county court order stage - how to settle to avoid CCJ being recorded

[PBennet]

Hello ,

 

I am named defendant as my insured car caused damage to fixed traffic kit. I have little chance of winning case at hearing other than disputing some of the costs. I do not wish to have a CCJ in may name due to knock on effects (financial) and I don't trust the insurance co to pay off CCJ within the normal 30 days etc to clear my name/debt.

 

At present my insurance company will not respond to the claimant (aggressive no win no fee agent) while court action is in progress and that I decided to defend it . The reason I defended it I was not sure if the claimant was a sham but tuns out and without my knowledge had already been in correspondence with my insurance co for 3 months + who had appointed a loss assessor but did not respond very fast or at least fast enough for the claimant. My insurance co verbally indicated that once the CCJ was issued they would be obliged under Road Traffic Act to pay 3rd party costs t - they just wont guarantee that they will pay it or to pay it in time so as not to have the CCJ registered - in my name.

 

So my fear is I will get a CCJ that I cant do much about , ideally I want the insurance co to negotiate with claimant and settle it before the hearing and further costs etc and before a CCJ is made .

 

If anyone has any ideas how I can force /assist the two parties to negotiate to settle out of court please advise as hearing is now less than 1 month ( order received today).

 

Also I noted my order received today says ' because this order without hearing the parties have right to apply for set aside , varied or stayed' - This is my first time in this situation , does this give me any option to stop /delay the process?

 

Also if the CCJ proceeds and awarded against me - can I take any steps now to reduce risk of CCJ being recorded in my name assuming it will be a case of getting my insurance to pay the claimant and all the time that entails .

 

First time in this court process , if I should /can speak to someone etc please advise

 

Thanks in advance.

[Ganymede]

Hi how much is the claim for please?

[PBennet]

Hi , just under 5k before interest and costs so total about 6k

[Ganymede]

So it's a small claim for property damage only? Who is the Claimant?

 

You cannot claim legal fees in the small claims track so a bit surprised by your comment that the Claimant's solicitors are acting on a 'no win no fee' unless this is just your assumption.

[PBennet]

Yes its small claims court . Rather not name the parties unless it important

 

The people chasing me are : 'Accident Claims Specialists, Dedicated To Recovering Your Lossses, dedicated to the recovery of losses resulting from accidents.' So not solicitors , must take some kind of fee , however the bill the very inflated so may be that s where they make there margin

 

The claimant is very large public owned transport entity : , but even though they are the named claimant the firm above are requesting payment made to them .

 

Initially I thought it might be a [problem] but he insurance company have been corresponding with them so they must be known in the industry.

 

What I am concerned about is 'expert witness' costs they may try to claim ? and can they charge for police reports etc if I try to fight them ?

 

Thanks for the interest

[Ganymede]

On what grounds would you fight them?

 

Is there more to the story as you said your car hit some sstationary traffic kit?

[PBennet]

My big concern is the insurance co has basically washed their hands of it as I initially responded with my own 'defence' , now I need to get them on side but how? They have already said I may be liable for any 'additional legal costs ' so helps to know solicitor costs are limited in small claims court so cant run away . As I said the insurance company were corresponding with the claimant for some months without my knowledge and not sure if they are just bluffing me as they wont put their position in writing - its an easy get out for them as I expect it says in the policy to pass everything legal onto them - however I am the one that will get the CCJ in my name not them if they fail to respond tot the court or lose a the court case. ( I only realise now that it is always the individual who is named on court cases not 'abc insurance co' even though its the insurance co who is doing the negotiating (- if I'm wrong on this let me know -seems unfair) .

 

( Re your point : if the stationary object was not illuminated fully for example ? if it was a skip then the skip owner/operator would have some liability but not sure about traffic island etc .Get into all kinds of technical issues and traffic laws etc , they just call in some 'expert' if I challenge them and add to the costs , I think 'expert' costs may be limited to £200 per case?

 

If I thought my liability to my own insurance co for 'additional legal costs ' was say max £300 then that is manageable but if potentially much higher then that would be a concern).

[Ganymede]

It may help if you gave us the exact accident circumstances.