Car accident advice

johnnyren

MyRealNameToo said:

johnnyren said:

Around a year  ago my daughter was involved in a small car collision in a hospital car park ,    I remember at the time her saying no police report was taken , no witnesses nothing ,     The insurance details were exchanged and the other woman stated it wouldn’t go further even though she thought my daughter to blame 
so today my daughter gets a a lawyers writ seeking 15 thousand in loss of earnings due to injuries sustained 
quite obviously to me she’s decided to look after reflection for a potentially easy pay day
Would I not be right in saying with the total lack of proof of liability she is clutching at straws here  
     Thanks 

Did she actually inform her insurers at the time? 

Presumably she has renewed her insurance since?

She needs to pass the letter on to the insurer at the time of the accident. Assuming she has renewed and made a false declaration of having not been involved in any accidents it would also be prudent to admit to her current insurers that she lied on her application as insurers are a little more lenient on those that admit their mistakes than those who are found out. 

She admits she was involved in the accident so it comes down to what both versions of events are. It could be the circumstances match and she is fully liable, it could be that there is a dispute on what happened and in many such cases insurers will settle on a 50/50 basis as there is no evidence to prove one version of events over the other. 

twopenny said:

Having worked for a solicitor or two you have to prove injury and if must have been severe to loose that person to loose that much money.

Loss of Earnings naturally depends on what a person does for a living and how well they are paid. There are some odd jobs like saturation divers who can be paid a very pretty penny and relatively minor injuries could prevent them from working. A 2 week gig could pay more than £15,000 and its a case of you do all of it or none of it, there isnt the option to lose 2 days and then be helicoptered out to do the other 8 days. 

Medical reports etc will follow on significantly later than the initial letter of claim. 

The accident happened many months ago ,    This writ was only received yesterday .
when the accident occurred my daughter informed to insurers right away ,    As far as I’m aware she never admitted any liability ,     As I said no police involved or witnesses ,       The other person concerned did verbally say at the scene of the accident she thought my daughter was at fault but would not be taking it further. 

my daughters premiums have went up and she got some money for the car which was deemed a write off .
the writ has came totally out the blue ,    My first instinct was to think the woman has had time to think is maybe using a no win no fee method of recovery 
my daughters quite worried and concerned over this ,  

Bigphil1474

If your daughter had a claim with the insurers at the time for this accident, then all she needs to do is forward the letter on to that insurer and let them deal with it. It's all part of the same claim/incident. Nothing to be worried about.

facade

johnnyren said:

The accident happened many months ago ,    This writ was only received yesterday .
when the accident occurred my daughter informed to insurers right away ,    As far as I’m aware she never admitted any liability ,     As I said no police involved or witnesses ,       The other person concerned did verbally say at the scene of the accident she thought my daughter was at fault but would not be taking it further. 

my daughters premiums have went up and she got some money for the car which was deemed a write off .
the writ has came totally out the blue ,    My first instinct was to think the woman has had time to think is maybe using a no win no fee method of recovery 
my daughters quite worried and concerned over this ,  

She shouldn't be.

She informed her insurer at the time.

As said, she now passes the paperwork to her insurer and they deal with it on her behalf. (Take a copy first. Attach a cover note with the policy number etc. so they have every chance to link it with her file)

The legal action has to be against her, as she was driving, and the other party deems her to be responsible for their loss, but her insurer will represent her, or settle the claim out of court as they see fit, she won't have to pay anything. (For £15K, they will likely just pay out before it goes to court rather than run up a bigger bill going to court and trying to fight the claim)

If her insurer thinks the third party are trying it on, and they feel strongly enough about it, they may decide to "see them in court", but not very likely over £15K. 

The best course of action to put her mind at rest is for her to 'phone her insurer (at the time if different) and tell them she has received this writ and ask them what to do (they will say send it to them).

MyRealNameToo

johnnyren said:

MyRealNameToo said:

johnnyren said:

Around a year  ago my daughter was involved in a small car collision in a hospital car park ,    I remember at the time her saying no police report was taken , no witnesses nothing ,     The insurance details were exchanged and the other woman stated it wouldn’t go further even though she thought my daughter to blame 
so today my daughter gets a a lawyers writ seeking 15 thousand in loss of earnings due to injuries sustained 
quite obviously to me she’s decided to look after reflection for a potentially easy pay day
Would I not be right in saying with the total lack of proof of liability she is clutching at straws here  
     Thanks 

Did she actually inform her insurers at the time? 

Presumably she has renewed her insurance since?

