# car accident / incident, just got solicitors letter



## MrKeane (18 Apr 2008)

I was involved in an incident with another car last Autumn. 

The other car was damaged quite badly (3 or 4k), no damage to my car and no party injured.

I denied liability, the other party contacted my insurance company and they investigated. 

In the meantime my premium was up and I lost my no claims. I didn't worry about it (figured accident was probably 50/50 anyway - if I lose no claims so what, its only money) Then a month ago I got a refund from my insurance company saying that my no claims was reinstated. (I assume they wrote to the other party and told them no liability was being accepted)

Anyway last week I got a solicitors letter telling me that based on what their client had said I was solely negligible etc. usual legal jargon and that I had 7 days to respond or they had instruction to proceed with action. They advised me to contact my solicitor or insurance company within 7 days or proceeding would start.

I threw the letter in the fire - cheeky buggers trying to tell me I was 100% wrong, thats not what the Garda thought and he was there on the day it happened!

At the time of the incident I consulted my solicitor and he wrote out the accident statement form for my insurance company (Basically wrote 6 or 7 lines of complete blurb that could not incriminate me in any way - as solicitors do)

He said there was no way the other party would win if it went to court.

I called a Guard at the time, he sat on the proverbial fence, no witness, no evidence, no collision on the road.

Anybody know what is likely to happen next?


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## mathepac (18 Apr 2008)

First off - silly move to burn letter, now neither your insurers nor your solicitor has information to work with, unless you remember the opposition solicitor's details.

You need to contact your insurers ASAP and inform them of developements, as you are obliged to do.

You also need to instruct your solicitor to contact the opposition and inform them that they have no case, that you regard their action as frivolous  and that it is your intention to mount a vigorous defence and that they are now liable any and all costs incurred by you.


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## Hasslehoff (19 Apr 2008)

did the original letter seek only property damage or personal injury ??


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## MrKeane (19 Apr 2008)

If I contact my insurer I am concerned they will take my no claims off me again until its decided.

If I contact my solicitor it will cost me for the consulation. Surely its in the solicitors interest to let this go to court - that would mean more fees for him?

Not worried about dumping the letter, I am sure they will send me another one.

No mention of personal injuries anywhere "severe damage and loss" was what the letter said.

How soon will this start to move? My insurance is up in September, if they send out the letter with my no claims, and I move to another insurance company and contact them after I have left them would I keep my no claims with the new company regardless?


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## sandrat (19 Apr 2008)

im pretty sure you need to tell your insurance about any legal proceedings because it will end up costing them more money if you don't and they may pass that cost on to you. Have you read the terms of your insurance?


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## MrKeane (19 Apr 2008)

sandrat said:


> im pretty sure you need to tell your insurance about any legal proceedings because it will end up costing them more money if you don't and they may pass that cost on to you. Have you read the terms of your insurance?


 
Good point, although they had already been involved at the start.


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## MandaC (20 Apr 2008)

A good friend of mine was in a car accident a couple of years back.  Van came slowly out of a side road and turned right.  My friend came around the corner and right into him.  Van was carrying heavy marble and going like a snail.  Gardai arrived and the consenus  from the way the cars and van were situated was that the van was at fault.  In making his turn, he had broken a continuous white line and should have only turned left not right, as the continuous white line was there because of the danger of that particular exit.

About a week later, a letter arrives similar to yours,  admit liability within seven days or else.  My friend was fuming and placed the matter in the hands of a Solicitor immediately.  The Solicitor advised him that the guy was only trying to get in first in making a claim. My friend had no intention of making a claim and was shocked at this. 

I would advise you to consult a Solicitor straight away.  If you remember anything from the Solicitors details in the letter, ring and get a copy of the letter so at least you have something to work from.  Dont tell them you threw the original in the fire though!


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## sandrat (20 Apr 2008)

only problem is OP doesnt want to have to pay a solicitor or lose no claims. Why didn't OP have no claims insured? I suspect they are hoping that someone will tell them that they were right to throw the letter in the fire and not to worry about it.


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## bond-007 (20 Apr 2008)

Insuring a NCB is pointless unless you remain with the same insurer for life. Most other companies do not recognise insured NCBs. So it's pointless trying to move insurer.

OP will have their NCB suspended again pending a settlement of the action. I am surprised they did not hold the NCB for the full 2 years so that this sort of problem would not arise.


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## picene (23 Apr 2008)

I don't think you should be looseing your no claims bonus until the claim has been settled. At the moment your reported a loss the insurance company have no way of knowing if you were at fault, it will be settled or for how much. I would strongly protest that they are in fact charing you for something that hasn;t really happened. you are only informing them of a potential claim


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## mathepac (23 Apr 2008)

picene said:


> I don't think you should be looseing your no claims bonus until the claim has been settled...


What you think is not what happens. On reporting an accident, the insurer suspends the NCB until the claim is resolved and then reinstates and back-dates the NCB if the claim is settled against the other party.


