Personal injury claim against me after car accident

positivenote

Hi just looking for some advice on this. I was in a car accident driving my mother in laws car, I was insured in it at the time. The car I was driving was an economical write off and there was some damage to the car I collided with, approx 2.5k worth to the drivers side door. It was my fault as well as the fact that the weather was terrible and I wasn't used to the breaks of the mother in laws car... but it was an honest accident and things could have been worse. My insurance company are in the process of sorting out the cost of the damage etc... but today I received two solicitors letters from the driver and passenger of the other vehicle. The driver was clearly injured but I think the passenger is pulling a fast one to be honest. I'm just wondering what do I do next? Should this all be taken up by my insurer as I haven't a clue what to do. Their solicitors letters asked me to get in contact with them regarding costs etc... . Is this likely to cost me thousands of euro or surely isn't that what insurance is for? A side issue is the fact that these letters were not addressed to me but where in fact sent to my mother in law... who happens to have been diagnosed with cancer and kidney failure in the last few weeks and she has got awfully upset about it all thinking she might have to get involved.
Any advice or guidance on this would be great

alig123aileen

Don't worry it's up to your insurance company to deal with these just send them on. Don't interact at all with the solicitors for the other party as this can render your insurance invalid. Hope you are ok and good you weren't seriously hurt

Jack the Stripper

Mod deletion. Hackneyed insult

coylemj

alig123aileen wrote: »

Don't interact at all with the solicitors for the other party as this can render your insurance invalid.

+1 do not reply to letters or correspondence of any kind, forward everything to the insurance company, they will deal with it.

Tell your mother-in-law that her insurance will take care of it, the solicitors for the other side are writing to her simply because it was her car.

AnneFrank

Basically your insurance company is your solicitor, just pass on all the Info, don't worry who claims and for what, people will Always claim

Sue Pa Key Pa

If you have driving of other cars, your insurance company will be involved for the 3rd party aspect of the claim, even if you were named on your MIL's policy or if she has open drive. Do not respond to the letter, or interact with the 3rd party. Pass copies of everything to both insurers.

Victor

positivenote wrote: »

but I think the passenger is pulling a fast one to be honest.

Not every injury shows immediately.

Sue Pa Key Pa

OP, the reality of the situation is that you agree you were liable, you also say the driver was clearly injured. All other occupants of the will succeed in a personal injury claim. The only question, at this stage, is for how much

positivenote

coylemj wrote: »

+1 do not reply to letters or correspondence of any kind, forward everything to the insurance company, they will deal with it.

Tell your mother-in-law that her insurance will take care of it, the solicitors for the other side are writing to her simply because it was her car.

Thanks. Just to clarify, I had switch/transferred my insurance over to her car as I knew I was driving it for a week or two while mine was in for repairs. I'm not sure if she was still insured in the vehicle at the time as I think she let hers lapse as she has been under going treatment that restricted her from driving. I'll ring my insurance in the morning

Sue Pa Key Pa

positivenote wrote: »

Thanks. Just to clarify, I had switch/transferred my insurance over to her car as I knew I was driving it for a week or two while mine was in for repairs. I'm not sure if she was still insured in the vehicle at the time as I think she let hers lapse as she has been under going treatment that restricted her from driving. I'll ring my insurance in the morning

Grand, if it was an insured vehicle on your policy, that's the one which will take care of all aspects of the claim

coylemj

positivenote wrote: »

Thanks. Just to clarify, I had switch/transferred my insurance over to her car as I knew I was driving it for a week or two while mine was in for repairs. I'm not sure if she was still insured in the vehicle at the time as I think she let hers lapse as she has been under going treatment that restricted her from driving. I'll ring my insurance in the morning

In that case, your own insurance will cover the anticipated claims but the solicitors for the other side don't know about the insurance setup so in the first instance, they chase the owner of the car, it's standard procedure and nothing to worry about.

mrsbeebee

If her insurer is looking at it also and she's not up to dealing with them, she should write a note permitting them to discuss with you on her behalf. It might take some of the stress off her.

positivenote

hi all, its been a while with regard to this but it seems to be getting brought to the high court as my insurer is contesting the amount awarded by the Personal Injury Claims board.
It has been confirmed that my mother in laws insurance had indeed lapsed at the time of the accident as she was under going treatment that meant she was not in a condition to drive for a few months. So in essence she only the registered owner of the vehicle but it was only my insurance that was covering it, I had switched it over.
The advice i'm looking for at the minute is that she is continuing to be listed as a defendant and as a result is getting copies of all the correspondents that my insurers are getting. This is causing her a sever amount of stress and worry, which is not good for her health as she deteriorates with her illness. I am trying to reassure her that she is only being named as the owner and it is merely protocol as it is my insurer (and myself) who the case is against as I accepted full responsibility for the accident. She has not responded to any of the letters that have been forthcoming so far .... is there anything further I can say to her as a means of reassurance?

thanks

Under His Eye

Tell her to give all the post to you to deal with it.

