Claim received after being fined in court

[Misunderstanding_One]

Hello,

I am looking for some advice regarding a motoring offense I received a conviction of at the beginning of the year. Just to clarify, this was an honest mistake on my part - I was insured on my car and drove my next car thinking I was covered but wasn't. I mis interpreted the small print in my policy (as confirmed a common mistake by the prosecution during my hearing!)

I had an accident and hit a parked car which was deemed a write off. At court, the prosecution charged me with driving with no insurance and I received an IN10 judgement. The prosecution then said they will make a claim through the Motor Insurance Board and the judge accepted this and deemed I was to pay the excess on the petitioners insurance policy (which I have).

 

I then thought the matter was settled as I have been charged in court for this.

 

I have just received a personal claim form from the owner's solicitor of the parked car claiming for the full amount of the damaged vehicle. I am wondering where I stand here as I have heard nothing for over six months and this has come out of the blue.

 

Any kind of advice would be really appreciated as this is my first offense (I am over 40 years old!)

 

Thanks in advance!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

The court deals with the offences, the damage claim is a civil matter.

[reallymadwoman]

Unfortunately as you were not insured you are liable for all the damage caused.

 

Though the other party could make a claim to the MIB, they would subsequently claim the amount from you anyway.

 

Ideally the other party should have contacted you before issuing a court claim, but this won't really affect the eventual outcome. You can ask them to detail exactly how the claim has been calculated if you think anything unreasonable, but other than that your only real option is to make an offer of payment at a level you can realistically afford.

[Misunderstanding_One]

Thanks for the replies. I wasn't trying to avoid paying, it just seemed a little suspicious receiving this letter after so long (the amount of [causing problems] these days makes me paranoid!)

I will respond to the solicitor accepting liability and arrange the payments to be made.

 

Thanks once again

[BanditQueen]

Hello,

I am looking for some advice regarding a motoring offense I received a conviction of at the beginning of the year. Just to clarify, this was an honest mistake on my part - I was insured on my car and drove my next car thinking I was covered but wasn't. I mis interpreted the small print in my policy (as confirmed a common mistake by the prosecution during my hearing!)

I had an accident and hit a parked car which was deemed a write off. At court, the prosecution charged me with driving with no insurance and I received an IN10 judgement. The prosecution then said they will make a claim through the Motor Insurance Board and the judge accepted this and deemed I was to pay the excess on the petitioners insurance policy (which I have).

 

I then thought the matter was settled as I have been charged in court for this.

 

I have just received a personal claim form from the owner's solicitor of the parked car claiming for the full amount of the damaged vehicle. I am wondering where I stand here as I have heard nothing for over six months and this has come out of the blue.

 

Any kind of advice would be really appreciated as this is my first offense (I am over 40 years old!)

 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

As I used to work for an insurance company for many years in motor claims: the court has already dealt with the offence but the owner has the right to claim from you all out of pocket expenses not covered by their insurance and any other loss or injury if they received any personal injour. This is a civil matter, not a criminal one. I will not go into the insurance, but basically when you told them, it may not have been covered at once if you wrote to them or emailed them as they may not have picked up the message for a couple of days. You are covered from when they put you on cover. You should always phone a company with a change of vehicle or driver and tell them that you need cover to begin at once as you need to tax a new car. They will ask you if you have brought the new car. They can then put the details straight onto the computer and issue you with a cover note and confirm that you are covered and the time that you are covered from. Even if you do the change on line it is not wise to drive the new car until you receive either a cover note or the full new certificate. Most certs these days have a dedicated reg no of the car: the old ones used to have any vehicle but you still had to notify of a change of vehicle and get a cover note. There must have been a delay in your telling them of the new car and also of them issuing cover. It is a common mistake by the public but it is your responsibility to read the terms and conditions and the certificate and the cover documents to know how you are covered and your duties to the insurance company. Insurance documents are legal documents and you have a legal duty to inform of a main change such as name, address, occupation drivers, cars, vehicle being garaged or not, accidents, driving offences and so on. Have you infomed your insurance of your conviction? If not it is vital that you do so at once.

 

The fact remains that at the time of the accident at which you seem to have been deemed at fault you did not have the insurance and so the person and their insurance company cannot claim all excess or cover back of your insurance. They can only reclaim their loss of you. Under the Road Traffic Act they can claim their excess which the court ordered. The private party can also claim the full loss. why should they be out of pocket if you caused the accident? Now he could just claim on their insurance but his or hers insurance will go up and they will lose part of their no claims bonus for something not their fault. That is not fair on them. They have to tell their insurance company about the incident: they do not have to put it on their insurance. They can claim the loss from you. That may seem unfair but that is the way it is. You had no insurance so how are they meant to claim their loss?

 

Now when they go to court they will have to prove off course that they too where insured and that they did not have the loss covered by the insurance. They can still claim the differences such as how much it has increased at renewal due to a loss of NCB that they cannot regain. They can claim for the excess which you have paid. They may be able to claim for any other out of pocket such as a hire car. I would not bother to challenge this if I where you. I would challenge that the insurance did not pay for their own damage. You may get some of the claim reduced. It is only a civil claim in your local court. The CAB can help you with a defence and the forms to defend the case. Just answer with the truth, do not evade or lie and ask if the insurance covered anything at all. That is something that the judge should find out. You may then only have to pay part of the claim. It is up to the court not the person making the claim. But yes they do have the right to make this claim.

 

Finally, I am sure that you will not make this error again and it is only a minor offense. It will affect your premiums in the future so be prepared for that and make sure you are aware of any companies policies on this and stick to the bigger more decent ones; many of the smaller ones will not insure anyone with a motering offence, many of the larger ones will. Try to put this behind you and if you cannot afford the claim then fill in the means form with it and explain that as well and agree a payment plan with the court.

 

Good luck. It is not the end of the world. You will get to the end of tis, and the hearing will only be 15-20 mins at most. It is quite informal so do not worry.

 

Cheers

[Ethel Street]

I don't think court action has been brought against the OP at this stage, solictors can't normally start proceedings without following the pre-action protocols. I'm not sure exactly what OP means by "a personal claim form from the owner's solicitor" but it sounds like the solicitor holding the OP liable and seeking information on how the OP is going to respond. If OP agrees to pay the amount requested that'll prsumably be the end of it and no court proceedings will be needed. OP would be well advised to get advice from CAB before reprlying though. It's not normally advisable to admit liability because you don't know whatfurther claims might follow. The more common approach would be to agree to pay the amount requested without admission of liability. CAB can advise how to word this.

[Ganymede]

, it just seemed a little suspicious receiving this letter after so long (the amount of [problem]ming these days makes me paranoid!)

 

 

 

 

6 months is hardly a long time.