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## picene (23 Apr 2008)

wow never knew that. Is that not bit iffy though. They are basically charging you for something that happened after you purchased your policy.

If my birthday is in the middle of the policy and my new age would give me a cheaper rate they don't give me midterm disount


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## peteb (23 Apr 2008)

They arent charging you mid-term through the policy for it.  If you make a claim during the year and your no-claims bonus is affected, it will increase the premium when you come to renew the policy after the 12 months. 

Just ring the insurance company and tell them you got a letter in from the solicitor.  Im sure the solicitor just threatened to proceed with an action if you didint admit liability within 10 day, blah, blah, blah  **standard solicitor dribble*** and they will forward on another letter after that period anyways to threaten again and you can pass THAT ONE on to insurers. 

Either way if insurers stepped back your bonus and they refunded the premium and re-instated the bonus, they have obviously investigated the matter and realised you werent at fault.  Otherwise they wouldnt have done that.  So pass the letter on and they will have the matter defended and reply to the solicitor.  No need to consult your own one.

And as for the Gardai, not worth a curse in an RTA situation because whatever they say to you on the day about liability, you can be sure they wont say the samething when contacted.  In fact where insurers have contacted guards before they say they cant comment because its a civil act and not a criminal matter, so it doesnt concern them!


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## ajapale (23 Apr 2008)

Moved from Askaboutlaw to Car & motoring related issues. which is where the legal, financial and technical aspects of motoring is discussed.


: you should really engage with your own solicitor and follow their advice. If you loose no claims for a few years  while the matter is being resolved".... so what, its only money".

aj
moderator


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## anjest (24 Apr 2008)

Used to be insurance broker and unless things have changed you have a duty to inform your insurance company asap, even though the claim was originally investigated and thrown out. The new claim concerns the same insured event and the insurers represent your interests (which coincidentally are also theirs) if case goes to court and is found against you the insurance can legally say you failed in your duty and refuse to cover so that you are personally liable.
Don't answer anything else get back onto your insurance even if policy has now expired it was valid at the time of the incident and that is what counts.
Why pay solicitor yourself? Your insureres will have their own legal team who specialise in this type of case.


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## cw2p (28 Apr 2008)

any further developments mrkeane ???


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## MrKeane (6 May 2008)

cw2p said:


> any further developments mrkeane ???


 
No news is good news as they say!


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## MrKeane (7 May 2008)

Insurance company rang today, seems other parties solicitor contacted them too. They said they reviewed my case again, got a second opinion, and they would fight the case 100% - they said once there was no collision the other party would never win. Also said they offered 50/50 to other party to settle quickly and they said no.

Anyway they said it would now be passed to my insurance companies solicitors to fight the case and just send any future correspondance to them.


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## DavyJones (7 May 2008)

Just out of interest, did a monuvore you performed cause the other vehicle to take evasive action and crash?


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## Purple (7 May 2008)

MrKeane said:


> Insurance company rang today, seems other parties solicitor contacted them too. They said they reviewed my case again, got a second opinion, and they would fight the case 100% - they said once there was no collision the other party would never win. Also said they offered 50/50 to other party to settle quickly and they said no.
> 
> Anyway they said it would now be passed to my insurance companies solicitors to fight the case and just send any future correspondance to them.


 Good to hear that. I hope it all works out OK for you.


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## nai (8 May 2008)

MrKeane said:


> they said once there was no collision the other party would never win.


 
whomever you spoke to in insurance company are wrong - if by your actions you caused the other party to crash (into someone else/wall/whatever) you are liable. I've been through this twice with two motorbike crashes - I crashed both times after taking avoidance action to avoid impact - insurance companies will rule on whether you caused the crash depending on all factors involved (red lights/lane positioning/state of road etc.)

In both of my crashes - first guy jumped onto roundabout and didn't see me already on it and other did illegal right turn across double continuous white lines.


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## MrKeane (8 May 2008)

nai said:


> whomever you spoke to in insurance company are wrong - if by your actions you caused the other party to crash (into someone else/wall/whatever) you are liable. I've been through this twice with two motorbike crashes - I crashed both times after taking avoidance action to avoid impact - insurance companies will rule on whether you caused the crash depending on all factors involved (red lights/lane positioning/state of road etc.)
> 
> In both of my crashes - first guy jumped onto roundabout and didn't see me already on it and other did illegal right turn across double continuous white lines.


 
Thats possible in some circumstances.

In this case the other party were trying to double overtake on a continuous white line on a poor enough road - its not like they were just driving along doing all the right things.


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## nai (9 May 2008)

MrKeane said:


> Thats possible in some circumstances.
> 
> In this case the other party were trying to double overtake on a continuous white line on a poor enough road - its not like they were just driving along doing all the right things.


 
This gem of information could change things dramatically. The facts now appear that the other car was overtaking multiple cars on a continuous white line and crashed because of something they caused, not caused by you - if that's true then you should have nothing to worry about and I would let the insurance company sort it out, but it sounds like there is more to this story to have your insurance company offer 50% settlement - ie they believe you were at least 50% to blame.


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