Dealing with motor insurers as a third-party

cookdn

DrLex wrote:

Missed the recent developments; well done for a v. good result.

Thanks for that, and your previous advice and support.

DrLex wrote:

Had wondered, on reading your last posts, whether you'd lost the advantage by agreement to a 50:50 split; I'd have tied it in with reception of a cheque the next day for a stipulated amount.

The 50/50 split was negotiated before I got sight of the drivers account. I suppose I had got so used to the idea that I had been struck from behind by a car that had jumped the red light from the east, I had just accepted that it would boil down to a disagreement about which light was green and which was red. I'm not saying that I believe the other driver's account for a second (or that I was in any way responsible), I just hadn't thought they would go for a fabrication that was so easy to un-pick.

DrLex wrote:

I'd go along with your suspicion that Plexus were only instructed after SJ was granted.

Direct Line told me on the 18 Dec that they had instructed Plexus Law on 13 Dec. While that might have been a fib it seems to be a silly one, their court acknowledgement deadline was the previous day :?. Plexus Law's letter noting their interest was sent on 21 Dec. Nearly a month later they still didn't have the full file with all my detailed particulars, that's how the GPS track video ended up on YouTube :roll:.

bails87

Looks like the driver was trying to get past and then left hook you. Glad it's all been sorted, hopefully the driver knows they're lying, rather than thinking they've done nothing wrong.

JamesPritchard

Great to hear of your result with DL.

Regards,
James.

benthic

Result! Good to be persistent.

goonersi

Hi David,

Good to hear that you were successful.

I'm just starting out on this route having been knocked off earlier this month. Direct Line are the insurance company for the car, so this thread may come in useful in the coming weeks/months. I called them yesterday to provide them with the LBS estimate they asked me to obtain, only to be told that the case handler was unavailable, there is no update on the case and that I need to appoint solicitors to represent me in the matter of establishing liability. They're still waiting to hear back from the driver - he hadn't reported the accident to them despite the police attending.

Like you, I'm not looking to claim for peronsal injury (minor bruising/grazes) I picked up, but want to recover the the costs for bike repair, replacement clothing and incurred commuting costs.

Thanks for the advice/experiences listed in your thread.

cookdn

goonersi wrote:

Good to hear that you were successful.

Got the cheque yesterday but it took some persistence.

goonersi wrote:

I'm just starting out on this route having been knocked off earlier this month.

Sorry to hear that but I'm glad you weren't hurt beyond minor bruising/grazes.

goonersi wrote:

Direct Line are the insurance company for the car, so this thread may come in useful in the coming weeks/months. I called them yesterday to provide them with the LBS estimate they asked me to obtain, only to be told that the case handler was unavailable, there is no update on the case and that I need to appoint solicitors to represent me in the matter of establishing liability. They're still waiting to hear back from the driver - he hadn't reported the accident to them despite the police attending.

Like you, I'm not looking to claim for peronsal injury (minor bruising/grazes) I picked up, but want to recover the the costs for bike repair, replacement clothing and incurred commuting costs.

Sounds all too familiar. Here is my take.

On the basis that you aren't being helped by a solicitor and there isn't another insurer involved, Direct Line are hoping that either sooner or later you will give up. If you persist it won't be Direct Line who will deal with your claim, it will be Plexus Law once you have taken Direct Line to the County Court. This became apparent when I got the formal notification from Plexus Law that they were acting on behalf of DL.

The N251 funding notice (a court document disclosing how the legal work is being funded) showed that Plexus Law were doing the work for free as part of a much bigger no-win, no-fee contract that has been in place November 2010. Basically the reason DL ignored all my letters is that it wasn't in their commercial interest to respond to them. They were hoping I would lose heart and give up, in the meantime the potential cost of the claim was fixed. All it has cost DL in the end is the full amount of my claim plus £80 in court fees; Plexus Law have done all the work. Not bad really considering that DL didn't even spend a penny in postage. Your situation is a bit different as without your bike you will be incurring costs for your commute so maybe with a growing claim DL may not be so complacent.

My advice is don't telephone DL, write to them. They are going to ignore you/fob you off so it is better that you have evidence of that. Then it is going to take you eight weeks to the point where you can start proceedings in the County Court using Money Claim Online. I sent two letters giving them 14 days to respond, then a third pre-action letter allowing them 28 days to respond; the second and third were sent recorded delivery which is about £1.50. The court stuff is easy, you simply use the stuff you have already sent to DL. DL then get 14 days to respond to the court. The fee is dependant on the value of your claim, but is repaid by DL assuming they settle.

