Oh, I am in Trouble.

[Tengu]

But you are Men of the World and you get sued all the time, dont you?

Some time back in October 2016 I was involved in a car incident. I backed and touched a guys car. No damage.
But he got the insurers involved. He claimed it was my fault and I had caused damage (???)

I am now getting sued for his medical costs. The court case is on the 19th April. In St Helens. (Merseyside?)

This would be terribly funny if it wasnt so incredibly petty too. I will not bore you with the doctors report, it has everyone laughing.

I contacted the lawyers and they said my insurance are dealing with it. The insurance say the lawyers are dealing with it.

I cant get any advice. I went to the CAB and they huffed and laughed a bit. There is no one in College who can help.

Ok, now for my side of the story (which no one seems very interested in)

YES, I did TOUCH this guys car...I did no damage, I did not even knock off the dirt. (I am pretty sure the dirt is not covered by the insurance...) I took photos to prove this. (Which made him mad.) I can show there is no damage to my bumper (Bear in mind his car is a Nissan Quashqai and mine is a Toyota Corrola. Big difference in size. Is it safe to assume a small car hitting a big car its is the small car comes off worse?)

I took pictures of the lack of damage, which I believe was completely within my rights to do.

What do you suggest? I am very angry about all this. Worse because if I wasnt the victim it would be hillarious.


I am doing very well by not swearing in this message

 

[daveO]

Sounds like he got one of those phone calls that says 'we see from our records that you were in a car accident sometime between 1886 and 2018 and are due some tidy compo'.

I only ever get hit by people in Mercedes so I get a better class of idiot. 3 separate Mercedes attacks so far and no compo despite all my emotional trauma.

 

[Fadcode]

As this is a Civil Court case, it is important that either you or your representative is there, otherwise they will find against you.
If you have received the summons from a Solicitor acting for him, write and ask them for more information,for example why is he claiming medical expenses when medical treatment is free, a letter from his employer to prove he was off work, a copy of the x-rays etc, etc,there is a scam where the Doctor is in cahoots with the solicitor and will sign anything to make the claim look good, I know this for a fact,
But whatever you do, do not ignore it, just show the judge the photographs, and tell him you think you are the victiim of a scam, but make sure you attend.

 

[wingstoo]

You don't really need to do anything, that is what insurance companies are there for, they deal with this crap every day, unless you get called to court it will be dealt with by negotiation, if every claim for damages was dealt with through the full legal courts system it would take years to deal with...

I had a claim against me 20 years ago for a fence that didn't exist that I had supposedly damaged when I went off the road on a bend, the insurance paid out £500 for that, My other half received £3000 for "injuries" after being tail gated by a lorry, none of the parties went to court, the insurance companies dealt with it..

 

[Fadcode]

You don't really need to do anything, that is what insurance companies are there for, they deal with this crap every day, unless you get called to court it will be dealt with by negotiation, if every claim for damages was dealt with through the full legal courts system it would take years to deal with...

I had a claim against me 20 years ago for a fence that didn't exist that I had supposedly damaged when I went off the road on a bend, the insurance paid out £500 for that, My other half received £3000 for "injuries" after being tail gated by a lorry, none of the parties went to court, the insurance companies dealt with it..

Although i agree with this, it must be remembered that it is you that is taken to court, not your Insurance Company, and your post states that you are not sure who is going to represent you, although no doubt your Insurance Company will handle it, we live in a funny world where insurance companies seem to accept claims without question, and in fact unbelievably encourage claims, it has been known for Insurance companies to sell the details of claims and accidents, and why, quite simply if they defended these false claims and won them, as I am sure they would, they would then have to justify the high premiums people have to pay, car insurance, gas, electricity, rail companies as well as other essentials are basically cartels, they are all in cahoots to get as much as they can from us, or am I being too cynical

 

[oldtimer]

You are justified in feeling angry.
My wife had a similar experience. She had a crash at a notoriously complicated local traffic junction. The other party claimed for all sorts of collateral damage to items alleged to be in her car at the time of the crash, including a ballgown!. Being naive enough to think everyone acts in good faith all the time we did not take photos but did challenge her claims when telling our side of the story. With hindsight, we would have counter-claimed against her.
We left it to the insurance companies to sort out, which they did without the need to appear in any court action. However, because I was a passenger at the time, I was plagued with calls over a long period inviting me to let them sue my own wife for non-existent "whiplash" injuries.
I hope there is a special circle in Hell reserved for those who cause stress, anxiety and increased premiums to all the rest of us by pursuing false claims and extra torment for those professionals who aid and abet them.

