Legal advice needed ASAP

[GloriaGaynor]

Long story short: a man nearly drove into my father's car, but didn't, which resulted in the other car's wing mirror breaking, but no damage to my father's car.

As my father was not at fault, his insurance company would not pay out to the other driver for the damage to his mirror.

This was back in August.

Today, out of the blue, my father received a 'without prejudice' letter stating that if my father did not pay £xxxx for compensation for the wing mirror by the end of December he would start court proceedings.

My father will contact his lawyer on Monday, but that's a long wait and I was wondering if any lawyers could clarify a couple of issues before then:

This man claims to be a lawyer himself, but I have researched him online and the Solictors's register and the Bar show no record of him. His own LinkedIn history and Companies House history set out his education and employment - a degree in business, and held posts in marketing. (He also has a lot of failed companies and resignations to his name).

What would a court make of someone lying about being a lawyer?

He claims to have a recording of a conversation with my father's insurance company which he also claims is admissible in court.

It may be that that the company records all conversations and he requested a copy, or it may be that he recorded them without their knowledge.

Either way - is it true that it is admissible in court? Or is this another lie?

My father is 80 and very stressed, so any feedback would be very gratefully received.

indeed. Contact insurers and don't worry.

and the English legal system really doesn't work this way. Even to get somewhere with the small claims court (which is all this is for one wing mirror), there are procedures to follow and template letters to use. These include calm statement of facts, offer of mediation and so on.

Not following them means you get laughed out for wasting time.

Absolutely - I've successfully pursued one person through small claims (or whatever it's called now - money claim online or something!) and took one through the process but didn't have to go all the way in the end (did have to follow a process of escalating letters - intent to claim etc).

You don't need a solicitor at all, it only costs to file (and send bailiffs! - but you get that all back from the person if you're successful only), and the magistrates in my experience are very fair anyway and so I doubt the guy would get anywhere.

I agree with the advice to pass the letter to your father's insurance company saying it's a try on. If the other guy had a good point the letter would be from his insurance company or lawyers instructed by them.

He won't lose his insurance cover simply by defending the claim however if he engages with the claimant and doesn't tell his insurers then they may choose to avoid cover for this claim. Your dad needs to make sure everything goes via his insurance company (or solicitors if they have been appointed by insurers).

Re costs of the claim. I suspect the cost of replacing a wing mirror falls within the small claims bracket, where costs are not recoverable save for very limited amounts such as court fees and witness expenses (solicitors fees cannot be recovered from the paying party except in exceptional circumstances).

This man is trying it on and is being needlessly aggressive. It actually sounds like he is at fault. Your dad's insurers will not pay out without a fight, and even then I doubt they will pay anything more than a small sum to make him go away on a no fault basis.

(Insurance lawyer here, although not in motor/personal injury)

Ps marking something without prejudice simply means that you can't refer to it in court. And from what you've said of the contents of the letter there's no need for it to be WP (you would normally use it for offers of settlement).

But MummaGiles, he claims to be a lawyer, that his case is 100% cast iron, and that it'd cost OP's dad thousands to defend. I can quite see why he'd not want that read out in court!

the cost of defending your case will be several thousands of pounds and you will lose your insurance cover and have to pay my legal costs as well

He is talking rubbish. Defending the case won't cost your father a penny. His insurer will pay (and I seriously doubt they would run up a bill of several thousand pounds defending a case over a wing mirror). He will not lose his insurance cover over something like this. Compensation for a wing mirror should be substantially less than the small claims limit (£10,000) so it is unlikely this person will be able to reclaim his legal costs.

This sounds like this is intended as a letter before action. It does not sound like this letter is a genuine attempt to settle a dispute, more an attempt to frighten your father into paying, so it is quite possible the court would allow it to be referred to in court despite the "without prejudice" heading.

Your father should definitely refer this to his insurers and not try to deal with it himself.

Thank you very much for the further replies, they've all been very helpful.

We spoke to his insurance this morning, and everything has been forwarded to them.