Admiral want to go to court and claim against 3rd party

[ldn_mx5]

I was in a small collission at 5mph, minor paintwork was required. No witnesses, no dashcam, police weren’t involved. We exchanged details and both drove off. Insurers got involved on both sides and we’ve been liaising through our case handlers ever since.

Neither party agrees they’re at fault. They refused our 50/50 offer and continue to claim 100% my fault.

Admiral now say they will take them to court, I will be the claimant. I can attend court or if I don’t judgement will be passed in my absence. If I attend, it’s (A) stressful (B) I lose a day’s work. If I don’t, chances are I’ll lose the case - I will have claimed against someone and had the claim dismissed, collission becomes 100% my fault.

I don’t fancy opening a claim against someone in my name. Can I tell Admiral they just need to continue liasing with the other party’s insurer to settle it out of court? Or do I have no choice?

[paradigital]

Is it going to make a difference either way? A 50/50 claim is still classed as a fault-claim is it not? You’ll be declaring it for years regardless, as such I’d not want to be wasting my time for anything other than exoneration.

[Drawweight]

Meh…it’ll never see the inside of a courtroom.

However it might be a last second settlement so be prepared for it to string out a bit.

[ldn_mx5]

My question is really - does insurer have the right to open the claim in my name i.e. I initiate, as claimant, a civil court case against the other driver - without me agreeing to it?

[smokey mow]

ldn_mx5 said:

My question is really - does insurer have the right to open the claim in my name i.e. I initiate, as claimant, a civil court case against the other driver - without me agreeing to it?

Yes, it’s perfectly normal and you would have agreed to it when you took out the insurance.

[NomadicTurbo]

Had a similar situation myself, I bumped into a car that had just pulled out of a junction onto a NSL road.

I stood my ground with my insurance and maintained that I wasn't at fault, all went quiet, then 6 months later I received a letter from my insurance company asking me to attend court "as a witness". The car I hit was a company car, that company were taking my insurance company to court.

Best outcome would be 50/50 and I'd lose my No Claim Bonus. Insurer wanted me to accept fault despite siding with me at the time.

I maintained that I was happy to go to court.

Eventually my insurer paid out for the damages to the other party, but allowed me to maintain my No Claims Bonus and marked it down as a non-fault on my part.

Had no issues since, this was around 8 years ago.

[Panamax]

smokey mow said:

ldn_mx5 said:

My question is really - does insurer have the right to open the claim in my name i.e. I initiate, as claimant, a civil court case against the other driver - without me agreeing to it?

Yes, it’s perfectly normal and you would have agreed to it when you took out the insurance.

Make sure you read the detailed wording of your policy. You may find you have to cooperate if you want your claim to be paid and/or not have your insurance cancelled.

[BertBert]

Why wouldn't you? There's loads of tales on here of how frustrated people are that insurance companies settle and we feel hard done by. Now they want to stand up for you and you feel a bit worried about it. No wonder they settle

[Red Devil]

ldn_mx5 said:

My question is really - does insurer have the right to open the claim in my name i.e. I initiate, as claimant, a civil court case against the other driver - without me agreeing to it?

If the policy T&Cs say so, and they will very likely do so, then yes. Enter the word subrogation in your search engine of choice.

[number2]

Seems a lot for minor paint.

In my few claims over the years insurance companies seem only too happy to settle rather than go to any effort defending a claim, and that's for a lot more than a bit of paint, with more supporting evidence.

[sleepezy]

I was asked to go to court to defend a claim, also Admiral, albeit this was on value rather than fault as it had already been decided the person driving my car wasn't at fault.

I wouldn't say it was in the slightest bit stressful, it was actually really interesting to watch the process and two lawyers argue the point. It's not a criminal court in a film, it's all very plodding, more like something out of Faulty Towers, quite friendly and no one is 'after you'.

[Tango13]

Drawweight said:

Meh…it’ll never see the inside of a courtroom.

However it might be a last second settlement so be prepared for it to string out a bit.

Very much this, my old foreman was a witness to a collision many years back and was asked to attend court. He had a wasted day as the other side folded and admitted liability on the courthouse steps, didn't even see the inside of the courthouse.

