CCJ For an insurance claim I told my insurers not to pay

WellyBase

Hi, I have recently discovered a CCJ was loged against me 3.5yrs ago to claim for something my insurer didnt pay out on. 
There was an accusation I hit a car in a car park which I denied and after visits by inspectors etc. When talking to the insurance company I clearly remember the guy on the phone saying "so you're instructing us not to pay the claim" and I said yes. 
Since then I have moved home multiple times and not been on the voters roll meaning I haven't seen paperwork if it was sent out. 
What can I do here? The CCJ is for nearly £10k so I assume the moment I go on the voters roll I will have people ready to take away my car etc which is frankly terrifying. 
My wife and I have been saving for a mortgage and paying this off will wipe out 2yrs of effort, so I dont want to tell her but its eating me alive. 
All advice appreciated but would be good to know whats opinion and fact. 
Many thanks. 

Mark_d

I'm no expert here but in my opinion, you need to reverse the CCJ and then fight any action taken against you.
https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/ccj/set-aside-ccj.aspx

DullGreyGuy

WellyBase said:

Hi, I have recently discovered a CCJ was loged against me 3.5yrs ago to claim for something my insurer didnt pay out on. 
There was an accusation I hit a car in a car park which I denied and after visits by inspectors etc. When talking to the insurance company I clearly remember the guy on the phone saying "so you're instructing us not to pay the claim" and I said yes. 
Since then I have moved home multiple times and not been on the voters roll meaning I haven't seen paperwork if it was sent out. 
What can I do here? The CCJ is for nearly £10k so I assume the moment I go on the voters roll I will have people ready to take away my car etc which is frankly terrifying. 
My wife and I have been saving for a mortgage and paying this off will wipe out 2yrs of effort, so I dont want to tell her but its eating me alive. 
All advice appreciated but would be good to know whats opinion and fact. 
Many thanks. 

You instructed them not to deal with it so they didnt, most would deal with it despite your request but you now have the double edge of them following your instruction.  Obviously if you told them not to deal with it then you should have dealt with it yourself, including keeping the other party's representatives up to date with your address etc. 

With an unsatisfied judgement against you they could have forced your insurers to pay against your request so the first thing to do is go back to your former insurers and see if they did pay it in the end or not. If they have settled it then it could just be that the registery wasnt informed it had been settled and so that can be corrected. 

If they didnt settle it then its up to you if you want to just settle it yourself or apply for the judgement to be set aside which has a fee and you have to justify why the court should spend its time revisiting the case and show you have reasonable prospects of winning the repeat case. 

Mildly_Miffed

Your insurer did precisely as you asked.

That did not, however, satisfy the other party - who then took you to court for the damage they allege you caused.

You did not respond to the claim, so you did not lodge a defence. The other party therefore won by default.
You then did not pay the claim, so assorted costs are added to it as efforts are made to trace you, with interest as time goes by. So, yes, after three and a half years and multiple addresses, it's no wonder the amount has snowballed.

If you did not respond because you were genuinely unaware of it, because post to the address you gave could not be delivered to you, then there are processes to get the judgement set aside and to deal with the claim afresh.
https://www.gov.uk/county-court-judgments-ccj-for-debt/cancel-the-judgment

fatbelly

If they had wanted to find you they would have done

Your credit file will show your address history unless your bank has somehow never had your address.

Yes, set-aside and defend the claim is an option. Each side has to prove their position. I'm not sure how you would prove yours.

Set aside then clear in full would remove the ccj from your record.

Continue to ignore and see what happens is a third option. The ccj drops off in 2.5 years

ThorOdinson

The problem is that you don't know what the evidence against you is. Might be worth contacting the TP's insurance and asking for all documentation. Might need to invoke GDPR. Of course doing so means they know where you live and might try to recover the debt.

But if you don't then you gamble that you can prevail in court.

You could contact your old insurance and ask why they didn't deal with it. It's unlikely that they have a recording of you telling them not to pay it, and you could argue that the implication was not explained to you properly at the time. Raise a complaint if they won't deal with it. It's a long shot but there isn't much else you can do, and at least it's low risk.

