My TAXI nudged a fence - court papers ***Settled by ADR***

[maybelate]

The letter LD have sent doesn't state that it is a LBA, and LD are not saying that there may be additional costs if the case goes to court, they are saying that if I don't pay now although they are not representing the person who's fence I hit there may be additional losses that he has suffered which he might decide to try to claim and I might be able to prevent this by paying now.

 

PS thanks again for all the help I am gathering my evidence to send with my letter to LD

[lookinforinfo]

For the record I totally disagree with this... particularly the last sentence. In the CPR's practice direction for pre-action conduct it suggests that an LBA should "inform the defendant that ignoring the letter before claim may lead to the claimant starting proceedings and may increase the defendant's liability for costs."

 

It's a legitimate warning.

 

Ultimately it is LD's professional obligation to act in the best interest of their Client. If their Client is saying there has been substantial damage then they take them at their word at this initial stage.

 

I do the same every day. If a Client tells me to send an LBA to recover £X I will send an LBA requesting payment of £X with a threat of Court proceedings and additional costs etc. I take them at their word.

 

As the OP has already stated, this is not an LBA and the letter does not specify what these charges might be-and is threatening-if you don't pay this now it will cost more. I would hope that when you are acting for a client you would ask why no Court action has already been instigated as the accident happened 9 months ago and also if there had

been any financial offer of reparation.

 

We may agree to disagree on this however your suggestions on how to deal with the matter on your previous post are sound. [i tend to respond to letters from Solicitors very

aggressively as I find that they then write back and apologise and that tends to be the last time I hear from them.]

[Ganymede]

9 months is not a particularly long time to start a court claim so wouldn't read too much into that.

 

Threatening or not there is no recourse other than for the OP to write back and firm and firmly put his own version of events across.

[SuperVillain]

As the OP has already stated, this is not an LBA and the letter does not specify what these charges might be-and is threatening-if you don't pay this now it will cost more. I would hope that when you are acting for a client you would ask why no Court action has already been instigated as the accident happened 9 months ago and also if there had

been any financial offer of reparation.

 

We may agree to disagree on this however your suggestions on how to deal with the matter on your previous post are sound. [i tend to respond to letters from Solicitors very aggressively as I find that they then write back and apologise and that tends to be the last time I hear from them.]

 

And as pointed out 9 years is nothing. This is a claim for financial loss which gets statute barred after 6 years.

 

It's interesting that LD are acting for LV - that suggests LV have already paid out their policyholder. And the policyholder may still start their own claim for their excess (an uninsured loss), which hasn't been included - that's the extra costs LD are talking about. And as pointed out earlier by another posted the £80 refers to the fixed costs for issuing proceedings.

 

The pre-action conduct of the parties becomes relevant on the issue of costs when proceedings are issued. This is when the OP will argue that he took steps to resolve the claim at a pre-issue stage with the claimant, his insurers and then LD, and he should therefore not be liable for the Court costs. This is assuming he wins. If he loses obviously the claimant was right not to accept his offers.

 

This is however, way down the line and not something OP needs to be concerned with at the moment, just getting a proper response to LD.

 

And I like the aggressive response letters lol... work would be awfully boring if everybody just said they'd pay... I've never apologised though

[Conniff]

I do the same every day. If a Client tells me to send an LBA to recover £X I will send an LBA requesting payment of £X with a threat of Court proceedings and additional costs etc. I take them at their word.

 

If proof were ever needed that there are glasses with huge pound signs on them, there it is above. No care if a claim is true or just, get a threat in the post so I can make money.

[SuperVillain]

If proof were ever needed that there are glasses with huge pound signs on them, there it is above. No care if a claim is true or just, get a threat in the post so I can make money.

 

I've got no reason to think they aren't true.

 

And as for just... it's a matter of opinion... no one likes paying for things (not even our own Clients when we send bills)...

[maybelate]

Hi, I received a response from LD to my letter today saying that they note my comments and look forward to receiving my offer of settlement in due course. Can anyone help with how I should reply to this letter please? Don't see how I can offer to settle when I wasn't allowed to send anyone to quote to repair the damage I did

[reallymadwoman]

Reply stating that in the absence of an itemised invoice for the damage caused by you, you fail to see how any offer can be made.

 

If, and only if, you want to see the back of this, you could go on to say that on an entirely without prejudice basis and to bring the matter to a speedy conclusion you are prepared to pay (say, £50 or even £100) as full and final settlement of their clients claim.

 

You absolutely must include the 'full and final settlement' bit.

[maybelate]

Thanks reallymadwoman, as suggested I think I will ask them how they expect me to make an offer of settlement without any quotes for the damage I caused, I can't just guess an amount?

[reallymadwoman]

I think I remember you saying it was one or two fence panels which you damaged?

