RTC

[Smartmotorway]

Hi everyone I need advice. My husband was involved in an accident on a smart motorway last Dec. He was driving his Mum to ours for Christmas.

He drove into the back of an ambulance that was empty and on way to being serviced, unfortunately a Hgv then went into the back of my husbands car.

Nobody was hurt just shocked and the police dealt with it all and the insurance company dealt with it very promptly.

Today my husband has received a CCJ on behalf of the lorry driver as he was owner driver claiming negligence and breach of duty on behalf of my husband. He is claiming £12694 for this.

Are there any qualified people out there to tell us what we should do now. This is scary as has huge implications for us. We have heard nothing from anyone involved in the collision until now so getting this order has come as a huge shock.

We were always told if a car/vehicle hit you from behind it was their fault for not leaving enough distance

Refer it on to your insurance company.

Hi thankyou for replying. I thought that to but it looks like the owner if the hgv has maybe taken legal advice and here we are. I wasn't actually present do don't know the exact details but this is what husband said what happened.
I'm assuming because the police were present they would have dealt with husband if he gad been negligent or breaching safety guidelines. This is scary as we've never been involved in anything like this.

Thankyou we are contacting them to see if they can help.

Should all be handled by your insurance.
Any charges re negligent driving would come from the police.
They are trying their luck .

Oh thankyou I do hope so. I'm a bit of a stresshead and worry more than is good for me. Hopefully the insurance can sort this out.

If it is a county court judgment you need to complain long and loud to your insurers. A CCJ cannot be obtained without proceedings being issued and not handled correctly by your insurers.
If it is county court proceedings, get onto the insurers and keep chasing to be certain they are dealing with it.

Thankyou for this advice. Hopefully insurers can sort this out. We are with Aviva so they are usually very reliable.

Doesn't sound right to me.

Firstly as others have said - any claim would be handled by your insurer, and as such any correspondence you get should be sent onwards to them. That's all you need to do.

Likewise, if the hgv hit the rear of your DH's (by then stationary) car, the fault is with them - not your DH.

How would your DH be at fault? If it was a smart motorway then he could have been stopped because his car has just broken down. It's on them to avoid stationary traffic ahead.

Ordinarily yes, but in this case it was OP’s husband who hit a car behind and caused the mini pile up, so not sure if it’s that simple.

OP - contact your insurers. This is exactly what they’re for and they should be dealing with this. Even if the claim is valid, your insurer should be paying out, not you personally.

Still the same issue, you should be travelling at a safe distance from the in front?

Just refer it back to your insurance company.

I had this when I had an accident a few years ago. They write to you (as the claimant) as well as the insurance - you'll need to send everything you've received onto insurance and they'll deal with it.

It's very unlikely to go to court, it should get settled privately. It's really scary getting a letter like that though!

Yes it is @cinnamonfrenchtoast really scary. You've all been really helpful and helped to calm me down. Thankyou all for responding back.

@Smartmotorway it took less than 48 hours for the claim to be settled once I'd received the letter - my insurance company were really good and reassuring too. Hopefully yours are the same!