I am absolutely terrified and need help ☹

[Cannotbelievethiswow]

NC. I don't want to drip feed but I can't say too much (outing).

Nearly 2 years ago someone drove into my car, dented it, scratched it but no "extreme" damage. The persons car was completely smashed as they hit me with some force. They started being aggressive towards me so I panicked, drove to a safe place and rang the police. I should've stayed I know, but it frightened the life out of me.

I have no idea how but the person got my address and came late that night and posted a note asking to ring them. I did, we exchanged details, and they insisted no one was at fault and to tell my insurer that. I told my insurer exactly who was at fault - them. They claimed it was my fault.

An investigator came to look at my car and talk through the incident and they said it was clear the person didnt check their blind spot then slammed into me.

Didn't think anymore of it, was told it wasn't my fault.

Nearly a year later a solicitor contacts me saying I am being taken to court and said person hired a rental car and ran up fees of over £10,000 and wants me to pay. I am a single parent of a young baby. I felt sick to my stomach. I sent all the evidence I had and was told it was fine, nothing to worry about.

Fast forward to now and I've recieved a court date saying I must attend. I feel sick. I'm young, have no idea of the court process, can't afford to pay them £100 never mind over £10,000 and I don't know if i could get a babysitter for that whole day. I havn't eaten, i can't sleep and I am literally terrified. Please can someone offer their advice or support on this? Surely they will get laughed out of court?

Theres probably some thing that says if the other person insists on it then you have to be there.

This whole thing is a scam, remember, so they'll be doing everything they can possibly do to make you not want to attend in the hope that they win because you're not there. The only way to get them off your case is to attend and show them that you aren't a good victim for them to keep targeting.

I bet if you didn't attend this one, other court summonses would start appearing in a years time for "whiplash" or whatever other rubbish they can concoct.

Ok don't panic the solicitors have this in hand BUT drop the 'I am only young so didn't know' argument as that could work against you. You must be at least 19 as the accident happened 2 years ago and you are a parent. Go in with an adult manner and be strong - they could twist the young in to inexperienced. I have seen this happen in a case of an ex pupil (completely different circumstances though and you have done nothing wrong - just a bit of advice you may or may not heed) I may have to don my hard hat now

You will be fine though.

I had exactly this happen to me. Complete with court appearance. I'll pm you.

Oh I know how you feel. My dh bumped into a big tipper truck a couple of years ago. His van was a write off they had once cracked rear light. Anyway my Dh was away snowboarding at the beginning of the year so had no service. I got a recorded delivery letter to our business. Opened it and it was from court saying the man was suing us for 30k. Apparently be was so badly injured he had to retire early and his wife was doing all his self care and house work. Absolute bullshit. We know who he is and he's a work shy arse whose always in the pub. I was freaking out but when we managed to contact the insurance they said they'd deal with it. We got a letter a month ago saying it was all settled. No idea what he ended up getting but we never paid a penny. And you won't either. You weren't at fault and even if you were your insurance would deal with it.

We never went to court as it was settled before then.

A few years ago my sister's car was hit in a car park, caught on cctv. She gave all the details to her insurance company. She had to hire a car while her car was being repaired.

She then started receiving letters demanding to know why she needed a hire car, and to send copies of her bank statements to show she had actually paid out.

She only mentioned this in passing to me during a 'phone call. She said she wasn't happy but assumed she had better send the statements as requested. I told her under no circumstances was she even to enter into any communication with whoever was sending her letters, but to forward anything she received straight to her insurance company. She did that, and never heard from the other company again, and received full reimbursement for her hire car from her insurance company.

They rely on people not knowing their rights, and panicking when they receive 'official letters.'

this sounds really frightening and dodgy as hell OP

oh op im really sorry this must feel really overwhelming right now.
don't worry.youve followed and are following all the steps correctly.
I know your young and are probably really feeling it right now all scared and want someone to take this away from you.but don't fear.you are old and strong enough for this.youve come on here,listened and followed all the advice and then acted on it really sensibly and grown up-ly(lol)
so you can do this too.keep findig out as much as you can making sure this is the right thing to do.what your execting and what to do,tkae be prepared for etc.and you will be fine.
because the facts are you and all you've spoken to says the other bloke is wrong.you KNOW THIS. so your going in there to tell them this.
don't let the idiot who will have all the macho brvado comfidence manipulate your fear and play it against you.
have you anyone who can support and go with you.this will help no end.

