Received a claim from Hadfield and Co Solicitors

**CLL1** · 27th January 2019, 09:55:AM

Can you post up a copy of what you've received from the court for us to have a look at?

**des8** · 27th January 2019, 10:19:AM

Originally posted by Project101 View Post

Hi,
Upon receiving the claim I called the insurance company and the brokers who I went through about this to actually find out what was going on. They both told me there is no record me holding a policy with them. The insurance company specifically said they can see details From the last 13 years and that there was nothing they could see regarding me. I did provide them all of my details so I’m sure they would have found me if it was on there.

Are you saying that neither the brokers, nor the insurance company you were insured with, have any record of you??

What do you recall about your car insurance for that period?
Were you involved in any incident which gave rise to a claim?
If so can you provide us with the details (minus identification) ?

**Project101** · 27th January 2019, 21:42:PM

RHi,
CLL1 Unable to upload the picture using the standard feature, I will try and find a file hosting website where I can upload and post a link, if anyone has any that would be good.

des8 yes I have contacted both the brokers and the insurance comany who have said they have no record of me being a customer.

I did not have any accidents when I had my policy with them. I received a letter from an insurance company about a car that had been involved in an accident but this was not from my company and the vehicle registration was not my car so I think this may have been a mistake and unrelated.

I did have an engineer visit me to see if there was damage on my car but I was never told that someone was making a claim against me, my car always remained damage free and the engineer who came to visit also said there was no damage on my car so not sure what this person was claiming.

Thanks,

**des8** · 27th January 2019, 22:53:PM

So acknowledge claim form and tick box for full defence.

can you post up full wording of the particulars of claim

**Project101** · 28th January 2019, 09:37:AM

Hi,

UPloaded an image of the particulars of the claim. Is it better to use the online service? I will acknowledge the claim which will give me 28 days from the date of service right?

**Amethyst** · 28th January 2019, 10:29:AM

Sounds like it may be a case of mistaken identity, or the person that purchased the car gave your details instead of their own, a incorrect registration number being taken down or just a tracing error by the solicitors.

It's the insurance company you spoke to that are suing you using these solicitors ? I guess it must be as they state the insurance policy was agreed between the claimant and the defendant. Very strange that they have no record of you at all in which case.

So you need to find out what's going on and defend the claim.

1st Acknowledge the claim with intent to defend in full ( just to give you the full month to work on your defence and gather info ) >>>>Acknowledge Claim

Then send a SAR to the insurers that the original policy was with, the brokers and 'insurance collections bureau' .>>>> Subject Access Request Letter
That should get you all the information needed, takes 30 days so get those off asap.

Then contact the claimant (in writing) and request they send you a copy of the 'terms of a motor insurance policy agreed between the Defendant and the Claimant' and 'full particulars' that they mention in the claim form. In the letter say that you do not recognise that any debt is owed and you have no information, you can use this as a guide as this 'full particulars' and "terms" are documents mentioned in a statement of case. CPR 31.14 Request

I did not have any accidents when I had my policy with them. I received a letter from an insurance company about a car that had been involved in an accident but this was not from my company and the vehicle registration was not my car so I think this may have been a mistake and unrelated.

I did have an engineer visit me to see if there was damage on my car but I was never told that someone was making a claim against me, my car always remained damage free and the engineer who came to visit also said there was no damage on my car so not sure what this person was claiming.

SO someone had claimed you were at fault in an accident and they sent an engineer - was that engineer sent by the same insurance company that's making the claim ? Did he have any documentation at all ?

**des8** · 28th January 2019, 10:40:AM

Thanks Amethyst

A number of things I don't understand:
If there was a claim, and an excess was payable, the indemnity for that claim could not have been payable to a third party. (third party RTA liability cover carries no excess)
So that indemnity must have been paid to the policy holder.
But insurers normally pay the indemnity less the excess, so how come it is outstanding and it is an unusual amount for a motor policy.

A confusing situation even if it is only mistaken identity

**Project101** · 28th January 2019, 10:44:AM

Hi,

Thanks for your response.

Yes it is the insurance company using these solicitors and I my self am confused as to why they have no record of me.

The engineer was sent by my insurance company to assess the damage of my car but there was no damage whatsoever so in this case they should have declined the 3rd party claim. He did not have any documentation but I think I did receive a call from them telling me he would be coming to asses the car.

I will request the SAR by phone and follow it up by letter - or do you suggest just doing it by post?

The issue date of the Claim form was 22 Jan and if I read correctly I get 5 days after that + 28 days?

Thanks

**Project101** · 28th January 2019, 10:46:AM

des8,

The insurance company is called XS Direct - they are based in Ireland and not regulated by the FCA which is no surprise.

They are known for high excess amounts and if you do a google search on them will see a lot of people have experienced problems with them.

**des8** · 28th January 2019, 11:09:AM

So you were never insured by Xs Direct, but they are claiming an excess of £3450 from you.
This follows on from an incident you were unaware of except for a visit from an engineer, who confirmed your vehicle had not sustained any damage.
Possibly (just possibly!) Xs Direct are claiming back the excess on behalf of their insured.

As this is possibly a claim against you for an accident involving a third party I would suggest you contact the company with whom you were insured with at that time.and lodge a possible claim.
Give them fullest details, including what you are doing regarding the court claim, as they should take it over completely for you and might not be too pleased if you have gone it alone!
If you do it by phone, confirm it in writing

**Amethyst** · 28th January 2019, 11:09:AM

Goodness just had a quick google, guess the name XS Direct points towards the 'excess' ( which seems to be compulsory £3000 ) to give lower premiums. Seems to be brokered by OneCall ?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com...ge=3#topofpage

You did mention though you'd never had an accident while you were insured with XS Direct ?

The issue date of the Claim form was 22 Jan and if I read correctly I get 5 days after that + 28 days?

- yes, 33 days from the issue date

I will request the SAR by phone and follow it up by letter - or do you suggest just doing it by post?

Yes that's fine, get it started but ensure you follow up the call with a letter so you have evidence on the request. You can start the letter " Further to my telephone call on 28th Jan at 3pm when I spoke with a Mr X, ...." for example so that it backs up when the request was made.

Have you had anything pre-action wise in writing from this solicitors at all ? They are pleading they have sent full particulars - have you had nothing?

**Project101** · 28th January 2019, 11:19:AM

des8 Sorry think I may have caused some confusion. I was insured with XS Direct at the time but nothing happened for them to request this amount from me.

Amethyst I think I may have had something from these solicitors regarding this but nothing really giving me any information as to why they are requesting me to pay this sum.I did contact the insurance company when the Insurance Collections Bureau sent me letters and they did not really give me any information.

**des8** · 28th January 2019, 11:34:AM

Ok I always read things backwards!

However if it was a third party claim there should be no excess anyway : I now have to go through the various acts to find where it says that!

**Project101** · 28th January 2019, 11:38:AM

Originally posted by des8 View Post

Ok I always read things backwards!

However if it was a third party claim there should be no excess anyway : I now have to go through the various acts to find where it says that!

The business model seems to run off the lower premiums higher excess for everyone in all situations. If above is the case then it is crazy how they are getting away with this.

Received a claim from Hadfield and Co Solicitors