Motor Accident, claim ongoing , then...Small claims notice!!

[mannyg]

Hi All,

I began this post in a panic, but in the meantime have read a few similar threads and am starting to think I am OK. If anyone has any advice or more insight into this type of scenario please let me know.

I was involved in a motor accident October 2014, where I was hit from behind by a 3rd party. I had just hired a car and the accident was only 100m from the hire courtyard(!) so it was simply a case of returning with the 3rd party and exchanging his details with the hire company's. I thought that I would be fine from a "fault" perspective, but he decided in the following weeks that he was not at fault and so the insurance companies have been disputing it since.

Fast forward to May 2015 and the claim has been handed from the hire company insurance to a legal firm who have been in contact with me to confirm details of the incident etc. They also advised that I would not have to do anything, just provide evidence when required and hope they won so that I would have my (sizable) excess returned.

Now, I have just today received a completely unexpected letter from the local county court stating that the 3rd party have lodged a claim for their damages! I have never been involved in an accident or legal case so did not even know this was possible. They are claiming I was negligent (I am absolutely sure I was not) and therefore are liable to pay.

After calming down from seeing the letter, is this something I need to worry about? Do I respond? Do I pass everything to the hire car insurance company or the legal firm? Should I seek my own legal advice?

Thanks for reading!

[MrBen911]

Totally normal, don't panic. Pass the legal papers to the insurers to deal with, as quickly as possible.

The third party has issued to try to force matters as they are not succeeding in trying to claim their costs back.

I guess the TP is claiming you pulled out in front of them, if you had only travelled a short distance from joining the road?

[Dogwatch]

MrBen911 said:

Totally normal, don't panic. Pass the legal papers to the insurers to deal with, as quickly as possible.

The third party has issued to try to force matters as they are not succeeding in trying to claim their costs back.

I guess the TP is claiming you pulled out in front of them, if you had only travelled a short distance from joining the road?

these legal moves can be very worrying for anyone who hasn't met them before.

Don't send any form of reply or acknowledgement to anyone. Just act as a forwarding service and get on with your life.
There is normally no need for you to get your own solicitor.

[mannyg]

Dogwatch said:

MrBen911 said:

Totally normal, don't panic. Pass the legal papers to the insurers to deal with, as quickly as possible.

The third party has issued to try to force matters as they are not succeeding in trying to claim their costs back.

I guess the TP is claiming you pulled out in front of them, if you had only travelled a short distance from joining the road?

these legal moves can be very worrying for anyone who hasn't met them before.

Don't send any form of reply or acknowledgement to anyone. Just act as a forwarding service and get on with your life.
There is normally no need for you to get your own solicitor.

Thanks a lot for the responses. I had more or less resigned myself to the fact that the claim wouldn't be closed quickly (but I could get on with life), until this letter.

If I do follow the above and forward everything to the legal firm (and the hire car claims department?) do I also need to respond to the court notice? I am concerned that if the legal firm does nothing for 14 days it might have repercussions for me regarding the court claim itself (since it is made against me and not the hire car business).

Regarding the accident circumstances, yes, I believe the 3rd party is claiming that I pulled in front of them. I disagree strongly, but am ok with the insurance companies deciding between them. If the decision goes against me, so be it. What I don't want is to be out of pocket for more than the original excess which the hire care company took once the claim had gone over 30 days and it became clear that the 3rd party was no longer willing to admit fault.

[pork911]

do you have any losses?

[mannyg]

pork911 said:

do you have any losses?

Me, personally? Only the excess. The hire car company has damages for their vehicle (but both parties less than 5k).

[LoonR1]

I wonder if the other side is a PHer who has been urged to issue a small claim on here. Chances are that the other side has made a bit of a hash of things if they're using their insurance too.