3 Car accident, 3rd car has no insurance!

[Myfamily]

Hi All,

 

Just need a bit of advise, I sort of lost track of this one due to lots of other things going n at the same time but I have just received a letter from the second cars solicitors saying that my husband witnessed the accidnet and asking him to complete a form wbout weather conditions and do a sketch etc.

 

The taxi that he drives is rental, so it's not his own insurance, however he was injured and I'm just not sure if he is supposed to complete this or I should send it to the taxi owners solicitors? We have already been told by the owners solicitor that the third driver was not insured, they advised us to do a police report about the accident which we did, and that a claim via the MIB might have to bemade but they didn't say how that's done, if they do it or we do?? and that was the last I heard from them.

 

Sorry just very confused now about what we should be doing? Do we complete this form or send it to the owners solicitor to deal with, shouldn't they be dealing with them not writing direct to us, I am very wary of solictors!

[Bandit127]

In post #16 it was established (by someone with direct experience in the industry) that car 2 has no liability if it is stationary before the impact.

 

This is also my experience when I was car 2 in this scenario last year. Both car 1 and car 2 (me) were paid by car 3's insurers and I was notified that I was not at fault.

 

This is now the way the "system works". It used to be different years ago when car 1 would indeed claim from car 2.

[Ganymede]

Hi All,

 

Just need a bit of advise, I sort of lost track of this one due to lots of other things going n at the same time but I have just received a letter from the second cars solicitors saying that my husband witnessed the accidnet and asking him to complete a form wbout weather conditions and do a sketch etc.

 

The taxi that he drives is rental, so it's not his own insurance, however he was injured and I'm just not sure if he is supposed to complete this or I should send it to the taxi owners solicitors? We have already been told by the owners solicitor that the third driver was not insured, they advised us to do a police report about the accident which we did, and that a claim via the MIB might have to bemade but they didn't say how that's done, if they do it or we do?? and that was the last I heard from them.

 

Sorry just very confused now about what we should be doing? Do we complete this form or send it to the owners solicitor to deal with, shouldn't they be dealing with them not writing direct to us, I am very wary of solictors!

 

 

 

 

Who is acting for your husband? Has he got solicitors of his own instructed to deal with his personal injury claim?

[Myfamily]

Hi All, Sorry this thing kind of got left for a bit and is moving so slowly. Hubby's claim was being delat with by a solicitor who said that as the 3rd car was uninsured my hubby would have to make a claim to the MIB which he sent the form to us for, hubby signed it and we waited - they advised that MIB are very slow so we just waited.

 

Now they have said that the incicident sould have been reported to the licencing authority (TFL - Hackney Carriage office) which hubby didn't do (as he doesn't own the taxi - he rents it) , he obviously told the owner and it went into the garage for some repairs. The solicitors seem to be saying that because hubby did not report it to the licencing authority, he cannot claim from the MIB! I'm very confused, the fact is, he still suffered injury, so what do i do?

[unclebulgaria67]

Hi All, Sorry this thing kind of got left for a bit and is moving so slowly. Hubby's claim was being delat with by a solicitor who said that as the 3rd car was uninsured my hubby would have to make a claim to the MIB which he sent the form to us for, hubby signed it and we waited - they advised that MIB are very slow so we just waited.

 

Now they have said that the incicident sould have been reported to the licencing authority (TFL - Hackney Carriage office) which hubby didn't do (as he doesn't own the taxi - he rents it) , he obviously told the owner and it went into the garage for some repairs. The solicitors seem to be saying that because hubby did not report it to the licencing authority, he cannot claim from the MIB! I'm very confused, the fact is, he still suffered injury, so what do i do?

 

Contact TFL Hackney Carriage Office to see if they are aware of what MIB are saying.

 

It may be that every accident involving a licenced Taxi needs to be reported to the licencing authority, by the person who has the licence. If this is the case, it may be that MIB have a get out clause, of accidents being reported to all relevant authorities, before they will consider a claim.

 

Perhaps a late report can be made to TFL and if he gets confirmation, MIB will deal with it, if this is the only reason.

[Myfamily]

HI All,

 

It's been a while now (well 2 years since the actual accident - which is ridiculous!) and we are still not done with this. We finally managed to get the issue with reporting to the Hackney Carriage sorted out and so they are happy that it was not my husbands responsibility or fault that this was not done. - so that's cleared up.

 

Then we got a letter frm the solicitors in Nov 2015 after Hubby had a meeting with a lady from the MIB who just did a statement with him about what happened, and they just sent 2 copies to us and asked for one copy to be signed and returned which we did, they also stated that they would "Liaise with the MIB to ascertain a final decision in regard to dealing with your claimand upon which agreement (i.e uninsured drivers agreement or Untraced drivers agreement)"

 

Then today we recieve a letter saying......

