advice on court procedure please

[tatt]

white van man hit my car. After he refused even to confirm there was an accident my insurer's solicitors issued a summons. He failed to fail a defence and they applied for judgement. He then submitted a defence and apparently there will be a hearing.

I wish to show the judge photographs of where the accident happened - do these have to be sent to the defence first? They were not taken at the time of the accident, they simply show passing places in the narrow lane.

Someone who lives in a nearby house was on the road after the accident. Their witness statement says they didn't see the accident only heard it. My insurers say they can't be asked to give evidence because they didn't see the accident - is that correct? They saw where the vehicles were after the accident and may remember the driver telling me to "get on to Anglian (his employers) and they'll sort that out for you".

First of all, is this claim for more or less than £5,000?

Are your insurer's solicitors handling the court proceedings for you?

If so they should have received an order (it may not have got that far yet) giving a court date and directions for preparation for the hearing. This will include a direction for disclosure of evidence/exchange of witness statements and supporting documents. That will be your opportunity to produce the photos.

If you are handling this yourself the court should have sent such an order to you. Do you know whether allocation questionnaires have been put into court yet? That is the opportunity for the parties to tell the court any dates that aren't convenient and suggest convenient directions for disclosure and exchange of statements.

With regard to the witnesses, they can indeed be used, although the court may not place a great deal of weight on their evidence, depends from judge to judge. The quote you are referring to is what is known as "hearsay", rules about whether hearsay evidence is allowed are quite complex but if the witness can be produced to court to say it, the judge will usually allow it and determine how much weight to place on it.

less than 5k - more like 500 - and it is the insurers solicitors. I was asked for dates I couldn't attend but that was when they first went to court.

In that case it is a small claims track matter, and judges have a great deal more flexibility about what they will or will not admit as evidence.

I would get onto your solicitor and ask whether allocation questionnaire have been filed yet, and if so, whether they now have directions from the court for the hearing. You can then ask them to ensure that the photos and any other evidence you want to rely on is properly filed at court and served on the other side (usually at least a week before the trial date for small claims).

Good luck!

Thanks. The solicitors haven't mentioned anything like allocation to me.

If my insurers want to settle out of court can I take the case away from them? I don't have a protected no claims bonus and don't want to lose it for an accident that wasn't my fault. My insurers have been pretty useless so far.

I have had an accident that has just been to court (well, not just been, they took him last year....october if memory serves me correct).

the twunt that hit me came out of a side road that had been blocked by a bus, did a kind of u-turn around it, and then attempted to go down a kind of skuwiff cross roads opposite, only I was in the way hidden by the bus and he hit me at an angle to head on!

I had 7 children in the car, my five plus two of their friends, and as my DD1 hit the windscreen and I was stuck in the car, plus DD3 broke her nose (lots of blood), the police and ambulances were called to attend.

now.....the issues.......

the twunt, altho seen at the scene, and breathalised, then proceeded to claim innocence(sp?)! various different stories came out, including me imagining the accident.

BECAUSE he refused to take blame, even tho it was proven at the scene by the traffic police, his solicitors had to go with what he told them, and so.......long winded result, my solicitors took him to court.

I didn;t have to attend.

there were no direct witnesses to the accident (altho there were plenty after, and of him being there.....oh, he also claimed it wasn;t him, he had sold the car!!), so no-one else was called, bar I think the police who attended as they had to verify it WAS him (seeing as he had claimed otherwise).

anyway..................

update today (I have a bouncy thread in fact right now going on in chat), his solicitors have agreed to pay 100% costs, and things are now, finally, going thru properly.

good luck with yours........your solicitors should be handling it themselves I would think, and just imform you of outcome. that is what mine did.

oh, and accident was in october '07, so it has taken a while.

and we provided photos

thanks psychomum5. This has been going on months, partly because my insurers were trying to avoid doing anything, and I would like it settled. Glad yours worked out.

ah.....our insurers were quite keen, especially as they had payed us for the write off, and then his insurers failed to pay out.......they got a bit pissed about the lack of monay forthcoming!

......money