County court claim after car accident

MetalJack21

Hello, Looking for a bit of advice please

In 2023 myself and another driver had a bump in a car park. Neither of us admitted liability, I did not need to claim as there was no damage but let my insurance know of the incident. The other party however did claim.

When I last spoke to my insurance they said that this was closed as neither party accepted liability.

Today I have received legal forms informing me that a county court claim has been made against me regarding this incident for £2.5k.

I'm a little bit perplexed by this as I though this is the reason why we all had car insurance? Is anyone kindly able to provide any advice please?

Thank you

born_again

Contact your insurance company that dealt with the claim & pass it on to them to deal.

DullGreyGuy

MetalJack21 said:
In 2023 myself and another driver had a bump in a car park. Neither of us admitted liability, I did not need to claim as there was no damage but let my insurance know of the incident. The other party however did claim.

When I last spoke to my insurance they said that this was closed as neither party accepted liability.

Today I have received legal forms informing me that a county court claim has been made against me regarding this incident for £2.5k.

I'm a little bit perplexed by this as I though this is the reason why we all had car insurance? Is anyone kindly able to provide any advice please?

You didnt claim so your insurer was only able to operate in defence mode and so the other party controls the process, timescales and if/when to issue. 

"Neither party accepting liability" wouldn't be a reason to close a file, when you are doing just defence work you close the file either when you believe the claim is settled, when the claimant accepts your repudiation or when such time has passed that you assume they've accepted it. 

It is exactly why you have car insurance, they've not accepted the outcome so have issued, you need to let your insurers now promptly and follow their instruction on how to get the claim form to them. They will then respond to the court papers in your name as they're entitled to do as your insurers. 

CliveOfIndia

To emphasise the previous comments, you do nothing except pass the information on to your insurers - it's what you pay them for.

Really important - do not reply to the claim, or contact the other party or their representatives at all.  Give your insurers a call, and ask them what the correct procedure is.  They'll almost certainly tell you to forward the documents on to them, from there on it's down to them to sort out.

Of course you'll need to reply to any correspondence or requests for information from your own insurers - but they are the only people you should be talking to about the whole thing.

Don't fret too much over it - this is far from an unusual situation, and is bread-and-butter to any insurance company.

Aretnap

MetalJack21 said:

Hello, Looking for a bit of advice please

In 2023 myself and another driver had a bump in a car park. Neither of us admitted liability, I did not need to claim as there was no damage but let my insurance know of the incident. The other party however did claim.

When I last spoke to my insurance they said that this was closed as neither party accepted liability.

Today I have received legal forms informing me that a county court claim has been made against me regarding this incident for £2.5k.

I'm a little bit perplexed by this as I though this is the reason why we all had car insurance? Is anyone kindly able to provide any advice please?

Thank you

Car insurance doesn't prevent you from being taken to court over an accident - ultimately you are (allegedly) the person responsible and so you are ultimately liable for the damage. If the third party can't agree on liability with your insurer, and wants to force the issue, he has to take you to court. He can't take your insurer to court directly, unless he's claiming that your insurer damaged his car. 

What having car insurance DOES mean however is that if someone takes you to court over a car accident you can call your insurer and say "deal with this for me please", which is what you need to do now. Call then this evening or first thing tomorrow, let them know you've recieved these papers and follow their instructions on what to do next. 

It's unlikely that it will get as far as an actual court hearing but rest assured that even if it does, it will be your insurer paying at the end of the day, not you personally.

Mildly_Miffed

Aretnap said:

...but rest assured that even if it does, it will be your insurer paying at the end of the day, not you personally.

...PROVIDED you co-operate fully with them.

Car_54

Aretnap said:

MetalJack21 said:

Hello, Looking for a bit of advice please

In 2023 myself and another driver had a bump in a car park. Neither of us admitted liability, I did not need to claim as there was no damage but let my insurance know of the incident. The other party however did claim.

When I last spoke to my insurance they said that this was closed as neither party accepted liability.

Today I have received legal forms informing me that a county court claim has been made against me regarding this incident for £2.5k.

I'm a little bit perplexed by this as I though this is the reason why we all had car insurance? Is anyone kindly able to provide any advice please?

Thank you

What having car insurance DOES mean however is that if someone takes you to court over a car accident you can call your insurer and say "deal with this for me please", which is what you need to do now. Call then this evening or first thing tomorrow, let them know you've recieved these papers and follow their instructions on what to do next. 

Shouldn't that be MUST call them? Isn't it normally a policy condition?

MetalJack21

Thanks for the advice. I have called them and forwarded the documents onto them. My worry is that the Document says I have 14 days to respond and with it being the time of year that it is there are 3 bank holidays from now until that date. I dont want my insurer to drop the ball then I am landed with a CCJ

Aretnap

MetalJack21 said:

Thanks for the advice. I have called them and forwarded the documents onto them. My worry is that the Document says I have 14 days to respond and with it being the time of year that it is there are 3 bank holidays from now until that date. I dont want my insurer to drop the ball then I am landed with a CCJ

They will have enough people working over the Christmas period to deal with urgent matters, but if they did drop the ball and you got a judgement in default they would be obliged to pay it on your behalf, and it wouldn't appear in your credit record or cause you long term difficulty unless it wasn't paid within another 28 days. If they somehow dropped the ball again and didn't pay on time you would have grounds for a complaint and compensation for any losses you suffered. 

That said, there is certainly no harm in calling them again in a few days to confirm that they have received the documents and are acting on then.

Aretnap

Car_54 said:

Aretnap said:

MetalJack21 said:

Hello, Looking for a bit of advice please

In 2023 myself and another driver had a bump in a car park. Neither of us admitted liability, I did not need to claim as there was no damage but let my insurance know of the incident. The other party however did claim.

When I last spoke to my insurance they said that this was closed as neither party accepted liability.

Today I have received legal forms informing me that a county court claim has been made against me regarding this incident for £2.5k.

I'm a little bit perplexed by this as I though this is the reason why we all had car insurance? Is anyone kindly able to provide any advice please?

Thank you

What having car insurance DOES mean however is that if someone takes you to court over a car accident you can call your insurer and say "deal with this for me please", which is what you need to do now. Call then this evening or first thing tomorrow, let them know you've recieved these papers and follow their instructions on what to do next. 

Shouldn't that be MUST call them? Isn't it normally a policy condition?

Well yes, but the advantage of having insurance is the ability to pass a claim on to then rather than the compulsion.

DullGreyGuy

MetalJack21 said:

Thanks for the advice. I have called them and forwarded the documents onto them. My worry is that the Document says I have 14 days to respond and with it being the time of year that it is there are 3 bank holidays from now until that date. I dont want my insurer to drop the ball then I am landed with a CCJ

We have a stupid naming system when it comes to this... 

A judgement against you is not a life problem. Courts are there to be used to resolve disputes, it's not a criminal sentence etc. 

For some idiotic reason we also have the concept of a CCJ, it really should have a different name. A CCJ that appears on your credit file and public record is a civil court judgement that wasnt satisfied within a month of the judgement being made. It hangs about for 6 years and public states if it is now satisfied or still unsatisfied. 

If your insurers did drop the ball then they would simply pay the settlement and no CCJ would appear in public records. Even if they dropped the ball for a second time and it did temporarily appear on your credit record insurers can and do contact the public register and inform them that the failure to settle was their fault not yours and get it removed. 

If you think them so incompetent why did you choose them as your insurer?