Consent and Indemnity letter

[Hiphop99]

I was hoping the forum could help.

My sister is in a very challenging predicament. She was driving back after a night out and hit a road sign, knocking it down when she was reversing. A nearby resident saw this and called the police. There was also a delivery driver nearby who witnessed this (important detail).

Now she was asked to do a breathalyser but was unable to do so at the scene. She is asthmatic and the anxiousness of the situation got to her. She had not been drinking but regardless, she was charged with failure to provide a sample.

The delivery driver is now claiming that he was also hit by her, which is 10000% false and completely opportunistic. He remained on the scene which was odd initially but now makes sense. He has gone through his insurance and my sister has received a consent and indemnity agreement.

Should she sign this? We are struggling to make sense of the steps now, given that the claim from the delivery driver is completely fabricated.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[atticus]

Under this agreement, to what is your sister being asked to consent? Who is she being asked to indemnify against what?

Given that the delivery driver is not 100 per cent wrong, but 100 times more wrong than that, the instinct is that your sister should not sign. She should certainly not sign without fully understanding the document.

[Hiphop99]

atticus

Here is the wording - nothing needs to be redacted.

It is understood that the cost of the defence of any such claim shall be borne Skyfire Insurance
Company Ltd.

2. I hereby authorise Skyfire Insurance Company Ltd to accept service of any civil proceedings on my
behalf in respect of any such claim. I give them full authority to contest the proceedings or to effect
a settlement of any such claim whether or not proceedings have been commenced and if thought
appropriate to admit liability or consent to judgement on my behalf.

3. I hereby agree to indemnify Skyfire Insurance Company Ltd against, and to repay them all sums
paid by them in respect of any settlement of any such claim (including the costs of the Claimant(s).

4. I undertake to give Skyfire Insurance Company Ltd all information and assistance in my power and
to give notice of any change of address from that given below.

5. I hereby authorise Skyfire Insurance Company Ltd to prosecute in my name any claim which I may
have against any person for indemnity or contribution in respect of any claim which may be made
against me, but it is understood that Skyfire Insurance Company Ltd do not bind themselves to do
so. It is further understood that the cost of prosecuting any claim for indemnity or contribution shall
be borne by Skyfire Insurance Company Ltd.

6. This agreement may at any time be terminated by either Skyfire Insurance Company Ltd or myself
by notice in writing, and I fully understand and agree that, after termination by either of us, Skyfire
Insurance Company Ltd will have no obligation to continue to conduct my defence or to prosecute
any claim for indemnity or contribution and will not be responsible for any costs incurred after such
termination.

[atticus]

I can see no reason to sign that.

Your sister should involve her insurers.

[Hiphop99]

atticus this is from her insurer

[atticus]

why exactly should your sister indemnify her insurer? Insurers indemnify their insured.

Something odd is going on here. Your sister needs to see a solicitor.

Are you sure about that ten thousand per cent?

[Hiphop99]

This is why we are so baffled. Obviously this is new to us all so we assumed this is something standard in an instance such as this where police/charges were involved.

Could this wording be because she was charged with something? I've told her to get a solicitor involved but I wanted to check online too.

What did you mean re: 10,000%?

[atticus]

What did you mean by that figure in your first post?

There is something that we have not been told. I will not indulge in speculation.

[Hiphop99]

Hi atticus

This happened two months ago - the court process has already been completed. She plead guilty to failure to provide a specimen. She is adamant that she did not hit this other driver and has maintained this throughout all of our conversations.

It's her phrase that I'm quoting verbatim - that she is a thousand % sure she didn't hit him. Her car hit a post and it was lodged there.

I'm not sure by your post and what you mean about speculation etc. I've been as transparent as one can be when relaying a situation as a secondary source.

[efpom]

The driver was convicted of Failure to provide" contrary to s.7(6) RTA 1988.

It may be that because of that conviction, under the terms of the insurance policy the insurer is entitled to be indemnified by the policyholder for its costs in defending or settling a third party claim against the policyholder.

The advice, therefore, as a first step, is to give the policy terms a close reading, aimed at establishing if, in fact, such a term exists.

If it does not, which is, in my view, unlikely, the insurer would seem to be attempting to unilaterally change the terms of the insurance contract.

[atticus]

Asking "could this wording be...?" is speculation.

[HandyAndy]

Are they, perhaps, attempting to rely on s148 of the RTA? Just thinking out loud.

[Manxman]

Hi atticus

This happened two months ago - the court process has already been completed. She plead guilty to failure to provide a specimen....

... I'm not sure by your post and what you mean about speculation etc. I've been as transparent as one can be when relaying a situation as a secondary source.

Well this is the first you mentioned that she'd been convicted!

So has your sister received notice that a civil court claim has been issued against her by the delivery driver?

If so, is it for personal injury or damage to the van?

Has she informed her insurer that she is being sued?

What has her insurer told her - or have they only sent the indemnity form?

As asked by efpom om, does your sister's policy contain a clause stating that she must indemnify her insurer if found guilty of any driving offences?



(As you say - your thread sort of demonstrates the difficulties of posting on behalf of somebody else - "send three and fourpence we're going to a dance")

[islandgirl]

Something does not ring true here. Failure to provide at the roadside leads to you being taken into custody and given several other chances to provide a breath specimen. If the driver had wished to say that her distress made her unable to provide she should have entered a not guilty plea and fought it in the mags. I once sat on a similar case. Verdict was guilty however in spite of a very expensive expert being brought in...

[Hiphop99]

Hi all

Apologies for the delay in responding - thanks all for your follow ups.

It's been very difficult for me to pull the full story together - the events happened in March and have already progressed to court and a conviction. My sister didn't involve anyone in the family from the outset - embarrassment, shame, sadness... whatever it was. So we are picking the pieces up now, with respect to the insurance claim.

So here are some facts that I have gleaned from her.

- Apparently there was a stationary car that was clipped, which is what the claim refers to.

- She was convicted on failure to provide a sample - not driving under the influence.

- The reply to the consent and indemnity letter has still not been sent.

So that's where we are... there's definitely a conviction but she maintains that the events of the evening were a blur.

So now we do not know what to do with the letter and the next steps. What are the options if she doesn't sign it?

Is it a case of either be liable for a blank cheque amount through signing the letter or try to settle on an amount if she doesn't sign?

She really can't afford a solicitor and the family isn't really in the financial position to be able to support, hence why I have reached out online.