County Court proceedings

[Penny Whistle]

I had an accident several months ago. My insurers have just told me that they consider I was at fault and "In view of the above witness statement and the fact the third party solicitors have confirmed their intention to issue County Court proceedings we have no option but to agree to deal with the third party claim in full."
Are those "proceedings" against me or my insurers ? If the former, then what can I expect to happen ?

[BlackTails]

Nothing.

The proceedings would be against you, if they were to be issued.

But your insurer is telling you that they’ve concluded the fault lies with you; therefore they will not contest the third party’s claim on your behalf and instead will settle it (ie pay it); and settling it will stop proceedings being issued against you.

You’ll have a fault accident against you which may affect your future premiums

It’s open to you to tell the insurers that you don’t want them to settle the claim. If you do, they will step back and you will have to defend the claim with your own money. If you lose, you’ll still be insured for the value of the claim, but the legal costs of unsuccessfully defending the claim (both your legal costs and the third party’s) will be on you.