Eggs For Dinner

You will be held ultimately liable and your insurers appear to have accepted that. They need to provide an "Indemnity" to your MIL. Your mother should ask a solicitor to seek this from your insurers and it shouldn't be an issue. However, ignoring the correspondence is not the answer even if your insurers are in your corner.

positivenote

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

You will be held ultimately liable and your insurers appear to have accepted that. They need to provide an "Indemnity" to your MIL. Your mother should ask a solicitor to seek this from your insurers and it shouldn't be an issue. However, ignoring the correspondence is not the answer even if your insurers are in your corner.

Thanks for the advice. Can you briefly explain what an ‘indemnity’ is and can I request my insurers to provide her with it?

TCM

positivenote wrote:

Hi just looking for some advice on this. I was in a car accident driving my mother in laws car, I was insured in it at the time. The car I was driving was an economical write off and there was some damage to the car I collided with, approx 2.5k worth to the drivers side door. It was my fault as well as the fact that the weather was terrible and I wasn't used to the breaks of the mother in laws car... but it was an honest accident and things could have been worse. My insurance company are in the process of sorting out the cost of the damage etc... but today I received two solicitors letters from the driver and passenger of the other vehicle. The driver was clearly injured but I think the passenger is pulling a fast one to be honest. I'm just wondering what do I do next? Should this all be taken up by my insurer as I haven't a clue what to do. Their solicitors letters asked me to get in contact with them regarding costs etc... . Is this likely to cost me thousands of euro or surely isn't that what insurance is for? A side issue is the fact that these letters were not addressed to me but where in fact sent to my mother in law... who happens to have been diagnosed with cancer and kidney failure in the last few weeks and she has got awfully upset about it all thinking she might have to get involved. Any advice or guidance on this would be great

Simply send these letters to your insurance company.

positivenote

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

You will be held ultimately liable and your insurers appear to have accepted that. They need to provide an "Indemnity" to your MIL. Your mother should ask a solicitor to seek this from your insurers and it shouldn't be an issue. However, ignoring the correspondence is not the answer even if your insurers are in your corner.

Thanks for the advice. Can you briefly explain what an ‘indemnity’ is and can I request my insurers to provide her with it?

coylemj

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

However, ignoring the correspondence is not the answer even if your insurers are in your corner.

The OP said that his MIL is getting copies of the correspondence that is going to his insurers so in this particular case, she can ignore the letters that are landing on her mat since they require no action on her part.

Would it be in the OP's insurers' interests to give the MIL indemnity? Surely the MIL (as the owner of the car) is the ultimate fallback if the OP's insurance should for whatever reason decide to renounce the OP's cover and worm out of the case. I can see that as the overriding reason why they would want to keep her in the loop i.e. leave her named as a co-defendant, even if they (for the moment) intend to pick up the tab.

positivenote

coylemj wrote: »

The OP said that his MIL is getting copies of the correspondence that is going to his insurers so in this particular case, she can ignore the letters that are landing on her mat since they require no action on her part.

Would it be in the OP's insurers' interests to give the MIL indemnity? Surely the MIL (as the owner of the car) is the ultimate fallback if the OP's insurance should for whatever reason decide to renounce the OP's cover and worm out of the case. I can see that as the overriding reason why they would want to keep her in the loop i.e. leave her named as a co-defendant, even if they (for the moment) intend to pick up the tab.

My Insurance company have accepted liability on my behalf already but are contesting the amount that has originally been awarded, this is why it has been brought to the high court.
I’m just worried that my MIL is getting really stressed out about an accident that she was not involved in, esp given her health and age (mid 70’s).

Eggs For Dinner

positivenote wrote:

Thanks for the advice. Can you briefly explain what an ‘indemnity’ is and can I request my insurers to provide her with it?

Providing an indemnity means that one party (you/your insurer) will reimburse another party ( your MIL) for any costs incurred by them for which you were ultimately liable

coylemj

positivenote wrote: »

My Insurance company have accepted liability on my behalf already ......

That is effectively the indemnity that you are looking for in respect of your MIL but to formalise it to the extent that the other side stops copying her on the documents, she will need to be removed as a co-defendant in the case and the other side will need to agree to this as they are the plaintiffs who named her in the proceedings in the first place.

Until she is removed as a co-defendant, the other side is obliged to provide her with copies of various documents, whether she wants them or not.

positivenote

Hi all,
just to update, I received confirmation from my insurer this morning that:
'It is just protocol that she is named as a defendant as the vehicle owner and we will be providing her with a full indemnity and handling any matters on her behalf as well as your own.

Thanks for the feedback.