She needs to pass the letter on to the insurer at the time of the accident. Assuming she has renewed and made a false declaration of having not been involved in any accidents it would also be prudent to admit to her current insurers that she lied on her application as insurers are a little more lenient on those that admit their mistakes than those who are found out. 

She admits she was involved in the accident so it comes down to what both versions of events are. It could be the circumstances match and she is fully liable, it could be that there is a dispute on what happened and in many such cases insurers will settle on a 50/50 basis as there is no evidence to prove one version of events over the other. 

twopenny said:

Having worked for a solicitor or two you have to prove injury and if must have been severe to loose that person to loose that much money.

Loss of Earnings naturally depends on what a person does for a living and how well they are paid. There are some odd jobs like saturation divers who can be paid a very pretty penny and relatively minor injuries could prevent them from working. A 2 week gig could pay more than £15,000 and its a case of you do all of it or none of it, there isnt the option to lose 2 days and then be helicoptered out to do the other 8 days. 

Medical reports etc will follow on significantly later than the initial letter of claim. 

The accident happened many months ago ,    This writ was only received yesterday .
when the accident occurred my daughter informed to insurers right away ,    As far as I’m aware she never admitted any liability ,     As I said no police involved or witnesses ,       The other person concerned did verbally say at the scene of the accident she thought my daughter was at fault but would not be taking it further. 

my daughters premiums have went up and she got some money for the car which was deemed a write off .
the writ has came totally out the blue ,    My first instinct was to think the woman has had time to think is maybe using a no win no fee method of recovery 
my daughters quite worried and concerned over this ,  

So she already made a claim, which is fine. She just needs to contact them with the original claim reference and say she's now had an approach by the third party. They will reopen the original claim (assuming it's closed) and continue to deal with it. 

Your insurers will have already considered liability and presumably agreed this with your daughter. Had they held the third party liable they would have made efforts to recover the money they paid her. Presumably they told her she was liable based on the cirumstances. It could be they have already been dealing with the third party in relation to the vehicle damage insurer to insurer. 

CliveOfIndia

johnnyren said:

when the accident occurred my daughter informed to insurers right away

To echo what others have said, your daughter did the right thing by informing her insurers.  From that point on, she has nothing to worry about.  Any correspondence she receives (whether from the third-party's solicitors or anyone else), she just needs to pass this on to the company who insured her at the time of the incident, let them deal with it, and stop worrying.  That's what insurance is for.

The insurance company may just pay up, they may contest it in court, they may do something else - all of that matters not one jot to your daughter.

Just forward any and all correspondence to the insurers and let them deal with it.  And, as was mentioned by a previous poster, don't even think about engaging in direct communications with the third-party's solicitors/representative.  That's what you pay your insurance company to do.

saajan_12

johnnyren said:

MyRealNameToo said:

johnnyren said:

Around a year  ago my daughter was involved in a small car collision in a hospital car park ,    I remember at the time her saying no police report was taken , no witnesses nothing ,     The insurance details were exchanged and the other woman stated it wouldn’t go further even though she thought my daughter to blame 
so today my daughter gets a a lawyers writ seeking 15 thousand in loss of earnings due to injuries sustained 
quite obviously to me she’s decided to look after reflection for a potentially easy pay day
Would I not be right in saying with the total lack of proof of liability she is clutching at straws here  
     Thanks 

Did she actually inform her insurers at the time? 

Presumably she has renewed her insurance since?

She needs to pass the letter on to the insurer at the time of the accident. Assuming she has renewed and made a false declaration of having not been involved in any accidents it would also be prudent to admit to her current insurers that she lied on her application as insurers are a little more lenient on those that admit their mistakes than those who are found out. 

She admits she was involved in the accident so it comes down to what both versions of events are. It could be the circumstances match and she is fully liable, it could be that there is a dispute on what happened and in many such cases insurers will settle on a 50/50 basis as there is no evidence to prove one version of events over the other. 

twopenny said:

Having worked for a solicitor or two you have to prove injury and if must have been severe to loose that person to loose that much money.

Loss of Earnings naturally depends on what a person does for a living and how well they are paid. There are some odd jobs like saturation divers who can be paid a very pretty penny and relatively minor injuries could prevent them from working. A 2 week gig could pay more than £15,000 and its a case of you do all of it or none of it, there isnt the option to lose 2 days and then be helicoptered out to do the other 8 days. 

Medical reports etc will follow on significantly later than the initial letter of claim. 

