Small bump in the car- being taken to small claims

[Tsc2011]

Hi, I’m looking for advice for a relative who was in a small car accident earlier in the year. It was a small bump with no obvious damage to the other car but my relatives car required repair to some of the panels.

They submitted the details to their insurance who replied that they thought the other party was at fault and their legal department was dealing with it. The insurance have since been very unresponsive. This was last August.

My relative received a pre action letter from the solicitor of the other party asking for £3000 for “repairs” but didn’t send any receipts or evidence of damage, stating that although this was being dealt with by the insurers my relative was personally liable for the costs.

My relative passed this on to the insurer who told them on the phone that the legal department were still looking into it.

They’ve just received a small claims notification from HM Courts telling them to respond by the beginning of January.

Is this right? The insurers are supposed to be dealing with it (although slowly)- can they sue my relative?

Yes, your relative is the person the other side assert to be responsible and therefore the right defendant. They do though need to send the HMRC stuff to the insurer and kick so they sort stuff.

Let the court know you've done that and give them the name of the insurers solicitors if you have it.

I'm not at all sure of the law here, but surely if both sides have insurance, it's up to the insurers to deal with it between them, to assign fault? With the insurance company of party deemed at fault to pay the other party?

Why would the other party be contacting op's relative directly?

@Bromptotoo thank you! It’s been frustrating because the insurers have been so slow and unresponsive- I’m worried they’re leaving my relative open to having to pay out thousands that my relative should be insured against. They’ve forwarded the notification to the insurer and I’ve advised them to request an extension as per the letter.
As well as relying on the insurer my relative still hasn’t received any evidence to justify the cost so it seems odd to go to court at this stage.

I think you'd normally summons the putative defendant personally. The insurers should have communicated with each other with those acting for the OP's relative nominating either their own office or that of their lawyers as the place for service. If they've not done that, or the other side's insurers haven't dealt with it so their records are up to date then I'd expect them to summons the defendant.

Having worked in the courts, and I've no doubt it's the same in insurance, I'm far more blasé about being summonsed than your man in the street. I can entirely understand the OP's worry.

@Bromptotoo if the court found my relative at fault would they then be personally responsible for the costs or would these be expected to be paid by the insurer? Also CCJ etc, would my relative have those imposed on them?

That sounds like it might be a whiplash claim rather than damage to car

Strictly speaking they're liable for any damage they're found to have caused and consequent costs. The point however is that they've a contract under which the insurer will indemnify them. If it got as far as un unsatisfied judgement and a recorded CCJ then the insurer would be in all sorts of trouble.

All court claims will be between Person A and Person B, not the insurers. Your insurers should be dealing with the claim, if they are not then complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service

I’d escalate the insurance claim up to head office and send copies of all paperwork to the court. Your relative must attend court but provide all documents this given to the insurance company. Now is the time to go on twitter and shame the insurance company they are going to be in all sorts of trouble as your relative will be entitled to take them to court etc

The other party is correct in that any claim should be against your relative rather than the insurer. But what should happen is that in the contract of insurance there will be a right to subrogation, which means the insurer has the right to step into your relative's shoes to deal with the claim. Your relative needs to alert the insurer asap that he or she has received claim (?) documents as the deadline for replying is tight (14 days I think, which with Christmas in the middle is really tight).

If the insurers can't agree, it goes to court. The individuals involved in the accident will be the claimant and the defendant. The insurance companies can't take action against each other as they don't have any legal liability to each other. They have to take action on behalf of those involved.

Sounds like the insurer has issued a summons due to lack of response from your relatives insurer . They need to pass the summons onto them unanswered.

Is your relative insured by a dodgy insurer?

Insurers will often do anything to avoid paying out. Your relative needs to get on the phone to his/her insurers and ask what’s going on - urgently.

What is happening is correct. I was in the position of the other party and didn't want to claim from my insurer for damage as was relatively small etc given the excess. I did notify them though as required.

The other party was not completely honest and their insurer decided they would deal as a knock for knock so therefore not settle my claim. I therefore wrote to the other party, outlines the circumstances as I saw them, detailed the financial loss with evidence and requested settlement. Was ignored. I sure re got in touch and instructed me to not contact their client (laughable...obviously someone that doesn't understand how it worked) so I issued the Letter Before Claim with the required deadline before issuing proceedings.

Insurer settled immediately!