Car accident legal advice

[Jimbo 175]

Ok, last September I was involved in an accident with a bus, I was driving my ex's Fiesta round a very tight 90 degree bend when a bus came round at the same time in the opposite direction, due to the length of the bus and the tightness of the bend, the bus ended up encroaching on my side of the carriage way, I braked but the bus ended up scraping down the side of my car.

 

The driver got out and apologised, and we exchanged details as a formality, I wasn't bothered with the very minor damage to my Fiesta as it was a banger anyway and from what I saw of the bus i had done no more than scuffed the advertisement on the side, I was more worried about my kids in the back.

 

I informed my insurance company but didn't bother with any repairs as the car just wasn't worth it, eventually my insurance company got back to me saying that the bus company was blaming me, they also informed me that it was unlikely the bus company would win as even their witness statements backed up my story that I had stopped and the bus hit me.

 

After several weeks I was informed by my insurance company that the claim against me would go no further and my no claims was safe, now this week I receive a letter from a solicitor representing the bus company requesting I pay them £300 for the repairs to the bus.

 

I'm not sure what to do, I am no longer with the insurance company I was with at the time of the accident, and I don't really wish to have to hire a solicitor myself as I'm sure his fee would exceed the £300 bill from the bus company.

 

I truly feel I'm in the right on this one, even in the letter from the solicitor the statements regarding the accident all refer to me failing to stop, yet all of the witness statements say that I was stationary at the time of the collision.

 

Do I take a hit on the £300 (which I can't afford) or do I say "see you in court" ?

[Rob W 0]

Kick it straight back to the insurance company you were with. Send a REGISTERED letter to the claimant solicitors telling them that your understanding was that the case was closed and that you have put the affair in the hands of your insurance company and they should direct all further correspondence there

 

Sounds like a try on TBH with some skanky solicitor on a "no win no fee" deal- and it'll cost them more to even go to the small claims court than £ 300

[Guest]

From your version of events they're clearly in the wrong so send them a letter explaining it and if they still want to proceed invite them to take you to court. Your insurance at the time probably had legal cover so you could contact your old insurance company and ask them to deal with it for you. But fwiw, for £300 they'd have to take you to a small claims court where representing yourself is more than acceptable (I recently did it against a company and won), and from what you've said their claim wouldn't even be entertained by a judge.

[ewerk 31596]

My advice would be simply to ignore the letters, they'll know they've got no chance and are trying to pull a fast one. Don't even bother replying.

[Ketsbaia 0]

Sounds like they're trying it on in the hope you'll buckle and if it goes any further they'll get told to piss off. Best bet is to avoid contacting them personally and forward the letter to the insurance company you were with at the time of the accident. Chances are if they get contacted by another solicitor or your insurance they'll shit themselves and drop the issue. If you start writing to them it'll give them justification to press on and they'll send more and more ridiculous letters to put the frighteners up you. The only way they'll get the money is if you pay up, they wont want it to go any further because they know their claim is laughable.

[Rob W 0]

Sounds like they're trying it on in the hope you'll buckle and if it goes any further they'll get told to piss off. Best bet is to avoid contacting them personally and forward the letter to the insurance company you were with at the time of the accident. Chances are if they get contacted by another solicitor or your insurance they'll shit themselves and drop the issue. If you start writing to them it'll give them justification to press on and they'll send more and more ridiculous letters to put the frighteners up you. The only way they'll get the money is if you pay up, they wont want it to go any further because they know their claim is laughable.

 

 

exactly - someone has bought a load of "no hope" claims and are just trying it one

 

do what I said earlier - the original insurance company is still valid

[Craig 6701]

Small claims IMO - they're trying it on to scare you into sending them a cheque I reckon.

 

Pretty certain if you give them a 'see you in court' reply they'll drop the whole case.

 

Manc-mag will probably be best to advise.

[manc-mag 1]

Bounce it back to your insurers Jimbo. Tell their solicitor you've done the same (so they know to stop dealing with you directly) and explain that your position is exactly as it's always been. Ie it wasnt your fault.

 

I don't think it's a no win no fee 'try on' as such as it'll probably be the bus company's (/insurers) retained solicitor rather than a contingency fee arrangement. The other reason for me saying that is that if it's a small claim they couldn't recover their fees anyway even if they won. But it still sounds like a spurious one nonetheless and one they've probably just thought it's worth taking a punt sending out a relatively standard letter for in the hope it yields £300.

[Jimbo 175]

Thanks for the advice, I called my previous insurer and they told me not to worry and to send them a copy of the letter, they put my mind at ease and said they would deal with it, whilst I was copying the document I noticed that their description of the accident is totally wrong, so wrong infact I'm almost wishing they take this to court lol.

 

Once again thanks for the comments and advice, I'll keep you posted and bored shitless with the outcome.