Slimm
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I find it amusing that the Govt is grabbing headlines by promising to tackle injury claims whilst hire cases are just as bad as not worse. It sounds like the fault insurers feel either the duration or rate was excessive, they probably have a point. Sometimes I see cars worth £500 racking up hire bills of £5000. You don't need to worry too much about tactics in court, it's worth going in with the paperwork provide plus a one-page note of basic info like when you got the hire car, when you gave it back and whether the vehicle itself was required. If you already have two other cars, probably not - if you have a Ford and they gave you a Ferrari, probably not. You will not be subjected to any kind of aggressive examination so just keep it simple, stick to the facts and go for yes/no answers when you can. It will be more like a business meeting than a big criminal trial and you'll mostly be confirming the evidence provided by the accident management co. There's probably only about a 5% chance it will run as far as you being questioned. It may well be agreed the day before or just before the hearing when the barristers meet.
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Unfortunately payments alone prove nothing. Say someone get payments of £3000 a month, if their cost of doing business is £3100 a month they have no loss to claim from the insurers. Obviously that's an unlikely scenario but hopefully you see the point - it's not about what you get paid, its about net income after all possible variable expenses, tax and NI. Things like accounts & tax returns show income AND expenditure as well as tax/NI paid. Since you don't have any for your current occupation then you may struggle to evidence a loss. Suggest you provide them (or equivalent) for your previous job and if you feel your new net earnings are higher than you will need a well drafted argument to show exactly why, explaining not just your income but also your projected expenditure and estimated tax/NI bill. If you didn't have earnings before 8 months ago things get more complicated and you are pretty much down to what you think you can convince a Judge you earn after expenses/tax/NI.
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Simply say that you didn't realise you needed to report non-fault claims but have subsequently been told that you probably do. Make it clear that the other driver accepts responsibility and that you have a letter from his insurers offering their services. Your insurers will probably ask you for the claim reference from his insurers letter and give them a ring to check no claim is being made against you. As Uncle Bulgaria says insurers are used to this, they will realise there was no intended malice on your part. It's not as if you ran someone over and didn't report it, that would be a very different conversation!
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That letter sounds very much like he told his insurers exactly what happened. They're not threatening you with anything, they're actually offering to sort you out with a hire car whilst your (potential) repairs are ongoing. Your insurance policy probably specifies that you should report ANY accident - but that does not mean that everyone does when the accident is trivial or non-fault. Under the circumstances you're not likely to be in much, if any, trouble.
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You cannot really approach the other side until you have clarified the position with your own insurers. It sounds as if they are saying that the engineer ignored the damage when they valued your car, however they are rather oddly refusing to evidence this. If the engineer did indeed ignore the damage you have no right to claim against the TPI as you have already been fully compensated. I would suggest you ask for and follow your own insurers complaint process, ask again for the report and assert that you will go the ombudsman if you are not satisfied with their response.
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First thing Monday ask for either:- 1) A copy of the engineers report , or 2) A payment to make up the difference, less your excess If you got a quote for £1800 for repairs then ask for that, less excess but be prepared to settle for less to get the matter resolved in a timely fashion. If you don't mind a wait then feel free to follow their complaints process and threaten to go to the ombudsman.
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No. Some more numbers would help, however for example:- Car is worth 5k to start with. After accident 1 it's worth 3k. After accident 2 happens you are paid our 3k, less your excess. You should still be entitled to the 2k difference (less excess - recoverable from fault driver) between the original value and the value between the two accidents. Get a full copy of the engineers report. If the end value has indeed been reduced due to accident 1 then you have the choice of an argument with your own insurers or approaching the insurers for the fault driver from accident 1 for the difference between the original value and pre-accident 2 value - sometimes called 'diminution'. If the car was valued without a physical inspection/report you may struggle given that it sounds like you agreed the settlement.
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In most cases a statement to an insurance investigator will go into much more detail (about 4 times more) than one to the police. If the statement to the police was a roadside one then its more like 10 times more. The questions asked will be slightly different too, naturally the police are only interested in whether the law was broken. Compliance with this request is almost certain to be a term/condition of the policy you took out. If you break your contract then your insurers may refuse to indemnify you. If you've seriously breached your policy (ie, driving without a valid licence) then yes, obviously the investigator will tell the insurers to limit their expenses, however declining to assist will do the same thing or worse. If you've been largely honest then all it costs you is 30 minutes, a cup of tea and a jammy dodger. They're not going to be looking to stitch you up just because you made a human error like not checking your blind spot very well. You are absolutely not required by law to assist, but it's almost certainly a good idea financially to do so, especially if you are disputing liability for the accident.
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The insurance policy booklet will very likely state what they agree to in terms of replacement parts, often this depends on the age of the vehicle.
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If you want to avoid a deduction from your damages you can always go back to Admiral, they may well be willing to fund treatment or a medical report and then make a better offer afterwards. Just remember never to sign anything in full and final settlement unless you are 100% sure you feel it is fair. The more seriously you take your injury (going back to GP if it doesn't improve, doing treatment etc) the more they will offer. Keep receipts for anything you might want them to reimburse you for and keep a track of travel that was caused by the accident/injury.
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MCE Insurance cancelled policy on a technicality - Conviction quashed ICOBS
Slimm replied to Ayma's topic in Motor Insurance
Any chance of some dates? When was the policy taken out, when was it cancelled and when was the accident? Have the insurers admitted that at no point did they ask you to actually evidence your CBT? -
Sounds like the solicitors have dragged their heels for two years, the whole thing probably would have been over and done with quite some time ago had you approached the MIB directly. Like Ganymede suggests, if they no longer wish to stand by the original agreement then get rid of them. I certainly wouldn't sign over 30% plus mystery disbursements (expenses) on a straightforward case - especially since you almost at their mercy as far as the disbursements go. The MIB are used to dealing with claims like this and will be able to guide you. Definitely ask them about timescales - the limit is 3 years from the date of the accident for normal English/Welsh motor injury cases - you need to have either agreed settlement of the claim or issued court proceedings, otherwise you lose the right to do so. If I recall rightly with the MIB untraced agreement you just need to make the application before the three year mark but it's well worth checking. I'd suggest you strongly contest any charges from the solicitors on the grounds that they are no further along than when you instructed them. I'm assuming you provided full and correct info at the outset so they should have known from the outset that the guilty party was unidentified.
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Not a great case if that's definitely all the evidence she has. There's nothing to say she didn't open the door as he was already entering his space and nothing to say she wasn't encroaching on 'his' space. She could certainly run to trial but there is a risk the Judge would go 50:50 or even prefer the other drivers version of events if they present their version of events well. The worst case scenario is she issues, he presents a counter claim for personal injury and wins, leaving your sister thousands of pounds of legal fees.
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You're assuming the other driver says what actually happened instead of just making something up that fits the damage and hoping the Judge buys it. It's not like they'll have told their solicitors that you had the right of way and then they pulled in front of you. 50:50 means the defendant pays 50% of the claim, or in the case of RTA's their insurers do.
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Probably a credit to next premium, but be warned roundabout accidents with no witnesses do often go 50-50. The good news is that if the other side haven't evidenced their claim they probably don't fancy their chances. Generally speaking an adult involved in a motor accident in England/Wales has 3 years to issue court proceedings, then a further 4 months to serve them.
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