Writing particulars of claim for road traffic accident

[kyuzokyuzo]

Hello,

 

I am trying to write a Particulars of Claim for a small claim against someone who has driven into me with their car. I was not injured, but the bicycle I was on was damaged. The driver was clearly at fault and agreed to pay for any repairs at the scene. She also later sent me text messages saying she was happy to pay for any repairs. She later changed her mind, and has ignored all contact. I have sent a letter before action and I am now preparing to submit an online money claim.

 

When writing the particulars of claim I understand that you are normally meant to refer to the particular Act that is relevant, but I am not sure in this case what I should be referring to – should I say that she was driving without due care and attention (and refer to Road traffic act)? I’m concerned that if I do, I would then have to prove that she was driving carelessly, this seems less straight forward than simply relying on the fact that she had agreed to pay (admitted fault) and is now going back on her word (and text messages).

 

I understand this isn't a consumer issue, but I was hoping someone here might have experience writing a claim.

 

Many thanks for any help.

[BankFodder]

There is no relevant Act of Parliament in this case.

You will be suing in negligence.

 

Have you kept the text messages?

Make sure you do. Find a way to print them out and also make sure that you keep them on the phone to show the judge.

 

Your POC will broadly be.

 

The claimant was riding his bicycle on the XXX road on XXX date at XXX time.

The defendant by her negligent driving collided with the claimant causing damage to the claimant's bicycle.

 

Particulars of negligence:

The defendant was negligent in that

she failed to see the claimant

failed to take avoiding action

failed to brake

failed to drive according to the conditions of the road

 

blah blah - you need to tell us what happened

 

Particulars of damage

The claimant's bicycle suffered substantial damage and had to be repaired/replaced ( a full breakdown has been supplied to the defendant) - value £XXX

 

The claimant also suffered loss

The claimant has been obliged to pay for fares for the period of repair

needed taxi home

was obliged to pay for transportation of bike etc - - you get the picture £XXXX

 

And the Claimants seeks --- total value

 

I believe that the facts in this POC are true

 

Signed

[kyuzokyuzo]

There is no relevant Act of Parliament in this case.

You will be suing in negligence.

 

Have you kept the text messages?

Make sure you do. Find a way to print them out and also make sure that you keep them on the phone to show the judge.

 

Your POC will broadly be.

 

Thanks very much, that's very helpful. I still have the text messages - I was unsure of how I would present them in court but I thought I might take photos of them on the phone and print out copies of the photos. Then as you say, I could also produce the phone itself.

[BankFodder]

Write the woman a letter before action.

Lay out exactly what happened and that she admitted liability verbally and in writing and that if she does not pay the full cost within 14 days, you will issue a claim without any further notice.

 

You will have to include copies of two quotes for the repair or the replacement.

 

Be careful - she may then try to say that she is putting it through her insurance and that you have to wait. DO NOT fall for this.

Any claim she has is between herself and her insurers and there is no reason why you you should suffer any delay.

Send the letter and then just sue her if she doesn't pay.

[letsmakeamark]

Does the car driver have insurance if so your first port of call would be to contact them. Take it from there. AQs eventually they may turn around and query this.

[kyuzokyuzo]

Does the car driver have insurance if so your first port of call would be to contact them. Take it from there. AQs eventually they may turn around and query this.

 

I have called her insurance and given them the details of the incident, this was just over a week ago - so far she hasn't responded to them.

 

I will give it some time, and I am still hopeful that the insurance will resolve it. But I was working on the assumption that if she refuses to respond, or denies that she was at fault, her insurance will not be able to take it any further and I will not be reimbursed for the damage. I'm not sure if this is the case though - I would imagine the insurance company would not be happy with her for not reporting that she was in an accident, but I wasn't sure what they would do about that.

 

In which case, I figured my only way of getting the money back is to claim against her.

[letsmakeamark]

Her insurance will have to deal with it. Out of curiosity which company is it ?

[kyuzokyuzo]

It's Insure the Box. I called them again today and they said they have not heard back from her, they said they'd send another letter today giving her 14 days to respond. After that apparently they will pay me the claim "without prejudice" if she still hasn't replied.

[letsmakeamark]

Wait and see what they say and give them resonable time.