I'm Being Sued for a Motorbike Accident - Help!
Discussion
Argh!!!
Back in May 2015, a couple of months after passing my motorbike test, I had an accident where, in a nutshell, I lost control of my bike doing an emergency stop, and collided head on with an ambulance.
I certainly am not disputing liability, although the police did send me a letter saying I wouldn't be charged.
The Ambulance Service's representatives have sent me a couple of letters over the past few months explaining that my insurance co are simply not engaging in any dialogue with them, and as such they would be persuing me for costs, circa £4k all in, all itemised and seem perfectly reasonable and legitimate.
I have repeatedly sent letters to my insurance co, but they too aren't engaging with me.
This morning I've received a court summons.
So what do I do? I suspect there is a very real chance I'm going to end up massively out of pocket here. Any advice would be appreciated.
Many thanks.
Back in May 2015, a couple of months after passing my motorbike test, I had an accident where, in a nutshell, I lost control of my bike doing an emergency stop, and collided head on with an ambulance.
I certainly am not disputing liability, although the police did send me a letter saying I wouldn't be charged.
The Ambulance Service's representatives have sent me a couple of letters over the past few months explaining that my insurance co are simply not engaging in any dialogue with them, and as such they would be persuing me for costs, circa £4k all in, all itemised and seem perfectly reasonable and legitimate.
I have repeatedly sent letters to my insurance co, but they too aren't engaging with me.
This morning I've received a court summons.
So what do I do? I suspect there is a very real chance I'm going to end up massively out of pocket here. Any advice would be appreciated.
Many thanks.
Thanks everyone.
Yep, of course I've spoken to insurance co, but there are so many different companies in the chain, and I never got a satisfactory response from them, always an 'email the docs here' and never an acknowledgement.
After half an hour on the phone I've managed to get through to a 'litigation department' who have at least given me a named representative to deal with.
Once he gets the court stuff through he'll be in touch, but seemed confident it would be settled before an attendance at court would be required. Here's hoping.
So assuming it gets to court, what happens? Do I have to cough up and then sue my insurance company?
Yep, of course I've spoken to insurance co, but there are so many different companies in the chain, and I never got a satisfactory response from them, always an 'email the docs here' and never an acknowledgement.
After half an hour on the phone I've managed to get through to a 'litigation department' who have at least given me a named representative to deal with.
Once he gets the court stuff through he'll be in touch, but seemed confident it would be settled before an attendance at court would be required. Here's hoping.
So assuming it gets to court, what happens? Do I have to cough up and then sue my insurance company?
knitware said:
BigTom85 said:
Argh!!!
I lost control of my bike doing an emergency stop, and collided head on with an ambulance.
What is it called when you have terrible bad luck but instantly you are lucky to have had the bad luck at that time?I lost control of my bike doing an emergency stop, and collided head on with an ambulance.
So whilst I was lucky, someone else didn't get the ambulance they needed as soon as they should have done. I find this really difficult to deal with. Both paramedics were excellent however, and they did keep in touch afterwards too
It's not as if you did it on purpose, and you definitely learnt from it.
Accidents happen - that's why they are called accidents.
It's more than likely the other ambulance caller had a happy outcome, stop beating yourself up over it and ride carefully.
And thanks for reminding me why I have never been on the public road on a motorbike, and never will.
Accidents happen - that's why they are called accidents.
It's more than likely the other ambulance caller had a happy outcome, stop beating yourself up over it and ride carefully.
And thanks for reminding me why I have never been on the public road on a motorbike, and never will.
BigTom85 said:
Argh!!!
Back in May 2015, a couple of months after passing my motorbike test, I had an accident where, in a nutshell, I lost control of my bike doing an emergency stop, and collided head on with an ambulance.
I certainly am not disputing liability, although the police did send me a letter saying I wouldn't be charged.
The Ambulance Service's representatives have sent me a couple of letters over the past few months explaining that my insurance co are simply not engaging in any dialogue with them, and as such they would be persuing me for costs, circa £4k all in, all itemised and seem perfectly reasonable and legitimate.
I have repeatedly sent letters to my insurance co, but they too aren't engaging with me.
This morning I've received a court summons.
So what do I do? I suspect there is a very real chance I'm going to end up massively out of pocket here. Any advice would be appreciated.
Many thanks.
Send it to your insurer at the time. This is their problem. Recorded delivery.Back in May 2015, a couple of months after passing my motorbike test, I had an accident where, in a nutshell, I lost control of my bike doing an emergency stop, and collided head on with an ambulance.
I certainly am not disputing liability, although the police did send me a letter saying I wouldn't be charged.
The Ambulance Service's representatives have sent me a couple of letters over the past few months explaining that my insurance co are simply not engaging in any dialogue with them, and as such they would be persuing me for costs, circa £4k all in, all itemised and seem perfectly reasonable and legitimate.
I have repeatedly sent letters to my insurance co, but they too aren't engaging with me.
This morning I've received a court summons.