You'll be fine in court (if it comes to it). Just don't play the young card there- the other side will use it against you. Remember

Posted too soon: remember ignorance of the law isn't a defence. You've not done anything illegal, but don't set a tone in court of being uncertain/young/ignorant. Be factual and strong. This sounds awful even if you were 20 years older.

All I know is the worst thing you can do is stick your head on the sand and ignore court dates out of fear. Always show up at court dates as otherwise often the other side automatically wins.

Call your insurers. They'll probably laugh them off. My friend once slightly scratched a neighbours parked car (he wasn't in it). She wrote an apologetic note and obviously took blame and agreed to pay. He tried to sue her emotional distress, a hire car (it was a tiny scratch). She was originally going to pay out of pocket but just passed it over to her insurers who laughed him off. He got a paint job and no more.

If it does come to court, it isn't like on telly with a massive courtroom, jury & judge in a wig etc. It'll be a small modern room & you'll all basically sit round a table with your solicitors and put your evidence across. You probably won't even have to speak.

I am surprised that your insurers haven't been in contact with you in two years to update you on how the claim is going along? And have you received a summons (County Court Claim Form) yet?

Dress smartly, maybe even a bit older than your age. Go in with a no nonsense, calm attitude. Don't be drawn into long winded answers. Just give short factual responses. I am sure it will be chucked out of court very quickly.

They will almost certainly settle out of court before the date, but even if you have to go to court, it is nothing to worry about.

Stay calm and collected, and just tell the truth; if you can't remember precise details from two years ago just say so. Your insurers will provide you with a barrister who will present your side of the argument and question the other driver. You can claim expenses for getting to court and so on.

I had to go through this earlier this year when a driver who hit me claimed it was my fault. I think the judge found it quite easy to tell which of us was the chancer, so he lost the case, but even if he'd been a more convincing liar, the insurance company would have paid rather than me being out of pocket.

My husband was the victim of one of those crash scams, Eastern Europeans working in a gang together. It went all the way to court had a court date set etc etc they were trying to take my husband and his insurance to court for some silly amount of money 10k plus claiming for personal injuries (there was even a bogus doctor who provided medical evidence). Anyway long story short a court date was set etc etc but my husband’s insurance company requested more evidence (it was clearly a crash for crash scam). The people taking him to court stopped replying to correspondence and it was chucked out, it had scam written all over it from the start, they realised they’d been rumbled.

You didn’t describe exactly how your accident happened but the way it has been dealt with for example them sending you correspondence directly to your home address sounds similar to my husband’s case. It was scary for us when we got a letter saying my husband was being taken to court personally for 10k or so, I have to admit my reaction was similar to yours. Hopefully your insurance company will deal with it like my husbands, they were very confident nothing would come of it and told my husband not to worry.

@cadburysflake Sounds really like what happened with me, I hope it doesn’t make it to court. They’ve also put in for ridiculous injuries - whiplash, anxiety etc myinsurers said they’ve literally tried EVERY claim they can

But the original claim that you were liable was rejected by your insurance company at the time. This chancer hasn't got a leg to stand on. All you (and the insurance companies) need to do is to refer back to that, the original conclusion that he was at fault. He will be laughed out of court.

I work in insurance firstly don't panic, secondly don't speak to the solicitor directly thirdly lass everything into your insurers at the time even though your not with then now if you reported it they will have to deal with it. Relax and don't let this get to you like everyone else said it unfortunately happens a lot. Good luck and keep us posted

Simon Myerson QC posted an interesting, long thread today about a similar thing where people are trying to scam him with after he was involved in an accident. The scammers didn't realise he was legally up to speed and tried to persuade him to put in a dishonest claim. He was tweeting to his fellow legal people to make them more aware of this but it's a good thread for anyone.

twitter.com/SCynic1/status/1070730739845607426

and an update

twitter.com/SCynic1/status/1070809434862075909

Jo

cannotbelieve yep they had literally claimed for everything and anything, the list was extensive, pages! The funniest thing on there though was that he was claiming that the crash had effected his sex life lol. You couldn't make it up!!

I do hope it's all sorted with your insurers, have they suggested it's a scam? Or is it just a cheeky individual wanting to try and claim and make a bit of money from it?