Received County Court Claim for Car Accident

[anitasarawak]

Hi everyone,

 

My partner has been involved in car accident in June 2010.

He drove a very old car and bumped into a Mazda drove by a woman.

His car had to be written off but the Mazda that was bumped into only suffered from dent and scratches, and could still be used to drive.

 

He gave his insurance details to the woman who drove another car.

 

Since then, this woman had never made any insurance claim whatsoever.

His car had been written off in December 2010 just before Christmas and since then he terminated his insurance.

My partner didn't need the car anyway since his office is just two minutes walk from our apartment.

 

All of sudden he received a county court claim today from a solicitor (no win no fee solicitor) acting on behalf of the Mazda woman.

The woman is now claiming for the cost of car hire of a Mercedes (instead of a Mazda equivalent!) for a week, amounting to £2400 in total.

 

No claim was made about the dent or scratches.

 

The county court claim did not attach any bill or other evidence, nor mentioned why didn't she claim from my partner's insurance or why it took her two years to file a claim.

Plus the car hire was way over the top of what she should have hired, and her Mazda could still be used even after the accident.

Even though the accident was his fault but he's not prepared to pay the claim at all since the woman should have contacted his insurance to settle the claim.

 

1) What should my partner do next?

 

2) Does he need to pass the claim to his insurance (he's no longer with them now but he was with the insurance company when the insurance happened.

He didn't inform the insurance company since he had hoped that the woman would have contacted the insurance to claim for the money)?

 

3) Which one is better:

enter the defence by himself or hire a no win no fee solicitor?

 

4) If he wants to defend himself and enters a defence,

does he need to lay down all of his arguments as to why he shouldn't be paying the claim?

He's afraid that if he does this, the claimant's solicitor might change tactics.

 

5) Is there a list of solicitors that my partner can contact about this?

 

Thank you kindly.

 

Anita

[ims21]

Thread moved to Legal forum

[unclebulgaria67]

The court claim needs to be passed onto the Insurers they had at the time of the accident. Suggest that it is sent onto them by recorded delivery, with a covering letter noting the Policy number. Ask them to acknowledge receipt by return and that they will be dealing with it.

[rebel11]

Hi anita

 

When did your partner report the accident to the insurance company?

[Ganymede]

Rebel, the OP's partner didn't report it.

 

Anita, your partner needs to do what Unclebulgeria said ASAP and send the claim to his insurer at the time for them to deal with it.

 

Your partner should not try and deal with it himself.

[anitasarawak]

The court claim needs to be passed onto the Insurers they had at the time of the accident. Suggest that it is sent onto them by recorded delivery, with a covering letter noting the Policy number. Ask them to acknowledge receipt by return and that they will be dealing with it.

 

Thank you unclebulgaria 67. My partner is going to call them tomorrow to inform about it. My question is, since my partner didn't inform his insurance when this happened, as he was relying on the claimant to contact the insurance directly, can the insurance turn my partner down? He was with his insurance company when the accident took place and about six months later he wrote off his car and terminated the insurance, because he no longer drives a car since then. Is this going to be a problem? Thank you kindly. Anita

[Ganymede]

As long as there was an insurance certificate issued by his insurer they have a legal duty to deal with the third party's claim.

[anitasarawak]

Hi Rebel11, my partner didn't report it since he was relying on the claimant to contact his insurance directly. His car had to be written off six months later, and he hasn't driven any car since then, so he also terminated his insurance.

[anitasarawak]

Thanks Ganymede. So this means that the insurance should deal with it even if he didn't notify them after the accident took place?

 

My partner is going to contact the insurance tomorrow, ask for the contact details to send the claim and send it to the insurance by special delivery. Then what should he do for the county court claim? Should he send the acknowledgement and ask the claimant to be in contact with the insurance directly, and stop contacting my partner? Is this the right way? Thank you kindly, you have no idea how stressful we are at the moment. Thank you

[Ganymede]

I would hold fire until he speaks with his old insurance company. As them what they want you to do with the Claim Form etc. Odds are they will want their guys to deal with it.

[rebel11]

All accidents should be reported immediately however small, this could be a 'sticking point' it might not be.