[K4sper]

It's almost inconceivable that your policy won't A) allow your insurers to take action in your name (including court proceedings) and B) require you to co-operate with those proceedings. I won't even bother spending the time reading your policy to confirm that

[Durzel]

The basic principal of car insurance (in the UK at least) is that you subrogate your legal rights to your insurer to act on your behalf. This includes instigating legal action in your name.

I’ve never had a policy that didn’t state this.

[Wish]

It won’t get to court ….. relax, have a beer.

[pork911]

Who are submitting all these Claim Forms to the Court without the Claimant signing?

[Alickadoo]

pork911 said:

Who are submitting all these Claim Forms to the Court without the Claimant signing?

The Claimant's insurers.

[Somewhatfoolish]

ldn_mx5 said:

I was in a small collission at 5mph, minor paintwork was required. No witnesses, no dashcam, police weren’t involved. We exchanged details and both drove off. Insurers got involved on both sides and we’ve been liaising through our case handlers ever since.

Neither party agrees they’re at fault. They refused our 50/50 offer and continue to claim 100% my fault.

Admiral now say they will take them to court, I will be the claimant. I can attend court or if I don’t judgement will be passed in my absence. If I attend, it’s (A) stressful (B) I lose a day’s work. If I don’t, chances are I’ll lose the case - I will have claimed against someone and had the claim dismissed, collission becomes 100% my fault.

I don’t fancy opening a claim against someone in my name. Can I tell Admiral they just need to continue liasing with the other party’s insurer to settle it out of court? Or do I have no choice?

While I agree it probably won't go to court don't think of it as a bad thing, think of it as a bit of fun - you've probably never been to one before from the way you're speaking about it. It's a new experience! And of very little consequence to you (I appreciate the day off will be a bh if you're self employed but this does come with the territory).

If you adjust your mentality like that you may actually like it.

[BertBert]

Somewhatfoolish said:

While I agree it probably won't go to court don't think of it as a bad thing, think of it as a bit of fun - you've probably never been to one before from the way you're speaking about it. It's a new experience! And of very little consequence to you (I appreciate the day off will be a bh if you're self employed but this does come with the territory).

If you adjust your mentality like that you may actually like it.

I've got fomo!

[Somewhatfoolish]

BertBert said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

While I agree it probably won't go to court don't think of it as a bad thing, think of it as a bit of fun - you've probably never been to one before from the way you're speaking about it. It's a new experience! And of very little consequence to you (I appreciate the day off will be a bh if you're self employed but this does come with the territory).

If you adjust your mentality like that you may actually like it.

I've got fomo!

If you've never been to a court, may I suggest the following progression. Pull out at any stage if you get bored. This assumes you are not prosecuted for minor criminality (if you are - e.g. an FPN - I also totally suggest going to court for fun if it won't prejudice you, unfortuantely it almost certainly will) or sued for some reason cause then you can skip to shenanigans quickly.

1. Watch Judge Judy
2. Watch Judge Rinder

Enjoying triviality? Perfect. Let's progress

3. Hang out in Speed, Plod, & The Law. Read only mild speeding threads.
4. Hang out on "Disputes and Prosecutions" on Railforums. Don't believe everything they say. A lot of it is repeated autistically. But you will soon have a preview of the next Post Office scandal in a few years time.

Still game? Great. But real life court cases have a lot of reading. Time to get a taster

5. Wait for naughty chaps to be sentenced for naughty things. Read their sentencing remarks on judiciary.uk
6. Interesting? Time to migrate to http://www.bailii.org/ - far more technical but a great deal more detailed. No onanistic condemnation though. Instead generally appeal judgements. Pretty dry. But you can scroll past the technical points.

You have now reached the heh powerlevel.

7. Get to yer local crown court. Try to pick a juicy sounding day. Bear in mind you may not be able to take a recording device in - you may have to leave it over the road.
8. Fun but not tedious enough? Finally you need to get to the magistrates court.

I'd continue but I'm between steps 7 and 8 myself (although have also been to court as a participant for various reasons, all of which I found interesting if not always fun... won't go through all of them but I am very happy I once saved a very vulnerable busker from a horrendous ASBO).

Edited by Somewhatfoolish on Friday 3rd May 22:55