Over a year ago I had a minor crash, reported it to my insurance, admitted liability and had the claim accepted and my car repaired under insurance.
Just today I've had a solicitors letter from the other party, claiming my insurance hasn't paid out and they'll take me to court if I don't pay out.
I'll call my insurance first, but otherwise what do I do?
Write to the other party's solicitors, telling them that your insurer had agreed to pay out. Give them evidence of this if you can. Ask them to take no further action until you have had the opportunity to resolve the issue with your insurer, with the assurance that you will keep them updated on the situation. If they aren't total cowboys, they will fully honour this. Don't be intimidated about corresponding with solicitors. They communicate in a strange form of legalese, the main purpose of which is to intimidate normal people. They do understand plain English, even if they prefer not to speak it.
Write to your insurer. If they say that they've already paid out, ask to see evidence and ask them to forward that evidence to the other party's solicitors. If they say that they're not actually going to pay out, ask to make a formal complaint. They will try to subtly persuade you to not make a formal complaint, so you might need to press them on it. If the formal complaint doesn't resolve the issue, speak to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Ombudsman's decisions are legally binding on financial service providers, but not on customers. If their decision doesn't go in your favour, you can reject it and get a solicitor; that's usually futile, but it is an option.
I don't yet know whether or not my insurers agreed to pay out, only that they accepted my own claim and marked it as being closed later.
My gut feeling is that the other party is a total twonk who didn't contact their insurers but tried to claim back the money after the fact, hence my insurance wont pay out because of repairs not being assessed/completed by an approved garage etc., but I assume my insurance still covers me in this respect. Meaning if I have something in writing that my insurer had a valid reason not to pay, I can stand my ground and hopefully not get taken to court, they're just chancing that I'll get scared and settle?
Sorry, I've just realised that I misread your original post - I had assumed that your insurers had accepted a claim from the other party. Replace my first line with "Write to the other party's solicitors, telling them that you are directing their correspondence to your insurer". Send your insurer a copy of the solicitor's letter and, with any luck, that'll be the last you hear of it.
There are any number of reasons why this could have happened. The other bloke might be a twonk who didn't bother to put in an insurance claim. He might have put in a claim and been rejected for some or other reason. He might have put in a claim, but not had the claim settled because of some kind of administrative cock-up. The key thing is just to redirect the matter to your insurer - this is what you pay your premiums for.
>>4773 Thanks again.
I've noticed the letter was dated 25th August and I only received it yesterday thanks to the royal mail striking. And they say in the letter I had 7 days to respond.
I've emailed my insurer just telling them of the letter and monday when I have access to a scanner I'll send the letter to them. Emailed the solicitors, told them the date I received the letter and that I hope they will delay any action due to the circumstances. Told them relevant details ie. I was fully insured, reported the incident timely, wasnt told of any dispute and my insurer told the case and that I would forward any correspondence onto them.
>>4774 Well further developments.
At the start of septermber I called my insurer, they reopened the claim and confirmed my insurance was valid and they could pay. I passed these details onto the solicitors and advised them to contact my insurer.
Got home today to find county court claim documents had been posted to me. Wonderful.
If you're lucky enough to have actually got the first initial letter about county court proceedings, unlike when I was threatened with a CCJ earlier this year, then my understanding is you can reply to it that you intend to contest the claim, and that basically puts a whole spanner in the works because then they've got to actually review the case and hear your side. Which naturally you're fine with because you've done everything you could be reasonably be expected to.
Don't you just love this country's bureaucracy though eh?.
>>4776 I've got to return the form to the court by the end of next week, but it basically gives me three options, admit I will pay, make a defence, or say if I've already paid. I'll speak to my insurer tomorrow and see what they say
It's worth considering that it may well be easier to just pay up (even though you aren't at fault- Just purely because of the bureaucracy and time/stress it will cost you) and then take it up with your insurers later.
If you pay whatever it is the CCJ are asking straight away, it won't stay on your file, won't affect your credit score, or any of that lark; but you can kick off at your insurers for obviously failing to do their job and get them to reimburse you it. By contrast, if you choose to defend it and the judge rules against you, you do get the black mark of CCJ on your credit file for 6 years.
This was the legal advice I received when dealing with mine. If you're thinking "hang on a minute that sounds like complete dogshit and makes a mockery of the concept of justice we are supposed to have in this country", then yeah. You would be right.
Well in the end its all sorted. After hours on the phone to my insurer they've confirmed to me that they've paid the full amount owed (apparently they paid the week before the court sent me the letter), and I've got a copy of the correspondence between the solicitors and the court confirming that the claim is settled so I'm good.
>>4779 (I should add that this makes me glad I've stuck with a big brand insurer for years rather than hopping around the lowest bidders on compare the market)
