Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

[bh486]

Good morning.
I'd really appreciate a bit of help with the following as they're are some areas causing me confusion that I hope someone might be able to shed some light on.

The Limited company of which I am the sole Director is being sued by a third party with whom I was involved in an accident in October last year.

(without going into too much detail - I was driving along a 30 mph urban side street, the third part attempted to overtake me at speed. At that point a car parked on the left and facing against traffic nudged out of a line of parked cars. I drove around the car. The third party drove off the road to the right to avoid me and apparently collided with some street furniture. He then pursued and threatened me. So there can't have been much wrong with his car).

So, my insurers denied liability. I was awarded a year's no-claims discount. However the renewal in February this year was such that I left them for a more competitive insurer.

I have had contact from my old insurer's lawyers stating that the third party has begun proceedings against my limited company.

The amount they are claiming is almost a 5 figure sum for almost 3 weeks of car rental.

The lawyers instructed by my old insurance company are acting for my Limited Company.

The third party claims to have an independent witness.

My question is this. If in view of the fact that the third party has a witness and I don't, judgement goes against my limited company, would my company also be liable for the cost of the incurred by the lawyers which my insurance appointed....even though I never instructed them to do so.

Secondly, I applied to wind up my company some months ago. This hasn't yet been completed.

If the company is wound up and judgement is entered against it, either before or after it is wound up, is there a situation where the Director's of that limited company can be held personally liable for payment?

I have told the lawyers that an application for the company to be wound up has been entered but has not yet been completed.

Any help gratefully received!

Thank you as always in advance.

[leclerc]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

Why are they suing the company and not you?
Was the car a company car? Or insured through the company?

Was there a police investigation since for 5k's worth of damage I would have thought that there was significant damage?
The company would be liable for any costs but if the company is being wound up then I can't see how anyone gets their money. Is this voluntary liquidation? Or compulsory liquidation?(I suspect voluntary from your post).

[bh486]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

Perhaps have a read again of the original post. It's all in there!:0)

[CleverClogs]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

Perhaps have a read again of the original post. It's all in there!:0)

It isn't.

Still, if you won't answer the questions, nobody here can force you; likewise, you cannot force anyone to respond to your original questions.

Is the claimant of Indian extraction?

[bh486]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

Grief. Ok....
The questions asked are kind of irrelevant to the questions I asked. But what the hey.

The policy holder is my limited company. I was driving the car. The car is insured under the policy held by my limited company.

The claim is not "£5k" and is not for "damage".

It's for almost £10k and is for car hire as stated, plus the excess on te third party's policy.

We applied to wind up the company last year with no creditors as it had served it's purpose.

The questions I am hoping for answers to are once again:

If in view of the fact that the third party has a witness and I don't, judgement goes against my limited company, would my company also be liable for the cost of the incurred by the lawyers which my insurance appointed....even though I never instructed them to do so.

If the company is wound up and judgement is entered against it, either before or after it is wound up, is there a situation where the Director's of that limited company can be held personally liable for payment?

Thanks again:0)

[CleverClogs]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

Grief. Ok....
The questions asked are kind of irrelevant to the questions I asked. But what the hey.

Thank you.

The policy holder is my limited company. I was driving the car. The car is insured under the policy held by my limited company.

You have since changed insurer, have you not? Is the motor car now insured under your name? (I know this makes little/no difference to the claim.)

The claim is not "£5k" and is not for "damage".

It's for almost £10k and is for car hire as stated, plus the excess on the third party's policy.

It does seem rather a lot for motor car hire and one might wonder exactly how the third party had sought to minimise his losses, especially when one considers he could have bought a "banger" for less whilst his jalopy was being fixed.

"Creative" claims of this sort always make me suspicious, which was why I asked about the ethnic origin of the third party. If the ethnicity of the alleged witness is known, that may also be significant.

Whilst insurance fiddles may be done by anyone, there was quite a spate of them involving people of Indian descent - link

Most involve a rear end collision - link; this "accident" seems to be a new version.

Was the third party Abdullah Ahmed? He should have been out of gaol for some months - link

If in view of the fact that the third party has a witness and I don't, judgement goes against my limited company, would my company also be liable for the cost of the incurred by the lawyers which my insurance appointed....even though I never instructed them to do so.

It seems unlikely, not least of which because it was not your insurer but the company's insurer.

If the company is wound up and judgement is entered against it, either before or after it is wound up, is there a situation where the Director's of that limited company can be held personally liable for payment?

Again, this seems unlikely unless some degree of fraud or deception on the part of the company director(s) can be proved.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

Here - link - is another instance of a crash-for-cash scam.

I believe you should contact the Insurance Fraud Bureau on 0800 328 2550 or, online, here - link

[bh486]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

Good morning.
If anyone can answer the questions I asked in my original post using points of law rather than supposition I'd be very grateful.

Thank you:0)

[CleverClogs]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

If you do not like the replies I gave, please follow this link.

Don't forget to claim your refund at the cashier's desk.

[bh486]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

I should have thought far more sensible would be if you
can't knowledgably and accurately answer the questions asked, leave it alone for someone who might be able to!
Clearly you have too much time on your hands.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

Perhaps, in your case, I should have referred you to the celebrated retort in the matter of Arkell v Pressdram?

[Mrs James]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

I should have thought far more sensible would be if you
can't knowledgably and accurately answer the questions asked, leave it alone for someone who might be able to!
Clearly you have too much time on your hands.

How rude!

[Celestine]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

I should have thought far more sensible would be if you
can't knowledgably and accurately answer the questions asked, leave it alone for someone who might be able to!
Clearly you have too much time on your hands.

Yes, far too much time, giving up his free time trying to help people.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Being Sued Following Car "Accident"!

How rude!

One might even wonder if that was an example of the "stock in trade" of his business.

If so, it might explain why his company is being wound up: due to the recession, not enough people wish to pay to be insulted.

[leclerc]

Re: Being Sued Following Car

Good morning.
If anyone can answer the questions I asked in my original post using points of law rather than supposition I'd be very grateful.

Thank you:0)

BH, CleverCloggs answered you question on the second post.

To quote: "this seems unlikely unless some degree of fraud or deception on the part of the company director(s) can be proved."

Can he prove that you were part of a fraud or were deceptive?
Otherwise if you want us to find a point of law to argue with him then I would bother.
The next question is have you seen the witness statement? I would look at the witness statement and see if there is anything that does not look correct since sometimes, people's memory of events will be a lot less clearer as time goes on.
The next question is how did this witness come forward? Was it on the day or was it weeks after the event? What reason do they have to come forward. I witness a car crash last year where the driver was clearly at fault and gave my details at the time and was never ever contacted so how quickly did the witness come forward?

I am sure the lawyers acting on behalf of the insurer would be asking these questions.
If you haven't asked the question on this business forum then I would do as they would probably be less likely to give you answers that you may not like:
Legal - UK Business Forums