car insurance claim

[davverb]

Hi all,
Before i run through the details and proceed to waste everybodies time is this a good place to ask for legal advice regarding a motor insurance claim against me? Apologies if not.

[des8]

Re: car insurance claim

Hi and Welcome to LB
Post up.
AS it's getting late you might not get all the responses tonight.

[davverb]

Re: car insurance claim

Thankyou Des, here goes....apologies if its hard to follow, or if it seems like drivel

Right... so i have received a letter today (dated 19.02.15 - 12 days ago) saying basically


'sorry to hear about your accident, a claim may have been made against you and we need more details about the incident on the date 01.09.14.'
'costs could be increasing daily so we ask that you telephone asap so that we can best decide how to protect your interests.'
Regards joe bloggs insurance.

I had an incident around the date mentioned and i was with this insurance company so it isn't random speculative phishing.

The incident though was that i slammed on behind a car that stopped in traffic. he got out of his car and angrily stated that i had ran into the back of him. i denied it, and upon inspection of both cars he said i'm sure you did although his tone had calmed some what on realisation that i was a inches away and there wasn't a mark.

Again i continued to deny but given that i was comfortable in what had happened i suggested he take my reg and insurance company and when they get in touch the car will go into the garage and upon inspection see that there was in fact no contact and that would be the end of it.

A couple of weeks later i received a letter from the guy on his company headed paper (company director) with a quote from bmw for x amount of pounds and asking if i would make the cheque payable to his company. I assumed he was trying it on given the request to pay his company and not himself or the garage or even his insurance details. I discarded the letter and thought nothing more of it. After all surely his insurance would have rang mine, or even me?

Although now 6 months later i have received this letter. I'm still sketchy about the whole thing, but now worried too as im sure the insurance company ( my policy finished 4 months ago) are going to ask why i never told them, the reason being i though he was trying it on. And very quickly forgot about it.

I am now worrying so much and getting into quiet a stress over it all.

What do i do? What's going to happen?

Thankyou for taking the time to read, it is much appreciated.


B

[des8]

Re: car insurance claim

You must contact your ex insurers as soon as possible.
It will be a term of your insurance that if there is any possibility of a claim against you , you must inform your insurers.
You should have done this at the time of the incident, as although the vehicles were not touching when you got out of the car, you may have hit him and then bounced back.
You then received a written claim from him which you ignored. Your policy will require that you send all correspondence to your insurers for them to deal with.
By not telling them you have jeopardised their position, and also your own.
The third party might well by now have repaired their vehicle, and your insurers have no chance of examining the vehicle to ascertain the extent of the damage.

He does not have to make a claim against his insurers.
I don't suppose you even asked for his insurance details , address or even made a note of his car's registration number.

Explain as contritely as you can what you have told us.
Your insurers will be unhappy with you, but I expect they will eventually meet the claim

Or you could meet the claim yourself.
Sorry it's not what you wanted to hear

Also tell you current insurers about this claim, cos if there's another claim you might find they will void the current policy on the basis of non disclosure,

[davverb]

Re: car insurance claim

Thanks once again Des,
I (now i know wrongly) Ignored his letter as i just took it as ropey at best with the quote from a dealer yet asking for payment to his business.
Your correct in your assumption of not asking for his details, I didn't feel I needed them for something that didn't happen, I only gave him mine as I didn't need the aggro of arguing and whatever else might come of it. Again I assumed they would do the relevant checks dismiss and we all carry on. The fact I heard nothing for so long I assumed it because his insurance had checked and seen nothing.

I appreciate what your saying with the fact I may have jeopardised the position of my insurance, but surely they wont want to and shouldn't have to pay for something that didn't happen.

I will ring them first thing to inform them and see where it goes from there then. my insurance company have been dreadful on even the simplest of tasks like supply correct no claims cert etc so I am dreading this.

By meet the claim myself, I am thinking it is going to be a lot more than what was on his original dodgy quote? with fees and legals and all kinds added on?

[des8]

Re: car insurance claim

The difficulty for your insurers is it's your word against his, and his vehicle has somewhere apparently suffered damage.
THere are presumably no witnesses except for the damage to the car.

I don't see why there should be any fees or add ons, unless his vehicle is going to be off the road for a time whilst it is (was) repaired and he had to pay for a hire car.
However , now it is in the hands of your insurers I would leave it with them. You can't start negotiating with the other party whilst your insurers are trying to settle the claim

[davverb]

Re: car insurance claim

I will call them first thing, i will post back when i know anything. Thankyou.