Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

[emerson1988]

Hi All
I am after some advice my son who is 18 had a minor collision his bumper was scratched and there was damage to the other cars back door we have gone through the insurance company as normal yesterday we had court papers from one of the claimants claiming whiplash and they are saying the car spun neither car was going very fast as it was a supermarket car park where the accident happened as far as i know the insurance company have said they were going to settle the claim should we have got court letters if the insurance company has said they are going to settle the claim do we have to go to court they are claiming over £5000 my son has no way of paying this he is not working and has no possessions to speak of the car he is driving is in my name
where do we stand on this situation as i am really worried the claimant car did not spin they actually had a large dog in the car that was free not tied or anything any advice would be gratefully received

[wales01man]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

Were you in the car ? any claims should be paid by insurer

[emerson1988]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

It was my son who was in the car at the time we are not insured by the insurer now would that make any difference would you recommend i contact the insurance company i think it was Tesco who were the insurance company at the time of the accident they should still honor this claim though?

[emerson1988]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

the claimants are using 1st Central Law has anyone heard of this company

[des8]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

Your post is rather confusing. From what you write I think:
Your son was driving a vehicle that was involved in a minor collision in a supermarket car park.
The cost of damage to both the cars (or were there multiple cars involved?) was settled by your insurance company
Your son has now received a claim from a third party for personal injury.
How long ago was the accident?
Does your son think the impact was sufficently severe to cause personal injury?

In any event you must notify your insurer of that time that you have received these papers (are they actual court papers, or just a warning letter from the third parties solicitors?)
When sending the papers to your insurers give them all details eg car reg number, insurance policy number, claim ref number etc
If actual court papers you will have to keep an eye on matters to make sure your insurers deal with the matter in a timely manner.
If just a letter from 1st Central (solicitors who specialise in RTA claims), whilst sending it to your insurers also write to Ist Central telling them that you have passed it to your insurers.

Keep copies of everything received and sent by yourself

[emerson1988]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

Hi des8
First thanks for your help you gave me last time
Sorry if my post seems a bit confusing
My son was driving his car in a supermarket car park and was involved in a minor collision
There was damage to both cars the damage to my sons car was a scratched bumper which cost about £20 to £30 to fix
The cars were not traveling at speed being a supermarket car park the claimants are saying that their car spun which is untrue
we also noted that they had a big dog in the car that was not restrained and was moving freely in the claimants car
There is quite a bit that the claimant says happened that didn't they did not seek medical attention at any time even up to the medical they had they claim to have a witness to the accident
I honestly believe that there is something that's not right with the claim I don't have the court papers with me but I will post more information later on today
They are court papers we got in the post on Saturday should I email 1st Central to inform them that I have sent a copy of the papers to the insurance company
It shouldn't make any difference that my son is no longer insured by the insurance company
we did get a letter from first central back in December and the insurance company also got a copy of the claim what I don't understand is why this is going to court when the insurance company should deal with the matter

[des8]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

Do make sure your insurers deal with the court claim.
If they don't ( and it won't be the first time an insurer has slipped up!) you could find you have a default judgement.
Make sure they have responded to the court documents on time

By all means tell Ist Central you have passed the claim to your insurers, and give them name and policy number.
It doesn't matter that your son is no longer insured by that company.

From the brief details you have given, I would not be surprised to find your insurers disputed the claim as having no basis in fact, and have told the other side to prove their case.
It could now come down to a commercial decision to agree an out of court settlement, which will not give the claimant £5000, but will be cheaper for your insurers than going to court.
On the other hand your insurers might call their bluff and be prepared to go to court.
This would mean your son going to court, unless the claimant decided to discontinue their claim at the last minute.

[emerson1988]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

Do make sure your insurers deal with the court claim.
If they don't ( and it won't be the first time an insurer has slipped up!) you could find you have a default judgement.
Make sure they have responded to the court documents on time

By all means tell Ist Central you have passed the claim to your insurers, and give them name and policy number.
It doesn't matter that your son is no longer insured by that company.

From the brief details you have given, I would not be surprised to find your insurers disputed the claim as having no basis in fact, and have told the other side to prove their case.
It could now come down to a commercial decision to agree an out of court settlement, which will not give the claimant £5000, but will be cheaper for your insurers than going to court.
On the other hand your insurers might call their bluff and be prepared to go to court.
This would mean your son going to court, unless the claimant decided to discontinue their claim at the last minute.

