Serious Help/advice needed.....

[embo]

Ok - in june of last year my husband was in an accident, some bloke smashed into the back of him..

to cut a long story short Norwich union the insurers were dreadful and the claim went on and on in a ridiculous way..

first it was written off, then it wasnt then it was..etc etc..

the other party said it wasnt him, then he wasnt involved at all, then it wasnt him again. he would not accept liability so it was to go to court.

it really has been a mess. In the end my husband got the car back, but was not the same as before the crash and sold it on..actually quite some time ago.

whilst all this is going on the third parties solicitor was constantly sending letters saying your insurers are not replying to our letters.

the insurers appointed my husband a solicitor to deal with the claim..who raised a court date against the other party.. every thing seemed to be going ahead, when all of a sudden morwich union decided my husband would not be using this solicitor at all and gave them a contact for a different solicitors.

However by this time we had a letter from the courts saying that the third party's solicitor had filed a claim and he was due in court on a certain very close date. Hubby then got into a panic and statred to contact this new solicitor who for days did not know who he was (as his file was lost)

eventually a solicitor at this firm said dont worry we have managed to get the other party to agree to an extension - it is in our hands dont worry about it..

we heard nothing then for ages and ages (infact never heard any thing ever)... assuming every thing would be ok and we would hear when the new court date would be etc..

However at the weekend we received a letter throught the post from an external company saying "would you need help with your ccj for £3889"

well my husband then rang this company to find out what the hell they were going on about as he has no ccj's..

only to find out that it is due to this court case... The solicitors did not turn up - the other party won and now he is left with a ccj and has to pay this money !...

He called the insurance just now and they said "oh - this was closed a while ago - you lost the case"

well i is the first we heard. we have received no letter from the solicitor advising of this...in fact nothing from them at all - not even a "hello - we are dealing with your case" letter..

What can we do about this...We are so angry.. what is the point in paying for insurance and extra for a solicitor when all you end up with is loosing a car you love, £850 excess - receiving a ccj and having to pay nearly £4000 for the privalidge.

Any help any one?

[callumsgran]

God! what a nightmare, get in touch with the insurance ombudsman and do a google search about rogue solicitors i'm sure they have their own ombudsman as you can complain if solicitors have not treated you right
good luck with this

[embo]

Thanks Cillitbanger

thats another thing..

Ages ago because of the appaling treatment we did contact the ombudsman, and norwich union seemed to step up a gear for all of 5 minutes and gave my husband a £100 good will gesture.

i will have a look re rogue solicitors too

thanks

[bed32]

I think the Law Society are the regulating body for solicitors - get onto them.

Unfortunately they are of course a trade body rather than an independent regulator so by all accounts they tend to be on the side of the solicitors

You may also be able to apply to the court to have the judgement set aside

[embo]

Thanks Bed 32.
I am so angry about this..

I have an update already - My husband managed to speak to the solicitor (the second one who said it was under control) just now..

And they said...

"oh we thought solicitor 1 was dealing with it"............which is why we didnt turn up..

so hubby said i am not paying this money and i want this ccj off my file

so the solicitor said.. "ok we will file an appeal and the ccj can be overturned"

does this sound like a fob off?

can an appeal be made?

[beccus]

embo

My name is Becca Sibley and i work at NU in the Customer Relations department, I'm sorry that you've had such a crappy time.

Would you let me look into this for you? If you could send me some details, such as your policy number and claim number to my work email address (rebecca.sibley@norwich-union.co.uk).

Thanks
Becca

[bed32]

I don't see why they should fob you off - if it is a genuine mistake then they should be anxious to sort it out and at this point there doesn't seem to be any reason to doubt that it is a genuine mistake. It might be nice to get something from them in writing

They certainly can apply for the judgement to be set aside and I would imagine you will succeed (that doesn't mean you win, just that you haven't lost either).

[embo]

Ok - will see how it goes for now..

Thanks for all your help..

Becca thanks for your help too.. I will see how we get on for now, and if we still have no luck with the solictor maybe you will be able to help at a later date?

[beccus]

Originally Posted by embo

Ok - will see how it goes for now..

Thanks for all your help..

Becca thanks for your help too.. I will see how we get on for now, and if we still have no luck with the solictor maybe you will be able to help at a later date?

Of course, the offer is always there!
Becca

[cecilrhode]

A CCJ can be set aside in some circumstances, eg
How to set aside a Judgment in the County Court

WHEN WILL THE COURT AGREE TO SET ASIDE A JUDGMENT

The county court rules set out when you can apply to set aside a judgment. National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 12 How To Set Aside A Judgment In The County Court gives these examples:

• you may not have received the original claim form;
• you may have moved house and not had post from your previous address;
• an order was made against you in your absence in certain circumstances;
• there may be an error in the judgment;
• you want to put in a defence and did not have the opportunity to do this;
• the proceedings did not follow the court rules.

I imagine you did want to make a defence, but weren't able to because the 2 solicitors mixed things up and you weren't told of the court date. I suggest you talk to the 2nd firm and find out waht they are going to do and if they intend charging and take it from there

If the CCJ is set aside it means you start again with each of you having to prove your point.

I think you need to be asking NU what your cover entitled you to. If you had fully comp insurance, you should've been able to claim off your own insurance regardless of fault, and if/when it was established that it wasn't your fault, your no claims would be reinstated.

Money, tax and benefits contacts : Directgov - Directories gives usful info about CCJs including teh link to teh site above.

[embo]

Ok - here is an update..

a reply from the solicitor yesterday:

I have spoken with Birkenhead County Court today and they have confirmed that the Consent Order setting aside judgment has now been approved by a District Judge. The Order is currently waiting to be typed and the Court will post this to us shortly.

In view of the above, I have today filed the Defence & Counterclaim with Birkenhead County Court.

I expect to receive a copy of the approved Order from Birkenhead County Court in the next few days and I will forward this on as soon as it is received.

So what does this mean exactly.. the case will start again?

How can we now get the ccj removed does any one know what the next step to take should be?

Many Thanks

[Trojan1401]

Embo,

The CCJ arose from lack of communication between your insurers ( the Sols being their representitives )and the Third Party's ( TP ) insurers hence application was made by the TP to the court. It would now appear that NU have lost the opportunity to defend however the onus should still be on them to pay, including costs.

Beccus has offered assistance here and suggest you PM her to obtain name of senior claims manager who you can forward copies of all correspondence you have and effectively start again. Not being an expert in claims I'm not sure whether NU will be able to subrogate against TP / TP insurers but I'm sure claims dept will advise you in due course.

Do not attempt to mitigate this yourself, leave it up to the insurers. Once settled either way, they should be able to instruct the court to remove CCJ.

[beccus]

As Trojan says, i'm happy to look into this - mail me/PM me if you wish.

Becca

[madmaxctr]

I'm a motor claims handler so PM me if you want any help with anything.

Anyway as the judgement has been set aside NU can know ack the claim form and enter a defence and counter claim for your loss (NU's outlay/cost of the repairs and any ULR's u have, excess, hire charges, PI etc etc)

What i can't understand is now there's a liability dispute if it was a hit in rear claim. Is the TP alleging your husband cut him up/changed lanes or is it not as simple as a 'straight forward hit in rear'.

Also I don't rate NU at all, in particular NU Direct, there a waste of space. So don't insure with them in future.