The accident happened many months ago ,    This writ was only received yesterday .
when the accident occurred my daughter informed to insurers right away ,    As far as I’m aware she never admitted any liability ,     As I said no police involved or witnesses ,       The other person concerned did verbally say at the scene of the accident she thought my daughter was at fault but would not be taking it further. 

my daughters premiums have went up and she got some money for the car which was deemed a write off .
the writ has came totally out the blue ,    My first instinct was to think the woman has had time to think is maybe using a no win no fee method of recovery 
my daughters quite worried and concerned over this ,  

Her car was written off but it was a 'minor' accident with zero damages on the other car / person?

I know relatively minor damage can be not cost effective to fix on an older car, but its still likely to be more than a scratch on the other car. At least enough to not think its out of the blue, maybe exaggerated but not entirely hot air. 

What is she worried about - it may well be a (partly) valid claim, but the acutal cost should come from the insurer. 

Myci85

My son was in a similar position this time last year. Involved in a 50/50 fault minor accident in 2023, declared it to insurance and they agreed that it would go down as 50/50 as no evidence to support it was one way or the other. 

Almost a year later he received a massive envelope full of legal documents trying to put blame on him and sue him for damage to the other person's car as well as extortionate hire car costs she had incurred. We also panicked somewhat at this, but forwarded all info on to his insurers to deal with, did not communicate with the solicitors, and have heard nothing more since. 

johnnyren

saajan_12 said:

johnnyren said:

MyRealNameToo said:

johnnyren said:

Around a year  ago my daughter was involved in a small car collision in a hospital car park ,    I remember at the time her saying no police report was taken , no witnesses nothing ,     The insurance details were exchanged and the other woman stated it wouldn’t go further even though she thought my daughter to blame 
so today my daughter gets a a lawyers writ seeking 15 thousand in loss of earnings due to injuries sustained 
quite obviously to me she’s decided to look after reflection for a potentially easy pay day
Would I not be right in saying with the total lack of proof of liability she is clutching at straws here  
     Thanks 

Did she actually inform her insurers at the time? 

Presumably she has renewed her insurance since?

She needs to pass the letter on to the insurer at the time of the accident. Assuming she has renewed and made a false declaration of having not been involved in any accidents it would also be prudent to admit to her current insurers that she lied on her application as insurers are a little more lenient on those that admit their mistakes than those who are found out. 

She admits she was involved in the accident so it comes down to what both versions of events are. It could be the circumstances match and she is fully liable, it could be that there is a dispute on what happened and in many such cases insurers will settle on a 50/50 basis as there is no evidence to prove one version of events over the other. 

twopenny said:

Having worked for a solicitor or two you have to prove injury and if must have been severe to loose that person to loose that much money.

Loss of Earnings naturally depends on what a person does for a living and how well they are paid. There are some odd jobs like saturation divers who can be paid a very pretty penny and relatively minor injuries could prevent them from working. A 2 week gig could pay more than £15,000 and its a case of you do all of it or none of it, there isnt the option to lose 2 days and then be helicoptered out to do the other 8 days. 

Medical reports etc will follow on significantly later than the initial letter of claim. 

The accident happened many months ago ,    This writ was only received yesterday .
when the accident occurred my daughter informed to insurers right away ,    As far as I’m aware she never admitted any liability ,     As I said no police involved or witnesses ,       The other person concerned did verbally say at the scene of the accident she thought my daughter was at fault but would not be taking it further. 

my daughters premiums have went up and she got some money for the car which was deemed a write off .
the writ has came totally out the blue ,    My first instinct was to think the woman has had time to think is maybe using a no win no fee method of recovery 
my daughters quite worried and concerned over this ,  

Her car was written off but it was a 'minor' accident with zero damages on the other car / person?

I know relatively minor damage can be not cost effective to fix on an older car, but its still likely to be more than a scratch on the other car. At least enough to not think its out of the blue, maybe exaggerated but not entirely hot air. 

What is she worried about - it may well be a (partly) valid claim, but the acutal cost should come from the insurer. 

I think it’s just the general shock of receiving such a claim ,    When the other woman couldn’t have been any nicer at the time and both agreed to let the insurance deal with it with no outright claim apportioned ,      It was my daughter's first bump and being the worrying her is ,     I got the first phone call before anyone lol 

chrisw

If your daughter's insurance company have already accepted some liability, it doesn't really make any difference to your daughter whether the claim is for £150 or £150000. Although I can see it's frustrating if she can tell someone's getting away with an obvious inflated claim.