So what do I do? I suspect there is a very real chance I'm going to end up massively out of pocket here. Any advice would be appreciated.
Many thanks.
Tell your current insurer.
Definitely do not just leave the court paperwork to be done by the insurance company! Either make sure they send the paperwork to the court within a day or two or if not then send it yourself.
I was involved in a fault accident and my insurers did a similar thing with the third party resulting in me getting a summons. No problem I thought, I spoke to my insurer and they said send the paperwork through. I sent them it and didn't hear anything back so I thought they were dealing with it. Then I got a letter saying I hadn't responded and so the ruling went against me and I got a CCJ and a demand to pay over 4K for the claim. I spoke to my insurance company who then spent months getting the judgement set aside. Whilst this was going on I was trying to rent a house but kept failing the credit checks due to the CCJ. Luckily due to a sympathetic landlord I got sorted but the CCJ was such a pain in the arse whilst it was on my credit record.
I was involved in a fault accident and my insurers did a similar thing with the third party resulting in me getting a summons. No problem I thought, I spoke to my insurer and they said send the paperwork through. I sent them it and didn't hear anything back so I thought they were dealing with it. Then I got a letter saying I hadn't responded and so the ruling went against me and I got a CCJ and a demand to pay over 4K for the claim. I spoke to my insurance company who then spent months getting the judgement set aside. Whilst this was going on I was trying to rent a house but kept failing the credit checks due to the CCJ. Luckily due to a sympathetic landlord I got sorted but the CCJ was such a pain in the arse whilst it was on my credit record.
SAS Tom said:
Definitely do not just leave the court paperwork to be done by the insurance company! Either make sure they send the paperwork to the court within a day or two or if not then send it yourself.
I was involved in a fault accident and my insurers did a similar thing with the third party resulting in me getting a summons. No problem I thought, I spoke to my insurer and they said send the paperwork through. I sent them it and didn't hear anything back so I thought they were dealing with it. Then I got a letter saying I hadn't responded and so the ruling went against me and I got a CCJ and a demand to pay over 4K for the claim. I spoke to my insurance company who then spent months getting the judgement set aside. Whilst this was going on I was trying to rent a house but kept failing the credit checks due to the CCJ. Luckily due to a sympathetic landlord I got sorted but the CCJ was such a pain in the arse whilst it was on my credit record.
This is exactly what I'm worried about. I was involved in a fault accident and my insurers did a similar thing with the third party resulting in me getting a summons. No problem I thought, I spoke to my insurer and they said send the paperwork through. I sent them it and didn't hear anything back so I thought they were dealing with it. Then I got a letter saying I hadn't responded and so the ruling went against me and I got a CCJ and a demand to pay over 4K for the claim. I spoke to my insurance company who then spent months getting the judgement set aside. Whilst this was going on I was trying to rent a house but kept failing the credit checks due to the CCJ. Luckily due to a sympathetic landlord I got sorted but the CCJ was such a pain in the arse whilst it was on my credit record.
If I go to court it will be to say 'yep, my bad', so I guess I'd have to cough up and then sue the insurance co? NIGHTMARE.
I'm on the other end of this, 18 months after my not-at-fault bike crash. Trying to get any communication out of the third party insurers has been like shouting down a big empty hole. Really frustrating, causing me more stress than the crash. They have woken up a little since the court action went in... I'd rather like my lot to go after the actual driver too, as it seems him not filling in his report form caused the first 6 months' delay...
BigTom85 said:
SAS Tom said:
Definitely do not just leave the court paperwork to be done by the insurance company! Either make sure they send the paperwork to the court within a day or two or if not then send it yourself.
I was involved in a fault accident and my insurers did a similar thing with the third party resulting in me getting a summons. No problem I thought, I spoke to my insurer and they said send the paperwork through. I sent them it and didn't hear anything back so I thought they were dealing with it. Then I got a letter saying I hadn't responded and so the ruling went against me and I got a CCJ and a demand to pay over 4K for the claim. I spoke to my insurance company who then spent months getting the judgement set aside. Whilst this was going on I was trying to rent a house but kept failing the credit checks due to the CCJ. Luckily due to a sympathetic landlord I got sorted but the CCJ was such a pain in the arse whilst it was on my credit record.
This is exactly what I'm worried about. I was involved in a fault accident and my insurers did a similar thing with the third party resulting in me getting a summons. No problem I thought, I spoke to my insurer and they said send the paperwork through. I sent them it and didn't hear anything back so I thought they were dealing with it. Then I got a letter saying I hadn't responded and so the ruling went against me and I got a CCJ and a demand to pay over 4K for the claim. I spoke to my insurance company who then spent months getting the judgement set aside. Whilst this was going on I was trying to rent a house but kept failing the credit checks due to the CCJ. Luckily due to a sympathetic landlord I got sorted but the CCJ was such a pain in the arse whilst it was on my credit record.
If I go to court it will be to say 'yep, my bad', so I guess I'd have to cough up and then sue the insurance co? NIGHTMARE.
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