Being sued for negligence and have no insurance

Lovbnmoma

Hi
My partner received a letter from a solicitor about a job they worked on a few months ago where a subcontractor was injured on site and that person is now looking for compo off my partner but unfortunately he doesnt have public liability insurance. He is just a small time builder and sole trader and Im now worried we could lose our house as that is the only asset we have. The accident definitely wasnt his fault but this person is making up some lie that it was his carelessness that caused his accident. My partner didnt hire the sub contractor, it was the owner of the house and the owner of the house was the one that dealt with payment to this subcontractor. Does anyone have any experience of this?

K.Flyer

Lovbnmoma wrote: »

Hi
My partner received a letter from a solicitor about a job they worked on a few months ago where a subcontractor was injured on site and that person is now looking for compo off my partner but unfortunately he doesnt have public liability insurance. He is just a small time builder and sole trader and Im now worried we could lose our house as that is the only asset we have. The accident definitely wasnt his fault but this person is making up some lie that it was his carelessness that caused his accident. My partner didnt hire the sub contractor, it was the owner of the house and the owner of the house was the one that dealt with payment to this subcontractor. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Did he have public liability insurance at the time? I know times are still tight enough, but working without public liability insurance is just not worth the risk.
My understanding is that the principal contractor on the site may be responsible for anyone entering and working on the site, depending on the scale of the works. Building sites by their nature can be a dangerous place, this is why safety procedures and safety awareness (safe-pass) is so important.
He really is going to have to speak with a solicitor, one familiar with accidents in the workplace before he speaks with anyone else.

Lovbnmoma

No he didnt have insurance at the time unfortunately. He wasnt the principal contractor on the job, he was only hired as a sub contractor and the owner of the house did all the hiring and paying of the sub contractors and my partner was just another labourer who got labour only costs paid to him. Does that make a difference?

Lovbnmoma

Just to add we are going to a solicitor on monday morning but as you can imagine we are a bit stressed over it so hoping to get some sort of clarity before Monday on it!

hullaballoo

Legal advice is not allowed as per the forum charter and site rules. Realistically, the only advice that can be given is to see a solicitor, which you are already doing.

We cannot put your mind at ease other than by saying you're doing the right thing now. The only other comments this thread is likely to attract are going to involve criticising your husband for not having PL insurance but that's useless to you now because you can't go back and take out a policy now.

Thread closed.