Insurance claim against me - Failure to co-operate

[Jusus_Envy]

Hi, I hope you are all well. I would really appreciate your assistance with an email that I just received from Admiral regarding an accident that I had 2 years ago. It was my first ever accident which was my fault and I just assumed that they would contact me but I didn't receive any phone calls. Two years later, I've been hit with a bill of more than £8000 and I really don't know what to do. Can someone advice me on what to do next please.
Many thanks

[des8]

sorry, but we need to know exactly what has happened so:

What was the accident?

Are Admiral your insurers?

Did you report the incident to your insurers ?
Did you admit liability to the third party involved?
Was there no contact at all from your insurers over the two years? Not even a letter?

Do they state how the amount is calculated?

[atticus]

Pass it to your insurers

[Jusus_Envy]

"Replied below"

[Jusus_Envy]

sorry, but we need to know exactly what has happened so:

What was the accident?

Are Admiral your insurers?

Did you report the incident to your insurers ?
Did you admit liability to the third party involved?
Was there no contact at all from your insurers over the two years? Not even a letter?

Do they state how the amount is calculated?

So the accident wasn't too bad, I hit into the side of a moving car at 5-10mph and cause damaged on both of his doors. No one was hurt and both our cars were fully driveable.
Admirals were my insurers at that time, and I don't think I told them about the accident as I told the guy I'd pay him directly for any repairs. He then stopped messaging me back and most likely when through his insurers.
I didn't receive any phone calls and no letters, I did have COVID at that time, but Ive just checked my emails and did find an email in September 2021 that said that I failed to co-operate.
" We have dealt with the third party claims for personal injury and associated losses. We have made the following payments:
Injury settlement: £2500
GP notes: £36
Third party solicitors: £600
Medical reports: £216
Third party repairs: £3102.6
Third party hire: £2050
Our total outlay in respect of this is £8504.60 "
Yh, it's a lot of money that I really can't afford atm.
Many thanks for the help!

[Jusus_Envy]

Pass it to your insurers

They're the ones that are giving the huge bill lol

[atticus]

I do not read that as asking you to pay. Have I missed something?

[des8]

They might be requesting you pay their outlay because you failed to comply with the claims cooperation clause that will almost certainly be in your policy.
Also of course you should have reported the incident to them, if not immediately at least on renewal even if you had settled the claim yourself.

However Admiral cannot automatically claim the whole of their payout from you unless they can demonstrate your non cooperation had materially prejudiced their position (there is supporting case law for this if i remember rightly but would need to do some research)

If that email of Sept 2021 is the only communication received from Admiral I do not see how they can claim you were uncooperative.
True you did not inform them of the incident, but IF they did not make enquiries off you they can hardly claim you were uncooperative

[Jusus_Envy]

They're the ones that are giving the huge bill lol

Before the huge bill, they said:
" As you have failed to co-operate with us we have proceeded to deal with this claim. The third party signed a form of Assignment and Agreement enabling us to do this. That transfers the right of recovery from the third party to us. We are now seeking reimbursement of our outlay from you.

Please contact us within 28 days with your settlement proposals. "

I'm guessing they want me to pay all of it.

[Jusus_Envy]

I do not read that as asking you to pay. Have I missed something?

Honestly, it's just one of those dumb things that you do when you're younger, for sure I should have reported the incident but they don't seriously expect me to pay £8500 for this. I didn't even get a single letter or email throughout the later months of 2021 or the entire 2022.
Once again, thank you so much for the advice and what steps would I take from here?

[des8]

I note the claim was sometime prior to Sept 21 when Admiral said they had settled it, and you have not heard from them since.
However did they contact you prior to Sept 21?

If not you could ask them to show how your non cooperation had materially prejudiced their position, bearing in mind they had not made any attempt to contact you prior to settling the claim.

PS they are serious about recovering their money, and could quite possibly pursue you through the courts.

[atticus]

post #9 adds the request for payment that had not previously been mentioned.

I do not follow why your insurer is seeking reimbursement from you.

[Jusus_Envy]

I note the claim was sometime prior to Sept 21 when Admiral said they had settled it, and you have not heard from them since.
However did they contact you prior to Sept 21?

If not you could ask them to show how your non cooperation had materially prejudiced their position, bearing in mind they had not made any attempt to contact you prior to settling the claim.

PS they are serious about recovering their money, and could quite possibly pursue you through the courts.

I didn't receive any letters from them, I tried chasing them up on the phone yesterday and they said they would get back to me but didn't.
Yep, I know they're serious, I think I'm just in damage control mode now

[Jusus_Envy]

post #9 adds the request for payment that had not previously been mentioned.

I do not follow why your insurer is seeking reimbursement from you.

I failed to co-operate with them about the accident but I didn't receive any phone calls. I understand that I'm to blame for the accident but I don't understand why I have to pay the full £8500 for the damages when I was insured.

[atticus]

Ask Admiral to explain exactly why they think they are entitled to claim this money from you. Get them to give you something that can be analysed.