Third party car insurance threatening legal action against my father 4 years later

QurrahAhmed

My dad was involved in an accident in 2020 which went to court due to disputed liability, my dad was made liable for the incident and  his insurance was meant to pay for the third party costs at the time, the third party insurance was direct line. Anyway 4 years later we now receive a letter from direct line car insurance (third party) saying that my fathers car insurance did not end up paying them completely for the claim despite being chased for the amount, they are now threatening court proceedings against my father if the matter is not resolved within 14 days! 

The letter they sent states:

FINAL NOTICE

Amount required: £5,369.87 (outlay)

Proceedings will be issued if payment not received within 14 days from date of this letter

We refer to the incident dated 26 July 2020

We have contacted your insurance company requesting payment for the above costs which we have not been received completely

We have informed your insurer that if payment is not received within the next I4 days, we will pass the claim to our solicitors who will start legal proceedings. Any legal proceedings will also include a claim for interest at the statutory rate.

Unfortunately, as we hold you responsible for this incident, you should be aware that in the event that your insurance company does not make payment in time, any legal proceedings will be issued against you, and in your name, at the above address.

To avoid legal proceedings, please contact your insurer immediately to ask them to deal with this claim

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I find this ridiculous because what’s the point of car insurance if stuff like this can happen, surely there must be some system in place to address these kind of issues and stop the other party from taking legal action against my father given he had a proper insurance in place.

He can’t remember who his insurers were in 2020 but will be contacting direct line tomorrow to find out more information, 

Anyone else been in this situation before? Surely he can’t be held responsible? Any advise would be great thanks 

user1977

He should pass it to whoever his insurers were at the time. Legal proceedings are always, on paper, between the parties themselves even if the insurers deal with the claims.

Aylesbury_Duck

QurrahAhmed said:

My dad was involved in an accident in 2020 which went to court due to disputed liability, my dad was made liable for the incident and  his insurance was meant to pay for the third party costs at the time, the third party insurance was direct line. Anyway 4 years later we now receive a letter from direct line car insurance (third party) saying that my fathers car insurance did not end up paying them completely for the claim despite being chased for the amount, they are now threatening court proceedings against my father if the matter is not resolved within 14 days! 

The letter they sent states:

FINAL NOTICE

Amount required: £5,369.87 (outlay)

Proceedings will be issued if payment not received within 14 days from date of this letter

We refer to the incident dated 26 July 2020

We have contacted your insurance company requesting payment for the above costs which we have not been received completely

We have informed your insurer that if payment is not received within the next I4 days, we will pass the claim to our solicitors who will start legal proceedings. Any legal proceedings will also include a claim for interest at the statutory rate.

Unfortunately, as we hold you responsible for this incident, you should be aware that in the event that your insurance company does not make payment in time, any legal proceedings will be issued against you, and in your name, at the above address.

To avoid legal proceedings, please contact your insurer immediately to ask them to deal with this claim

—————————————————-

I find this ridiculous because what’s the point of car insurance if stuff like this can happen, surely there must be some system in place to address these kind of issues and stop the other party from taking legal action against my father given he had a proper insurance in place.

He can’t remember who his insurers were in 2020 but will be contacting direct line tomorrow to find out more information, 

Anyone else been in this situation before? Surely he can’t be held responsible? Any advise would be great thanks 

Yes, he can be held responsible in the event his insurance company doesn't pay in full.  It isn't ridiculous, somehow somewhere there's an outstanding debt and the other party's insurer isn't getting what it needs from your father's insurer at the time.  They can't just write it off, and contacting your father is a last resort to try and get some action.

However, it won't come to your father paying if he had a valid policy in place at the time of the accident, if he provided entirely honest and accurate information to obtain the policy and if he adhered to the policy terms.  He simply needs to refer the matter to the insurer providing cover at the time.  Are you sure he retains absolutely no record of what sounds like a reasonably serious court matter from just four years ago?  No paperwork, emails or anything at all?  That would be odd, but if true, calling Direct Line to find out who the insurer was isn't a bad idea.