I think you will find that the Pre-Action protocol applies in EVERY case and 4.2 of the Pre-Action Protocol does state
d) the parties conducting genuine and reasonable negotiations with a view to settling the claim economically and without court proceedings.
It then, and this is the important bit states
:If the defendant does not accept the claim or part of it, the response should
(a) give detailed reasons why the claim is not accepted, identifying which of the claimant's contentions are accepted and which are in dispute;
(b) enclose copies of the essential documents which the defendant relies on
© enclose copies of documents asked for by the claimant, or explain why they are not enclosed
(d) identify and ask for copies of any further essential documents, not in his possession, which the defendant wishes to see; and (The claimant should provide these within a reasonably short time or explain in writing why he is not doing so.)
(e) state whether the defendant is prepared to enter into mediation or another alternative method of dispute resolution.
That is why I suspect just a standard "go away, it wasnt me, take it up with the driver and I dont have to tell you who it is" may fail..
The company could then issue proceedings and even if they lost then CPR 44.3 could apply
1) The court has discretion as to –
(a) whether costs are payable by one party to another;
(b) the amount of those costs; and
© when they are to be paid.
And more importantly deciding what order (if any) to make about costs, the court must have regard to all the circumstances, including (a) the conduct of all the parties.If the court feels the defendant has not assisted, sent templates and in reality probarly did know who was driving but did not say .. This could be classed as unreasonable and the costs could be awarded (which was probarly more than the claim anyway).