Working in a solicitors firm within the RTA industry I deal with legal proceedings on a daily basis but if someone who is not familiar with them receives these through the post I can understand that they can be very daunting and quite worrying. Several times this week I have dealt with telephone calls from extremely distressed people who have received a County Court Claim Form in relation to road traffic accidents, some which even date back to 2004 (3 years ago). Some of these people have said that they have been physically sick especially as the form states that they need to respond within 14 days or face judgement against them in the region of thousands of pounds (the amount claimed).
Unfortunately sometimes proceedings are served directly on the insured rather than the insurance company or solicitors dealing with the matter. Should you receive such proceedings I hope that this post helps to alleviate your worries and explains exactly what you should do.
1. PLEASE DO NOT WORRY! The best thing I can recommend is to speak to either your insurance company or a solicitors (if appointed) to advise that you have received a claim form.
2. Usually they will ask you to send the claim form or a copy to them so that they can deal with it on your behalf.
3. If liability for the accident has been admitted then it is unlikely that you will need to do anything further, everything will be resolved by your representatives
Where liability (fault) is admitted the reason legal proceedings would be issued is a dispute over quantum (the value of the claim) or the limitation period is due to expire/has expired (see below for further information in relation to limitation)
4. Where liability is in issue it is likely that you may be required to attend court to give your version of events, however your representatives will be able to explain the process and exactly what is required of you if this is the case so feel free to raise any queries or worries with them
Turning to my above point in relation to "limitation" sometimes claims are not concluded until the limitation period expires. Once people have reported an accident to their insurance company and had their vehicle repaired they tend to forget about the matter. However what the insured does not see is the work that then has to be done by the insurance company or solicitors appointed by them when dealing with a third party claim.
In England and Wales you have 3 to make a personal injury claim - (I am sure you have seen the annoying people in the street asking if you have had an accident in the last 3 years). If a claim is not settled before the 3 year period expires most solicitors issue protective legal proceedings to ensure that their client receives their compensation. If this is not done and a client cannot go on to claim their compensation this can lead to professional negligence being raised.
Once the proceedings have been issued they must then be served within a 4 month period. Therefore if the claim is still not settled within these further 4 months the proceedings will be served (sent) to the Defendant - as mentioned above this maybe the insured rather than the solicitors acting.
I hope the above helps if you are faced with the above. If you have any queries please feel free to ask and I will try and answer them.
Further information about dealing with a claim and the claim form itself can be found at HMCS (Her Majesty's Court Service)