I can let you have copies of the correspondence I used if that is of any help. The pre-action letter has a court protocol to follow.

Best regards

cookdn

goonersi wrote:

Good to hear that you were successful.

Got the cheque yesterday but it took some persistence.

goonersi wrote:

I'm just starting out on this route having been knocked off earlier this month.

Sorry to hear that but I'm glad you weren't hurt beyond minor bruising/grazes.

goonersi wrote:

Direct Line are the insurance company for the car, so this thread may come in useful in the coming weeks/months. I called them yesterday to provide them with the LBS estimate they asked me to obtain, only to be told that the case handler was unavailable, there is no update on the case and that I need to appoint solicitors to represent me in the matter of establishing liability. They're still waiting to hear back from the driver - he hadn't reported the accident to them despite the police attending.

Like you, I'm not looking to claim for peronsal injury (minor bruising/grazes) I picked up, but want to recover the the costs for bike repair, replacement clothing and incurred commuting costs.

Sounds all too familiar. Here is my take.

On the basis that you aren't being helped by a solicitor and there isn't another insurer involved, Direct Line are hoping that either sooner or later you will give up. If you persist it won't be Direct Line who will deal with your claim, it will be Plexus Law once you have taken Direct Line to the County Court. This became apparent when I got the formal notification from Plexus Law that they were acting on behalf of DL.

The N251 funding notice (a court document disclosing how the legal work is being funded) showed that Plexus Law were effectively doing the work for free as part of a much bigger no-win, no-fee contract that has been in place November 2010. Basically the reason DL ignored all my letters is that it wasn't in their commercial interest to respond to them. They were hoping I would lose heart and give up, in the meantime the potential cost of the claim was fixed. All it has cost DL in the end is the full amount of my claim plus £80 in court fees; Plexus Law have done all the work. Not bad really considering that DL didn't even spend a penny in postage. Your situation is a bit different as without your bike you will be incurring costs for your commute so maybe with a growing claim DL may not be so complacent.

My advice is don't telephone DL, write to them. They are going to ignore you/fob you off so it is better that you have evidence of that. Then it is going to take you eight weeks to the point where you can start proceedings in the County Court using Money Claim Online. I sent two letters giving them 14 days to respond, then a third pre-action letter allowing them 28 days to respond; the second and third were sent recorded delivery which is about £1.50. The court stuff is easy, you simply use the stuff you have already sent to DL. DL then get 14 days to respond to the court. The fee is dependant on the value of your claim, but is repaid by DL assuming they settle.

I can let you have copies of the correspondence I used if that is of any help. The pre-action letter has a court protocol to follow.

Best regards

goonersi

Great result with the cheque!

I think I'll give DL a call again tomorrow to get their address so I can start writing to them. Everything has been done on the phone up until now as the police passed me the driver's insurance details - I was in the back of the ambulance being checked over when the police cleared everything and let the driver continue on his journey.

Copies of your correspondence would be greatly appreciated - I don't have any idea of the process, when to submit details like statements, etc so do need to do a lot more research to get up to speed.

Thanks again,
Simon

cookdn

goonersi wrote:

Copies of your correspondence would be greatly appreciated - I don't have any idea of the process, when to submit details like statements, etc so do need to do a lot more research to get up to speed.

I'll make some redacted versions of my correspondence available, hopefully tomorrow or Sat. You should be ok following my approach, I guess all you'll need to add is your alternative arrangements for commuting and the rate at which you are incurring costs. Maybe if JamesPritchard is around he'll give you some suggestions for improvement.

Best regards

goonersi

Well DL called me this afternoon - it was actually the case handler who surprisingly wasn't on lunch for once! :roll:

They've now recevied the "version of events" from the car driver and have asked me for my version so they can establish liability - they gave their initial view/opinion from the details submitted by the driver. I informed the case handler that I was in the process of writing to them and will include my version of events together with the LBS estimate that they requested - off to put some words down on paper now.

cookdn

goonersi wrote:

Copies of your correspondence would be greatly appreciated - I don't have any idea of the process, when to submit details like statements, etc so do need to do a lot more research to get up to speed.

Apologies for the delay, sanitised copies of my correspondence with DL are now available on Google Drive:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3Bvl029Jq9SUk5lVTFDS1NBbVU/edit?usp=sharing

It's good you see that you have already made some progress over the phone.

Best regards