Car Insurance Nightmare

[bobsgirl]

About 6 months ago a friend came to visit, parked her car on our drive and I inadvertently backed into it (at about 5mph). The only visible damage was a dent in the bumper of each car and her bumper was slightly out-of-flush with the side of the car. I got an estimate for my car repair from the dealership (as it was still under warranty)of £370. She took her car (which was smaller, older and cheaper than mine) to the Ford dealership where her brother works, they sent it to a bodyshop who rang me and demanded £400 cash for the repair (they claimed this included £200 discount as they knew her brother) but would not explain or tell me what this covered. I put it through to my insurance company as it was well over my excess and they said they would deal with it.

On returning from my holiday some time later I rang my friend and was shocked when she told me the car had been in this bodyshop for 3 weeks as they kept finding stuff wrong with it, she had a hire car but it would be ready soon. I rang the insurance company and expressed concern but they told me not to worry it was in their system.

Some months later we both received court documents naming her as plaintiff and me as defendant for a sum over £2500 claimed as a result of this accident. The bodyshop claimed over £1500 for repairs and over £1000 for car hire. The insurance companies assured us both this often happens and would almost certainly be sorted without court but today I have received a letter giving me a date for a small claims court hearing.

Does anyone know if there's anything I should do? The bodyshop have inflated this claim so much that I don't blame the insurance company for standing up to it but I don't want a court judgement against me that could appear on my records, affect credit, etc and it's my name on all the court documents not the insurance co.

Insurance companies often send automobile engineers to inspect vehicles before they authorise repairs. Perhaps you need to ask your Insurance company to send an Automobile Engineer now to Inspect the other persons car. It looks as though the body shop have either charged for fictitious work or done work not connected to to the minor bump.

If it goes to Court, suggest that the Judge makes a physical examination of the vehicles together with the Invoice for the repairs.

As far as I know you should write back to the court telling them it is being dealt with by the insurance company - copy all docs to the insurance company and then the court should not be ablde to accept docs naming you as a defendant.
They can't go after 2 parties for the same thing at the same time.
But call the court to double check.
With friends like this......

Place this firmly back with your insurers....this is what you pay your premiums for. It is down to them to argue with the garage, not you.

The garage is at it and I'd be tempted to report a fraudulent claim by the garage.

The insurance company does have the right to do this in your name, and somewhere in the small print of your insurance contract will be a bit where you agree to co-operate with them on court action to recover money where necessary. I know this because I've been through similar and the court papers etc came through in my name - the choices were to sign the papers letting them go to court, or pay the full amount myself (including all the legal fees etc)!

Even if the judgement goes against you, the insurance company will still be the ones who will pay, and it will be clear from the way things have been done that it is all an insurance case, not really a claim against you.

Ask to speak to the Insurance companies Fraud department and tell them that you suspect that the garage is trying to rip off the insurance company.

We had a similar incident about 5 years ago when a low speed impact (reversing) with damage on the rear wheel arch resulted in 3 weeks car hire and a whole new front to the car.

Although it didn't go to the small claims court, becasue they paid it (despite us telling them that this was excessive) we still complained to the insurance company on the basis that it was fraud and that as an industry they were supposed to be trying to crack down on fraudulent claims , yet had done nothing despite us drawing it to their attention.

We ended up getting our no-claims discount re-instated.

Is your "friend" Third Party or Fully Comp? If the latter, her insurers should be paying for her repairs and claiming back off your insurers. As such, her insurers have an obligation to make sure they are paying for work necesary as a result of the accident only and they would usually use their appointed repair garage.

If she has Third Party only cover, it's more tricky as she'll be making the claim against your insurance herself and, as appears to be the case, can submit whatever estimates or invoices she likes. I am surprised that your insurance company have not insisted on two quotes for comparison purposes or even used their own repairer network to make sure they're not being ripped off.

Court documents will always be in your name and hers, as she is effectively claiming off you. However, your policy contains a subrogation clause which states that your insurer may "stand in your shoes" and handle any claim against you as they see fit. So if they think it's worth paying they will an if they think it's worth defending they will.

I would call your insurer to determine why the matter has resulted in litigation. It is unlikely that your friend would have sued you unless your insurer are refusing to pay. Ask them to explain the merits of your case. What amount is in dispute? Do they feel there is a reaosnable prospect of successfully defending the case or are they likely to make an offer to avoid the litigation?

Ultimately you will have to follow your insurer's recommendations (if you chose not to, they will leave you to deal with the whole thing yourself and meet all the costs) Be prepared that they may take an "economic view" that it is more cost efficient to pay the claim than meet the cost of litigation. Very often these cases are a form of game - who blinks first - and claimants think that the threat of a court appearance can be used as a negotiation tool to get more money.

I'd be very surprised if you get to court over such a small claim so try not to panic. Even if you did, your insurer would support you, appointing a solicitor and / or barrister to act for you and meeting the legal costs. It's very rare that an insured defendant ever has to speak in court.

Clarify with your insurer what action they are going to take and why. They are on your side.

If you need anything else let me know - I spent 12 years working in insurance claims and am currently training as a solicitor so know my stuff!

Thanks everybody for the above. My friend has been in touch, she has also had a letter about going to court from her insurers solicitor (you're right it is her insurer vs my insurer but apparently they always issue things in the policy holders' names and we have no say in it) She has been asked to supply 3 months of bank statements and wage slips and has been led to believe it is something to do with the charging of car hire that is the sticking point of the claim. She was told that there are 2 levels of charging for car hire and it hinges on whether the person getting the car could have paid for it if necessary or not so she is hoping that having supplied all the financial info the two companies may now agree a settlement. I know that the insurers will have to pay whatever is needed but am just worried about having some kind of judgement against my name that could affect future credit, reputation,etc.

Sorry to post this again but I have now been told that, as my insurers are the ones refusing to pay and therefore being sued, I will get a CCJ on my record if the court finds against them.

How is this fair? I've done everything I should following an accident and pay insurance to cover any accidents. Although they will pay any costs I end up with a CCJ and a cr*p credit rating.

Anyone know if I should do anything to avoid this?

If a CCJ is paid in full within one month it is removed from the Register of Judgements, Orders and Fines. Even if your insurance company don't pay it off that quickly it will be marked as "satisfied" when they do and should not affect your credit rating. If credit reference agencies hold incorrect or misleading information about you, you are entitled to get them to put a notice on your report explaining why you think the information is misleading.