Motor insurance, five years later.

[roost]

Hi, way back in 2017 in the entrance to a car park the driver of the vehicle in front of me stopped for no apparent reason. A few seconds later the reversing lights appeared and he backed into my van which along with the slight slope caused me to roll back a few feet. I was on an angle relative to his vehicle, it was all quite slow and gentle, and the damage was minor. My van was repaired, his vehicle was intact, but some months later I recall a conversation with someone from my insurer where I was informed that he was claiming that I had driven into him, and in the absence of witnesses it was advised that I should agree to a 50/50 apportioning of blame, which I reluctantly accepted.

As far as I was aware the matter was settled, but recently I have received an email from a firm called Horwich Farrelly asking for lots of information, statement etc and enclosing a copy of a defence statement from the other driver in which he accuses me of lying, but saying that his car did roll back into my vehicle but that it was my fault for being too close! The email also asks for availability for a court hearing sometime in the next six months. I am shown as the claimant, the other driver as the defendant.

My questions are:
1 Am I obliged to respond?
2 Am I obliged to attend court?
3 What would the likely consequences be if I decide to do neither of those things?
4 Who is this firm acting on behalf of?

Thanks in advance.

[des8]

You should acknowledge receipt of the letter, and tell them you have passed it to your insurers. Nothing more!
You then send it to your insurers at the time to deal with.
in your covering letter give your insurers previous reference numbers etc so they can trace their files.

As you are said to be the claimant It might be your insurers trying to recover their pay out .... but they should have forewarned you of their intention

Keep your own copy of everything, and send the letters first class post with free certificate of posting from post office

[roost]

Thanks for your reply.

I am kind of confused, in that you are suggesting that it is my insurers at the time who are trying to recover their pay out, but that I should send the email to them. I don't have any old reference numbers, this all happened nearly five years ago. Maybe different departments within the company are not communicating with each other?

Can you (or anyone else) tell me what my legal obligations are in this situation?

[MIKE770]

well insurance companies must keep records for 6+ years for tax purposes, so they should be able to connect by your name etc.

[echat11]

Send Horwich Farrelly and your insurance company at the time a SAR, they have 30 days to provide all the data they hold on you for a period of 6 years, make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/

[atticus]

Your insurance company from the time is bringing a claim in your name. It is almost certainly entitled to do this under the terms of the policy.

It is surprising that it has not informed you.

Take care not to do anything to prejudice that claim - it may lead to the insurer taking some action against you.

Does anything in the papers you have received indicate who the claimant's solicitor is? If so, contact that solicitor: he is bringing the claim in your name.

[des8]

I too was (am) confused.

In your post you state "I am shown as the claimant," and there are references to court.
As this has not been initiated by you, the only other party who could start a claim in your name is your insurers (but they would always advise you in advance, and it is most unlikely after 5 years)
It is possible the other party is seeking to make some sort of claim against you and Horwich Farrelly have confused themselves

That is why I said refer it to your insurers, which you should do as soon as possible

Keep copies of what you send and written record of any phone calls

[echat11]

Your insurer has certain duties and has to follow a Code of Conduct, if they are members of the CII for example, i.e. not providing information, doesn't follow the Code of Conduct.

https://www.cii.co.uk/media/9223937/..._of_ethics.pdf

[roost]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

To clarify, what I received was an email, with two attachments, one of which is a statement from the other driver. He is very surprised and wonders why I have waited five years to make a claim. My name is in the box marked claimant, his name is in the box marked defendant.

Does anyone know whether I am legally obliged to get involved?

[atticus]

See above posts - and the policy terms.

[des8]

Before you respond you need to find out what is happening so;
1. inform your insurers
2. send those SARs

[roost]

Atticus - I have read all the posts carefully, but have not found an answer to my specific question regarding my legal obligation.
DES8 - what are SARs?

My instinct (and preference) is not to get involved at all. This was almost five years ago, my recollection of it is less than perfect, I gave a detailed account of events at the time which presumably AXA still have on file, and I really have nothing more to add. I'm also very busy with many other things, and by the time my renewal comes around again it will be more than five years, as the incident occurred in August 2017 and my renewal is in November.

So even if this ended up being recorded as a fault accident against me I assume it would not affect my premiums. Correct?

[roost]

I have looked again and one of the attachments is titled 'Defence and Counterclaim'. The other party has ticked the box to say that he disputes the full amount of the claim (I have no idea what this amount is), but further down he has not ticked the box for any counterclaim.

I have managed to contact Horwich Farrelly and they have confirmed that they are acting on behalf of me and my insurers at the time (AXA). I was not informed that this was still ongoing by AXA.

Horwich Farrelly advise me to reply using their questionnaire so that they can draft a witness statement on my behalf, and they confirmed that it is my choice to attend a hearing or not. They also say that if I choose not to attend they may have to settle on the best terms possible or discontinue the claim, which will mean my insurer will record this as a fault accident.

So...really my only question now is regarding future premiums. Could someone please confirm that even if this is recorded as a fault accident by my insurers, my renewal quotes will not be affected as more than five years have elapsed since the date of the incident?

[des8]

An SAR is a Subject Access Request (which you needn't bother with now!)

Remiss of your insurers not to let you know they were trying to recoup their pay out to you, especially after they had suggested to you a 50/50 settlement.

assuming you have already declared this incident as a contributory fault, and is anyway over 5 years old it should not affect your renewal

[atticus]

you may find an answer in your policy wording, as previously suggested.