 

[Dogoak]

I suggest you get in touch with your insurance company again. They should have instructed solicitors to represent you. I'm surprised it is actually going to court and that it's not been sorted out between the two parties insurance company's and their solicitors, perhaps it's because your representatives don't think he has a leg to stand on?
Having the photos is good, shows no damage which implies extremely low speed and therefore perhaps a fraudulent claim.
Get on to them now and demand they explain what's happening and why?

 

[C_Claycomb]

As said, why are you, personally, being sued for medical costs when A)the NHS is free and B) if the guy has a real claim, it should just come out of your insurance. It could be that you have not admitted liability, or your insurance company is not admitting you are liable, and therefore the plaintiff cannot get money from the insurance, so is coming after you.

If you have insurance, they are meant to pay for things just like this, if it is a real injury. If they are not paying, it is because they do not think the guy has a strong legal leg to stand on. That being the case, I am surprised that anyone is going to court. You should be covered. Check your policy and what sort of legal cover you have.

Sadly, I don't trust the insurance to look after you. They look after their own interests, which may align with yours, but may not. You do need to keep on top of them. Make sure that you know who is going to be representing you. Take notes of every phone conversation, date, time, name of the person you speak to. You did really well to get photos!

I had a case were I was rear-ended and they guy that did it blamed me, and eventually had a solicitor send me a letter threatening to take me to court. We ended up with joint liability. I did not have photos. If I did, that would have been proof of my version. Never went to court. None of that case made sense. I did find that the legal cover people and the insurance people had nothing at all to do with each other, did not communicate, and I was constantly having to try to keep the two in sync. I had bought the insurance via a broker, and it was only later I learned that the broker had people whose roll it was to keep up with legal / insurance cross communications.

I had another case where my car was struck by a dump truck's drive shaft that fell out of the drive train as the truck went past...at night. Two other people were also hit. Their insurance companies looked after them. I had Direct Line, and they did not look after me well. Would have treated me even worse if I hadn't had the other folk's to cross check with. At one point I found that shouting at someone in the Complaints Department got results when being polite and tolerant was getting me steam rolled.

Anyone know if you could claim costs if the judgement goes against him and you have had to travel all the way up to Manchester (assuming that is the St. Helens, and not the one on Isle of Wight)?

Good luck! keep us posted!

 

[Insel Affen]

My wife spotted this in the papers some time ago. https://www.ulster.ac.uk/lawclinic/home Just did a quick Google search for it.

If I understand it correctly, the post grad law students at Ulster University in Belfast offer a free advice service to help them cut their teeth.

Hope you get justice as people who do scamming are pretty lowlife!!!!!

 

[santaman2000]

Although i agree with this, it must be remembered that it is you that is taken to court, not your Insurance Company, and your post states that you are not sure who is going to represent you, although no doubt your Insurance Company will handle it, we live in a funny world where insurance companies seem to accept claims without question, and in fact unbelievably encourage claims, it has been known for Insurance companies to sell the details of claims and accidents, and why, quite simply if they defended these false claims and won them, as I am sure they would, they would then have to justify the high premiums people have to pay, car insurance, gas, electricity, rail companies as well as other essentials are basically cartels, they are all in cahoots to get as much as they can from us, or am I being too cynical

To be fair they often settle false claims because the damages awarded are cheaper than going to court. At least at the lower end of claims.

As said, why are you, personally, being sued for medical costs when A)the NHS is free .....

Perhaps he sought treatment from a private provider? Or at least is alleging that? If indeed it's a false or frivolous claim like it sounds, I'd imagine the plaintiff's solicitor is what we over here call an "ambulance chaser" and has a few "cooperative" doctors on speed dial.

 

[dwardo]

Ambulance chasing filth. I get several calls a day since my missus bumped another car in a car-park. She admitted full responsibility and at less that 5mph they are still trying for whiplash and trauma ..

This is what we pay insurance companies for. If they say they are dealing with it then fine but take names and ask for it in writing. There are also recorded calls which works both ways. Recently had to call upon one when my wifes car was towed away for no insurance despite us having full and paid up.... Once they replayed the call all was well.

Write everything down, names, times, conversations just incase but I expect all will be fine. Half the time there no no court date and its all fluff.