 

Go online to B & Q or similar and see how much a panel is and allow a bit extra for fitting, then round up to the nearest £10 for a bit of inconvenience. You could even add in your letter 'Based on the cost of two similar panels at around £xx, I am prepared to offer £xy in full and final settlement'.

 

And on second thoughts make it 'without prejudice save as to costs'. That way they know that if they took it to court (unlikely, since it would cost them more than they would win) and they were awarded what you offered or less, not only would they be significantly worse off but the judge could consider they'd been unreasonable and award costs against them.

 

Basically the insurance company want some of their money back and they'll probably accept pretty much anything reasonable.

[maybelate]

Thank you for all the help with this so far, it is really appreciated. The latest installment is that I received a letter from LD which states:

 

PART 36 OFFER TO SETTLE

 

Our client (which they are now saying is the person who made the claim and not the insurance co. as originally advised) is prepared to offer £xxx.xx in settlement of our client's claim. Our offer amounts to the part of our client's claim.

 

There is more to the letter and they state that it is without prejudice to any other claims Mr Xxx may have for other losses arising out of this incident. They also say that the amount stated plus LD's costs will be paid in accordance with CPR 36.10 (whether or not proceedings have been issued).

 

I'm a bit confused by this, do they mean that they want me to pay the amount stated in the letter? The wording is very strange and I can't understand how their client has changed?

 

Any ideas please?

[Ganymede]

I wouldn't get too distracted by who they say their client is. Really their acting for both the individual and the insurance company.

 

Have you read about the costs consequences in CPR 36.10? This is a small claim isn't it?

[SabreSheep]

If they are using apart 36 offer

Could the OP not use a Part 18 request for information seeing as they have mentioned substancial damages.

 

Therefore I would issue a Part 18 request demanding to know what this substantial damage is and what costs have been incurred. Give 7 days to respond.

 

When they answer the questions you could then demand sight of proof of anything they mention in their answers.

 

Other legal eagles may poo this idea so wait for them/

 

Also NB this sounds like it WILL be a small claims. BUT as it has not been assigned or even instigated yet form the postings above it is not yet deemed small claims and the normal CPR apply.

[maybelate]

This is still ongoing and has reared it's ugly head again.

 

 

LD have sent a letter saying that if I do not pay what they are asking for they will issue court proceedings in 7 days

and they have sent a copy of the completed claim form that they will be issuing,

 

 

which is in the name of the person who's fence was involved

even though he was paid in full by his insurance company to have the damage repaired.

 

In the previous correspondence I received from LD

they sent me some pictures that they say the claimant has taken showing the damage to his fence.

 

 

One of the pictures clearly shows that he has pulled a fence panel partly off

and he is claiming that the incident dislodged the panel

but this panel was not dislodged in any way by the incident

which you can clearly see in the pictures that I took

and which were sent to LD long before the other person produced his pictures.

 

I'm not sure where to go with this now and they have put me on a 7 day to reply time limit, can anyone offer any further suggestions as to what I should do now please?

[reallymadwoman]

All you can do is maintain that you are perfectly willing to pay for the damage you caused but no more and send another copy of your photograph pointing out that the additional damage was clearly done after the incident involving you.

 

They may well issue the claim. If they do, come back with the exact wording and you'll get help with filing a defence. Worst case is that you'd end up paying the full amount plus the issue fee, best case is that they will accept a much smaller amount or not issue the claim at all. Either way, you have very little to lose at this stage.

[maybelate]

ok, thanks reallymadwoman I'll do as suggested

[Conniff]

and they have sent a copy of the completed claim form

 

Debt collecting companies trick, calculated to frighten you. They may well go ahead, but be sure to get your photos in order and the timeline written down ready to defend.

[dx100uk]

if they are sending out 'fake' unstamped court papers you need to complain to northants bulk immediately

they cannot do that

[maybelate]

Their trick certainly works Conniff I will get the photos in to them and see what happens next!

[maybelate]

Hi dx, that seems to be what they have done stating that the letter with the papers is a Notice before action and the claim form is what they are about to issue

[dx100uk]

cant do that

complain

 

 

pers I wouldn't ack'ing them at all.

 

 

dx

[dx100uk]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?438041-Expedion-ANPR-fake-draft-court-claim-received&highlight=%27fake%27

[maybelate]

This is very interesting dx, do you think I should mention this in my reply? Sorry to sound thick but what does "pers I wouldn't ack'ing them at all" mean?

[dx100uk]

ignore the sols for now

 

 

dx

[SabreSheep]

Yup ignore everything they send to you. Only take action when an authentic court paper lands on your doormat.

Keep everything they have sent and put it in a safe place.

 

They have to prove the claim, not you.