 

"we write further to receiving correspondence from the MIB. They have confirmed that they are prepared to deal the the claim by way of their untraced driver scheme as opposed to the Uninsured drivers agreement. This is due to the fact that the correct defendant has not been identified.

 

Due to the fact that a defendant cannot be identified, the no win no fee agreement has to be cancelled. I attach 2 copies of a document titled "Contingency Fee Agreement".

 

The Contingency Fee Agreement provides for us to either deduct 30% of your damages and/or disbursements or the £350.00 plus VAT (whichever is the greater) and/or disbursements. The MIB will however pay a contribution towards Disbursements.

 

Before we continue with the claim, we request that you sign, date and return the same in the stamped addressed envelope"

 

 

 

Can anyone advise on this please?

 

 

 

Then today we receive another letter from the solicitors

[unclebulgaria67]

Because of the 3 car accident, the MIB have decided against proceeding against the first uninsured car driver that set the accident in motion and instead will deal with it under untraced driver scheme, as there is not just one driver liable for this accident.

 

This sounds like a bit of a fudge to make it easier for the MIB, but it means that you no longer have no win no fee Solicitors acting and if you want them to continue it would be £350+ VAT. You can then try to get the MIB to pay some or all of the Solicitors fees.

 

I think you need to speak to the Solicitors and MIB about this. What is the way forward now and how quickly will it be resolved now a decision has been made about using the untraced driver scheme ?

 

I will message someone who deals with this, to see what they can advise. You may see them respond later.

[Ganymede]

HI All,

 

It's been a while now (well 2 years since the actual accident - which is ridiculous!) and we are still not done with this. We finally managed to get the issue with reporting to the Hackney Carriage sorted out and so they are happy that it was not my husbands responsibility or fault that this was not done. - so that's cleared up.

 

Then we got a letter frm the solicitors in Nov 2015 after Hubby had a meeting with a lady from the MIB who just did a statement with him about what happened, and they just sent 2 copies to us and asked for one copy to be signed and returned which we did, they also stated that they would "Liaise with the MIB to ascertain a final decision in regard to dealing with your claimand upon which agreement (i.e uninsured drivers agreement or Untraced drivers agreement)"

 

Then today we recieve a letter saying......

 

"we write further to receiving correspondence from the MIB. They have confirmed that they are prepared to deal the the claim by way of their untraced driver scheme as opposed to the Uninsured drivers agreement. This is due to the fact that the correct defendant has not been identified.

 

Due to the fact that a defendant cannot be identified, the no win no fee agreement has to be cancelled. I attach 2 copies of a document titled "Contingency Fee Agreement".

 

The Contingency Fee Agreement provides for us to either deduct 30% of your damages and/or disbursements or the £350.00 plus VAT (whichever is the greater) and/or disbursements. The MIB will however pay a contribution towards Disbursements.

 

Before we continue with the claim, we request that you sign, date and return the same in the stamped addressed envelope"

 

 

 

Can anyone advise on this please?

 

 

 

Then today we receive another letter from the solicitors

 

You need to speak to your solicitors and they will explain.

 

But they are correct that the NWNF agreement can't continue on an MIB untraced claim so if you sign the new form then you will have to pay 30% of your compensation to your solicitors for your legal fees (it's likely to exceed £350 plus VAT). This is standard in these claims.

 

You could ditch your solicitors and go to the MIB directly but you would need to check with your solicitors if there are any fees or disbursements you would owe them.

[Slimm]

Sounds like the solicitors have dragged their heels for two years, the whole thing probably would have been over and done with quite some time ago had you approached the MIB directly.

 

Like Ganymede suggests, if they no longer wish to stand by the original agreement then get rid of them. I certainly wouldn't sign over 30% plus mystery disbursements (expenses) on a straightforward case - especially since you almost at their mercy as far as the disbursements go.

 

The MIB are used to dealing with claims like this and will be able to guide you. Definitely ask them about timescales - the limit is 3 years from the date of the accident for normal English/Welsh motor injury cases - you need to have either agreed settlement of the claim or issued court proceedings, otherwise you lose the right to do so. If I recall rightly with the MIB untraced agreement you just need to make the application before the three year mark but it's well worth checking.

 

I'd suggest you strongly contest any charges from the solicitors on the grounds that they are no further along than when you instructed them. I'm assuming you provided full and correct info at the outset so they should have known from the outset that the guilty party was unidentified.