 

[mrcharly]

I agree with Fadcode's first post. Do attend court. If it is Small Claims court, I have been in one (taken to court by a builder). It is a non-intimidating experience, you sit across a table from the judge, who is a normal human being in a normal clothes. When I went, they were very good at dealing with the case; the person who took me to court got upset and emotional, the judge was patient and quite compassionate in dealing with them.

Do mention that when you took the photographs, the other party got angry with you for doing so. Taking photographs at an accident is a responsible and sensible thing to do and only someone who is intending to scam would object. Keep calm in the court, just describe exactly what happened, stick to what you witnessed and things you can verify.

 

[Paul_B]

I went into the back of an Astra van with a load of children's toys strapped to the top. They were parked up with the engine running, then without indicating set off then stopped / hesitated before setting off. I had slowed because I anticipated him setting off but then when he stopped I assumed he had seen me and was "letting" me go by. I put the word letting into quotation marks because I had right if way technically but I still accepted fault because I did go into his back end.

When it came to settling I got all the letters about going to court. A worried telephone to my insurer's claim line reassured me. They simply told me to send any correspondence I get relating to the claim to their claims office. I did that and the letters to me stopped. It got settled eventually. After a year and a half I checked up to find out what happened. Well, it took a few months more than that to finish. They settled the claim for a lot less than the van driver wanted.

The claim against me was for whiplash £1500 damages plus more than that for van rental. The mechanic's report on damage gave a very low cost to repair because it read a really low speed collision. I think a bumper got a spray and that's about all. So the insurance company decided that the claim was too high and wanted to call their bluff over the court proceedings. There was no van hire because the van got fixed quickly and the other personal damages got questioned too. I think a £5000+ claim became £500 payout.

The best thing about it? My ncd was protected and despite the accident my insurance premiums dropped for the next 3 years. Possibly because the payout was so low insurance companies probably didn't see it as an issue.

If I was you every such letter you get copy it and send it through to your insurance company's claims department. After calling them to check that's what they want of course. They should really be dealing with it. Also pays to not get the cheapest insurance deal but to look at what you really do get and the reputation of the insurer.

Above all, avoid direct line. I've heard a lot about how bad they were regarding dealing with claims against you. That was years ago and they might be better now but I still don't trust them even half as much as other insurers

 

[Paul_B]

Did I forget to say, good luck? Well I hope you get it all painlessly settled. Good luck !

 

[daveO]

Things are definitely getting worse these days. About 20 years ago a women on her phone pulled out in front of my mum's car and caused a serious accident. My mum's car was a complete right off, she was off work with injuries for several years and still has to wear wrist and neck braces at times, she had to give up a successful business and declare bankruptcy. The only money she got wasn't enough to pay off the finance on the car. These days she'd have a queue of 'lawyers' outside her door begging for the chance to get her a fair payout.

 

[Paul_B]

Fair payout but only if you buy their fees insurance first. A lot of those ambulance chasers start by making you pay a lot on insurance so they'll get paid no matter what the outcome. If you're lucky that insurance will cover any of the costs you might have to pay the other side.

I former work colleague's wife sued a retailer and it took 3 years and a £3000 insurance and additional fees to get the win. Fortunately costs were paid and she got a good lawyer who did a real job on the opposite side. If they'd come back at the beginning with a reasonable offer instead of what amounted to a bundle of vouchers they'd have settled at the beginning. It got their backs up and they got ten times more at least.

 

[Janne]

Imagine what a nice world we would have if a simple ’ I am sorry, my fault’ was enough.....
Like in the old days, not do old in fact.

Everybody seems to have a need to cheat, lie just to make an extra buck....

 

[mousey]

Isn't that half the problem though, if you are honest and say something is your fault when it is, then you have admitted responsibility for it and are liable? - so it is just better to deny all responsibility

 

[snappingturtle]

He's going to get slammed all that he's try for and your pictures will show no impact damage, what a clown!

 

[petrochemicals]

Is this case causing you much distress, have you become dipressed, anxious, suicidal? Have you lost/gained weight, hair? Has it cost you much expense, damaged your education, prospects, income. Has your time been taken up, have you been harrassed and intimidated by companies beyond what would be considered fair and reasonable?

You may get a solicitor to represent you independant from the insurance solicitor for costs and damages on a no win no fee basis, being as you have good evidence.