MEM62

WellyBase said:

I clearly remember the guy on the phone saying "so you're instructing us not to pay the claim" and I said yes. 

I believe, but am open to being corrected, that the underwriter reserves the absolute right to decide how any claim is settled.  There is a clause in all policies to this effect.  You would not have had the option to instruct them not to pay.  Either way, not keeping all parties updated with your current address was not wise.  

DullGreyGuy

MEM62 said:

WellyBase said:

I clearly remember the guy on the phone saying "so you're instructing us not to pay the claim" and I said yes. 

I believe, but am open to being corrected, that the underwriter reserves the absolute right to decide how any claim is settled.  There is a clause in all policies to this effect.  You would not have had the option to instruct them not to pay.  Either way, not keeping all parties updated with your current address was not wise.  

The law requires them to pay in certain circumstances but it requires the third party to make the demand after obtaining a judgement 

The insurer (dont like the term underwriter unless you literally mean the person who's job it is to stamp and sign Lloyds slips under the risk which is where the term "under writer" stems from) will have discretion as you state but they can choose to exercise that discretion to follow the customers request up until the law states they must pay. Most argue that insurers that follow your instructions are better than those that tell you tough luck and override your decision.

ThorOdinson said:
You could contact your old insurance and ask why they didn't deal with it. It's unlikely that they have a recording of you telling them not to pay it, and you could argue that the implication was not explained to you properly at the time. Raise a complaint if they won't deal with it. It's a long shot but there isn't much else you can do, and at least it's low risk.

They will have a file note of the instruction as that will be kept for at least 7 years given the law of limitations, if they have a call recording is a different matter.

Insurers are not advisors and neither are they lawyers, whilst they can go further in a claims setting than they can in a sales situation it is limited. In my claims days had the OP called us we would have looked at the prospect of success, if it was borderline then we'd have sent a letter of indemnity saying they had to reimburse us of any additional costs incurred caused by them leading the action but we remained liable for the original claim. If it was a case we felt fairly sure would be lost we'd tell them tough luck we'll be dealing with it. 

MEM62

DullGreyGuy  
If this is your field have you done the tour of Lloyds?  I was taken around a couple of times as I am a client of WTW or Willis as they were. (Willis arranged the insurance on the Titanic don't you know)  Fascinating place.    

DullGreyGuy

MEM62 said:

DullGreyGuy  
If this is your field have you done the tour of Lloyds?  I was taken around a couple of times as I am a client of WTW or Willis as they were. (Willis arranged the insurance on the Titanic don't you know)  Fascinating place.    

I've had a Lloyds pass and worked in the building previously. 

They've substantially changed it in the refurb last year now, you can see the photos of the new setup on https://www.lloyds.com/underwritingroom. Gone are the tables with on a platform that the underwriters sit at with a little stool at their feet for the broker to sit on to present their risk. Gone are the high backed benches where the junior underwriters have to sit in the middle with their seniors at either ends blocking them in. 

The first time I did a tour the tables didnt have powerpoints or monitors but now looks fairly similar to a regular office with docking stations, swivel chairs etc. The brokers still get a poor chair to sit on but they are no longer lower than the underwriters. 

Were you able to go into the Adam room @Mem62? Its a classical room with marble floors, cast plaster, looks like something from a grand house and its because it was, it was the dining room from Bowood House, they went to buy a fireplace for their old offices in the 1950s and ended up buying the whole room. When they moved into the current building they cut it up again and installed this as the board room at the top of the ultra modern building. 

There was talk of them moving again after they sold the building in 2013, seems the idea of putting all the infrastructure for a building on the outside does give you fantastic flexible space inside but it also rots to hell in London weather. They've signed a deal to 2035 now so there for a bit longer. 

MEM62

Last time I was there was around 5 years ago and we could not look at the Adam Room.  The features that left the biggest impression on me were the Lutine Bell and the hand-written register of lost shipping.