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Anyone good at understanding legal speak?

14 replies

KitKat1985 · 17/04/2019 18:01

Longer story abbreviated as much as possible: Last year a guy hit my parked car and put quite a dent / scuff in the back of it. He admitted it was his fault (couldn't not do really as it was obvious and was seen doing it) and said he wanted to settle with me privately. I tried to be nice and agree a small settlement amount (which in hindsight was far too little but it was an old car), but after a month of chasing and numerous excuses / lies from him it became apparent that he wasn't going to pay so I put in an insurance claim. Subsequently transpired that not only had he not paid me, he had put in a false insurance claim for the damage caused to his vehicle saying the damage to his car had been caused by someone hitting it in a car park and then claimed for the damage as a non-fault claim! My vehicle was declared a financial write-off following this, but I agreed to take a partial pay out on this (which was still notably more than what I had originally asked for) so I could keep the car for a period as a cat N write off as the damage was cosmetic. However my insurers were unable to recoup costs from his insurers as he refused to engage with his insurance company to admit liability for the accident (not surprising given that he had also committed insurance fraud against his insurers). Subsequently insurance company have got solicitors involved and it has escalated to a County Court case. Apparently he has admitted fault but I don't understand all the legal jargon in the letter. Can anyone make sense of the last sentence in this phrase:

"We have issued County Court proceedings against the defendant to recover both your losses and your insurer's outlay. In response we have received the enclosed Defence, which in effect confirms that the Defendant accepts liability for the accident. The Defence does however set the grounds upon which the losses claimed are disputed".

Many thanks!

OP posts:
UsernameTaken76 · 17/04/2019 18:05

He confirms he is at fault for causing the crash but is disputing he should pay for the losses (I.e financial claims) you have submitted for the reasons stated in his defence

KitKat1985 · 17/04/2019 18:17

Okay. I can only assume he is thinking he should only have to pay the amount I originally asked him for, rather than the amount my insurance company gave me for writing the car off.

OP posts:
Namechangeymcnamechange11 · 17/04/2019 19:08

If you're unsure of anything your solicitor sends you, call and ask. I try to make my letters as jargon free as possible, but I would rather someone rang to clarify if unsure.

Karigan195 · 17/04/2019 19:10

Accepts he’s at fault but is disputing amounts

sittingonacornflake · 17/04/2019 19:18

It would be helpful if they told you what those grounds were Grin

KnifeAngel · 17/04/2019 19:47

I am surprised your insurers dealt with your claim as you didn't notify them straight away.

Imtryingveryhard · 17/04/2019 21:12

Your solicitor should send you a copy of the defence. Usually it's a generic repudiation to buy the defendant solicitor time to deal with the matter. What are your heads of loss? Who are the D sols? Pm me the details if needed. I am a defendant lawyer.

Imtryingveryhard · 17/04/2019 21:15

@knifeAngel they will deal with the claim and refer to.sols as they have an outlay to recover. And op may have lei.

Bringmewineandcake · 17/04/2019 21:20

Yeah it means he’s accepting it was his fault but not accepting all of the costs you / your insurance company want to claim for.

KitKat1985 · 17/04/2019 21:21

It would be helpful if they told you what those grounds were

Bloody would help wouldn't it! Grin

Thank you Imtrying. I'm going to call my solicitor (or rather, my insurers solicitor) on tues I think after the bank holiday weekend (can't tomorrow as on a double shift at work and won't get a chance), and just clarify what it is exactly that they are disputing. If it's the amount paid out by my insurance company then I'm not really sure what the point of me going to court is as it was my insurance company that decided on the appropriate payout based on current market price of the vehicle, (and I haven't claimed any additional costs for the incident) so they need to argue it with them rather than me surely if they feel the amount paid out was excessive?

OP posts:
KitKat1985 · 17/04/2019 21:25

On a personal note I can't believe after dragging this out for a year already, and lying to me, committing insurance fraud, and avoiding his insurance company and mine for months, the CF has the balls to dispute amount rather than just settle the amount and lay the bloody thing to rest.

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KitKat1985 · 17/04/2019 21:28

Imtrying can they make me repay the money I was paid out if the court decide the insurance pay-out was too much?

OP posts:
Imtryingveryhard · 18/04/2019 03:39

No, they are just trying to recoup what they paid to you. Proceedings will have been issued in your name as the non-fault party, and they will need your help just to recover it. More likely than not is your solicitor didn't attach the engineers report to the Particulars of Claim which is why the defendant can t admit it. The defendant probably doesn't even know about it to be honest! It will be his solicitors responding, especially if liability is admitted.

KitKat1985 · 18/04/2019 06:17

Okay thank you. x

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