Received a claim from Hadfield and Co Solicitors

[Project101]

And they gave you no information for what this claim was about etc? Had there been any collision etc ?

It was in 2016 but no I can not remember any details of collisions or them providing me with any further details.

[Project101]

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


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 ?

Hi Guys,


Regarding the letter to the claimant - What is the date that I put for defending my claim ?

[des8]

It is surprising that an insurer will settle a third party claim without any reference to their insured.
It is not difficult to obtain registered keeper details and insurance details of any vehicle so they should have carried out preliminary checks with you, especially as the loss was quite substantial

Write to the insurers asking:
Who was driving "your" car (a physical description obtained from the third party claimant)
What was the incident. (as given by third party claimant)
Where did the incident happen? Ask for the exact address, as well as the exact time and date.
What was the resulting damage to third party car? Ask them what picture evidence they have in their possession.
Were there any witnesses?
How did the third party get in touch with your insurance company? Ask whether the third party knew your insurance details already and how they said they had obtained them.

Your insurance company has a duty to inform you of all third party claims and payments they have made since you need to know these details whenever you ask for insurance quotes. I would expect this type of information to be provided to you in a letter A.S.A.P. after the claim was settled. If you have not received this information by renewal, and place your insurance elsewhere, you could find yourself with problems in the event of another claim i.e. non disclosure

you stated ". 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" don't suppose you still have that letter??


There is a legal doctrine governing insurance contracts (uberrimae fidei/ utmost good faith)means that all parties to an insurance contract must deal in good faith. In practice this is taken as making a full declaration of all material facts in the proposal, although at the same time the insurer must make sure that the potential contract fits the needs of, and benefits, the insured.
Section 17 of the Marine Insurance Act 1906 (which encapsulates the doctrine) states:

"A contract of marine insurance is a contract based upon the utmost good faith, and, if the utmost good faith be not observed by either party, the contract may be avoided by the other party" I would argue (perhaps unsuccessfully) that by not clearly spelling out the onerous policy condition the insurers were in breach of their duty. Further your broker should have brought this to your attention as he is your agent and as the expert has a fiduciary duty to you .( It might be possible to enjoin the broker as a co defendant, but others will know more about that than I) Another aspect that might be incorporated into the defence is that of unfair trading in that the Insurers are by contract entering you into a future possible credit debt obligation, just by having an accident with a third party. Neither the Insurers nor the brokers provided any clear explicit upfront warning of this and you believe it to be unfair. The reason that it is unfair is that most people buying Insurance would believe they had full excess free cover against third party claims and if this Insurance was totally different there should be a clearer upfront warning. The other point to bear in mind is that this claim will probably be allocated to the small claims track, where costs are so limited that it is rarely worth the claimant instructing a solicitor to attend. As a last resort you could suggest that a complaint to the ombudsman

Don't know how or why the bottom half is boxed!!

.

[Amethyst]

Date 33 days from the date of issue - https://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html

just put in the date of issue and then 33 in the days box

[Project101]

Surely the insurance company should not be able to respond to me saying this

“Please be advised to contact your Broker for such request. Complete Cover Group .
They be more than happy to assist you in this matter.”

if they are my insurance company how can they refer me back to the broker right?

[des8]

As the broker introduced your business to them, they probably think that is your point of contact.
If they won't comply you might have to complain to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (https://www.dataprotection.ie/)

[Project101]

Hi Guys,

Back again - So it turns out that this accident did occur but it was a fair few years ago so I had forgot about it - I have been trying to negotiate a settlement with them but they seem to be unwilling to budge.

My question here is - Do I have to pay all the particulars of the claim as some of them seem a little over the top i.e 8% interest on costs pursuant to S.69 of the county courts act?

Thanks,

[des8]

Did you acknowledge the claim form?
Did you enter a defence (or is this now out of time?)

in other words where are we in terms of court procedure?

[Project101]

Hi,

So I acknowledged the form and requested documents from the sols as Initially I was unaware they had any info/records of me. They provided everything to me but it was slightly late so they provided me some extra time to enter a defence. I then attempted to make a settlement out of court before the defence date as I was sure that I will lose based on what they have. They then responded saying they will not accept anything apart from full and final settlement and have given me till the 17th to pay this before court proceedings are continued.

Thanks,

[des8]

When trying to negotiate with them did you mark your correspondence "without prejudice"

What makes you think you have no defence as suggested in post 33 and post 20

As they refuse to accept a compromise what do you think you have to lose by defending the claim?

[Project101]

Hi,

no I did not mark it with “without prejudice”

when responding to me they did?

Your post about the excess not being something they can levy upon the consumer is the only thing I have on my side I think. They did provide me with some documents stating the excess and it was on some leaflets so I guess to an extent was made clear?

If I provide a defence and it is declined is the judgement automatically applied? Or am I given a time frame? I guess I do not want the CCJ to be applied if I feel I will lose.

[des8]

If you lose you have 30 days in which to settle the judgement.
To ensure it is not entered on your record check with court they have been notified of payment.


As the excess they levy on a statutory liability is unusual (if not illegal) it is not sufficient to just mention it in documents or leaflets.
It needs to be specifically brought to the consumers attention

Also as above....:Another aspect that might be incorporated into the defence is that of unfair trading in that the Insurers are by contract entering you into a future possible credit debt obligation, just by having an accident with a third party. Neither the Insurers nor the brokers provided any clear explicit upfront warning of this and you believe it to be unfair. The reason that it is unfair is that most people buying Insurance would believe they had full excess free cover against third party claims and if this Insurance was totally different there should be a clearer upfront warning.

[Project101]

Ok great I will write up a response, am I correct in thinking I can reply to their email with my defence??

thanks,

[Amethyst]

No you'd need to file your defence with the court that issued the claim - the Northampton ccbc through moneyclaim online ? If so you can submit it through MCOL and they serve it on the claimant.

Did you formally agree the extension and inform the court or did they just say they'd give you a bit extra time ? See what the status is on moneyclaim online to check no default judgment has been asked for.

Id recommend posting a draft of your intended defence here before you submit just so those with knowledge can help make sure it's as strong as possible.

[Project101]

After I made the offer for settlement they did place it on hold, I have email confirmation of this and I have asked them to confirm all court proceedings are on hold by email which they have done. They have confirmed if they do not receive any response from me by the 17th they will continue proceedings. I will file my defence before then but this is well past the original time period given by the courts. Will this be an issue?

thanks