In response to this

I have today emailed First central informing them that i had passed all the paper work to the insurance company and to seek a response from the insurance company at the time of the claim
I have not had a response from 1st central i have not had a response from Tesco who were the insurance company what will happen if Tesco fail to respond to the claim and it ends up in court looking at emails from Tesco in the past they are willing to challenge the claim and worst case settle the claim in full
the claimant is claiming £35 per day car hire plus other expenses they went to a private car hire company and not through the insurance company like you would think also on the paper work we had got the claimant now lives in west Yorkshire yet at the time of the incident they lived in Darlington and the claimant has now changed profession to be become a solicitor the passenger was not a family member the witness lives over 30 miles away from Darlington just something feels wrong with this claim

[des8]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

[QUOTE=emerson1988;734399]

Do make sure your insurers deal with the court claim.
If they don't ( and it won't be the first time an insurer has slipped up!) you could find you have a default judgement.
Make sure they have responded to the court documents on time

By all means tell Ist Central you have passed the claim to your insurers, and give them name and policy number.
It doesn't matter that your son is no longer insured by that company.

From the brief details you have given, I would not be surprised to find your insurers disputed the claim as having no basis in fact, and have told the other side to prove their case.
It could now come down to a commercial decision to agree an out of court settlement, which will not give the claimant £5000, but will be cheaper for your insurers than going to court.
On the other hand your insurers might call their bluff and be prepared to go to court.
This would mean your son going to court, unless the claimant decided to discontinue their claim at the last minute.
In response to this

I have today emailed First central informing them that i had passed all the paper work to the insurance company and to seek a response from the insurance company at the time of the claim
I have not had a response from 1st central i have not had a response from Tesco who were the insurance company what will happen if Tesco fail to respond to the claim and it ends up in court(Most unlikely,so don't worry about that) looking at emails from Tesco in the past they are willing to challenge the claim and worst case settle the claim in full(so that's ok)
the claimant is claiming £35 per day car hire plus other expenses they went to a private car hire company and not through the insurance company (their choice and if they lose their cost!) like you would think also on the paper work we had got the claimant now lives in west Yorkshire yet at the time of the incident they lived in Darlington (he's allowed to move!) and the claimant has now changed profession to be become a solicitor(just like that! & so why would he use another firm of solicitors?) the passenger was not a family member the witness lives over 30 miles away from Darlington just something feels wrong with this claim

Comments in red, but as your insurance company is handling the matter, let them do the worrying. That is why you pay your premium.

[emerson1988]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

we are not saying that my son didn't collide with the car which he did its the amount of the claim we question the damage to the claimants car the fact they used a hire car with out going through the insurance £35 per day is that the going rate not sure they say the car spun which it didn't the size of dog in the car that was lose it would have hindered my vision at the best of time it was something like a great Dane or similar the dog is clearly seen lose in the car i am not trying to grasp at straws but want to give you guys all the information which will enable you to give me your best response
what i fear is that my son who is aged 18 could have a ccj against him down to the insurance company's
the court papers have information of payment and how to pay and if he cannot pay my son has no income at all he is out of work and cannot get the universal credit payment whit being messed about with a full time job
Once again Guys your input is valuable

[emerson1988]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

After reading all the paper work the claimant first hired a car through enterprises but once the car was taken from the claiment they have stated "After the claimant was taken out of hire additional costs of £5 per day was incurred to go to and from work due to ongoing anxieties caused by the accident the claimant felt she was not ready to purchase an alternative car seems strange that the defendant drove a hire car for 65 days with out any issues at all
I really feel like challenging this as i have found more issues with the claimants statement which i will publish tomorrow things really do not ad up on most of the claim to me the claim is very over the top and false

[emerson1988]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

Any help is greatly received as in the past i don't want my 18 year old son having this around his neck the claimants are going over the top i can publish the pictures so that you guys can make up your own minds and advise me to my best move

[des8]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

If you have concerns about the validity of the claim, report them to your insurers and confirm that your son woud be willing to go to court to dispute the claim if the insurers so choose.

From the details you have given, this claim seems to be dishonest.
Insurers at one time, were prepared to settle prior to court to avoid enormous legal fees, even if they thought the claim was without merit.
However recent changes (2015) have changed the playing field, so those behaving fundamentally dishonest, find it doesn't pay.

Your son will not get a CCJ ... just keep copies of all you send to insurers, and chase them up if they don't communicate with you.
First thing is to ensure they answer the court papers.
They will either defend the claim or admit it.
If they dispute they will organise your son's defence, if they admit they will pay the claimant.

[emerson1988]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

Thanks for your response I have not heard anything from Tesco or 1St Central
I need to chase them up, when my son was insured by Tesco he gave me permission to enable me to talk to Tesco regarding this claim on the court documents it says we need to respond in 14 days I am getting a bit worried as to why I haven't had any response from either insurance/claims company is there anything anyone would recommend I say to either company to get a response from them
I am getting a bit worried with the days going by and we are no further forward

[des8]

Re: Court Claim after Minor Car Accident

You received the court papers five days ago, so you still have over a week in which to chase up your insurers.
Try ringing them tomorrow