said that, those costs above do seem excessive, the C220 was billed at £49 a day, still a lot but not excessive in my view.

That wasnt credit hire then... the ABI GTA for a C220 is £146.40 + VAT. Those that arent party to the GTA charge more. £49 sounds more like the rate for an insurer approved supply of a vehicle and in those cases they tend to be more like a normal hire car company where you book a "small executive" and there are a range of potential vehicles 

If it were a credit hire though then a C180 by comparison is £103.66... I never said they should give you a Corsa but would dropping the engine size really have made a difference to you and yet it would have saved almost a third of the cost. The impacts are expenential when you get to higher vehicles in absolute terms... SL500 to S350 saves well over £100 a day, to an E350 saves well over £200 a day

Obviously we can generally argue a like for like is necessary but then we shouldnt complain about the price of insurance