False insurance claim - possible court hearing

Starling01

My husband and I were in an accident several months ago, that wasn't our fault. A vehicle reversed into us at quite some speed whilst attempting to park. The driver accepted responsibility,  we exchanged insurance details and thought that was that. 

Several days ago, we received a letter from our insurer, advising that the other side were refusing to accept liability, and were now claiming that we crashed into them. We were offered the option to settle or to go to court. Whilst, we weren't at fault, we wanted to avoid court, so we agreed to split the cost, whilst advising the insurer that we weren't changing our story. 

We have today received a message advising that the other side want to go to court and are refusing to accept any liability whatsoever. 

Sadly, we did not have a dashcam, there were no independent witnesses and no one obtained CCTV from the area as we assumed that the other party was doing the decent thing, and taking responsibility. 

We are inclined towards just taking responsibility, whilst pointing out that we are maintaining our story. We can't afford to go to court and aren't in the best of health, so don't need the stress. Has anyone had any similar experiences or does anyone have any helpful advice? 

Starling01

PS: I'm particularly concerned about costs and what these might be if we win or lose. We do have legal protection cover on the car policy.

Nasqueron

Your insurance will cover the costs, that is what they are there for, don't back out, just be honest on the day

A court case would be done based on what is deemed more believable, were you hit in the front (such that you could, in theory, have driven into them?)

Woodstok2000

Did you take any photos at all of the position of the cars, damage etc?

MyRealNameToo

Starling01 said:

PS: I'm particularly concerned about costs and what these might be if we win or lose. We do have legal protection cover on the car policy.

Legal protection is unnecessary for defending a claim or for your insurers trying to recover your insured losses but instead are for assisting you to recover your uninsured losses (eg excess, loss of earnings, injuries etc). 

Your only costs would getting yourselves to the court (if it goes that far) and if you had to use holiday to get time off work, 

Starling01

Thanks everyone for your comments so far. In answer to various questions:

@Woodstok2000 we got photos of the damage but unfortunately away from the accident scene. It was a busy road, so the other driver moved to a quieter spot and we followed. 

@Nasqueron We were hit in the front and the damage could support their argument.  However, without going into detail publicly, it could also.in part, validate our story. Thanks for the advice.

@MyRealNameToo Useful information, thanks.

Grey_Critic

Some years ago a friend of mine was Hit? by a car. The other party was most effusive in his sorries. My mates wife too some photos as a matter of course but there was minimal damage. 

A few days later they received a claim for major damage and injuries. I spoke with their insurance company as she struggled to download/forward the photos and agreed I would do it for them. 

My friends were most upset but the insurers told them not to worry. The other party were known to them as a cash for crash outfit and were under investigation - the photos they had sent to back up the claim were totally different from those my friends wife had taken

Mildly_Miffed

The damage is likely to be very similar from whether you drove forward into them or they reversed into you.

With no other evidence, it comes to the credibility of each claim. And, unfortunately for you, one of the scenarios is FAR more common than the other.

You have no choice, really. You have delegated the decision on how to deal with this to your insurer. You have agreed to co-operate fully with their actions. Read your insurance policy - because you did both of these when you submitted the claim.

You have to do exactly that. You have to co-operate, and you have to abide by the decision - whether the insurers agree among themselves, or whether the court decides on the evidence presented.

If you just shrug and change your story now, your insurer have the option of handing you the bill for the difference in their costs between admitting liability at the time, and now. Will they? Unlikely, but possible.
If you stick to your story, they cover your costs if you lose.

Frozen_up_north

While it is too late to help, and many don’t think at the time, using your phone on video to record the scene, while talking to the other party could be irrefutable evidence (as would a dash cam).
Some time ago a woman drove into the back of my car while I was stationary at a roundabout, her opening comment was “I’m sorry the kids distracted me”, priceless 😎