Bah.

[denny]

Got an email from my solictor today, she says the other side have applied to have the judgement against them 'set aside' - meaning that the full court case to settle liability still has to go ahead before we can settle the issue of compensation. So that's a pain in the arse.

I remain fairly confident about the whole thing - I was doing nothing wrong when the guy drove his car into my path, and I think that should be fairly obvious from the testimony describing the accident circumstances - but it would have been nice to have had it settled and done with. Not because I'm worried about how the court case will go, but because I'm pissed off that they have the cheek to claim and continue claiming that I could be partially responsible for his mistake - which, let us not forget, could have bloody killed me. Grrr.

Comments

[duncanneko.livejournal.com]

Sounds almost like they're just trying to drag it out as long as possible (maybe they're hoping you'll get bored and give up? =/)

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Sounds almost like they're just trying to drag it out as long as possible

I think that sums up their standard procedure, yeah. I assume it pays off on average.

[reddragdiva]

See if you can get the judge annoyed enough at them to penalise them as well as costs?

[burritob.livejournal.com]

I'd wager that, for the lawyers, it pays off every time...

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

A safe bet, I'm sure.

[fayroberts.livejournal.com]

Indie Pete! Indie Pete!

Ahem, sorry.

Lawyers win every time. Gits.

[uberredfraggle.livejournal.com]

Grrrrrrrrrr. I know how happy you were to have received the last letter. Even though it is a real pain to be dragged out you can still say a big 'fuck you' at the end of it all as you know who was in the wrong.

[wildeabandon.livejournal.com]

Meh :/ Stab them with pointy sticks.

*hugs*

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

:)

[indusbitch.livejournal.com]

don't know if they'll be of any help at this stage but sorrymate.com are great, they'll give free advice & specialise in motorbike accidents... might be worth getting in touch just to see what their take on it is. Site will be live in a few days when I've finished it.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

I can only hope it will had to their court costs and a bigger charge to them in the end...

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Yeah, from what I understand, they're basically betting about 2 grand (their costs) that they can win some kind of partial liability split.

Given that they've already offered me 80/20 (which I've refused), on a case worth less than 100 grand, they're sort of betting on odds of 10:1 or worse that they can get a judge to agree with their proposed liability split.

Of course, they could get lucky and win 100% if the judge is insane... this is the problem with the court system, it all comes down to the opinion of one man.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Insanity? In our judges, surely not.

I wonder if there is some kind of web reference site for judges where you can see what cases they've presided over and the decisions they've made; a sort of 'rate this judge' thing.

If not, I sense an opportunity...

[duncanneko.livejournal.com]

amijustornot.com?

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

*applause*

[monkage.livejournal.com]

This seems to be the usual case with motorcycle accidents involving cars. Person is completely at fault and usually hurts the motorcycle and rider pretty badly, but they refuse to take responsibility. And then they think they have the right to get mad when they lose the court cases and have to pay.

They get what they fucking deserve. How does the loss of their money compare to you almost losing your life? Fuck'em

[robert-jones.livejournal.com]

From what you say, it is not clear that they will succeed in having the default judgment set aside, since they will have to show a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or some other good reason why they should be allowed to defend.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Does "but I said he was going too fast" not count as sufficient reason?

[robert-jones.livejournal.com]

The court won't decide disputes of fact on interim applications, since that would involve effectively trying the case. So, if the driver submits a witness statement to the effect that you were going to fast, unless it is incredible, the court will accept it as giving a rise to a (partial) defence, I'm afraid.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Already has submitted, yes - that's his entire case, pretty much. That and the notion that I saw him in plenty of time to avoid him and uh, chose not to.

Given that the whole thing purely comes down to my word vs his, I did assume that there wasn't much a judge could do other than hear the case, if either side insists.

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

and uh, chose not to.

Could any sane person actually believe that you would have chosen to not avoid that collision?

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Ask me again after the court case.

[snoof.livejournal.com]

Gah. Fuckers.

*hug*

[bluecassandra.livejournal.com]

Stupid wankers. Mebbe its not the money so much as the guilt, or perhaps he isn't thinking so much of the money it'll cost now as the increased insurance costs for the next squillion years . . .
Still a wanker though.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

His insurance costs are bollixed anyway - you lose your no claims for any level of partial settlement, and he's got no realistic chance of getting a 100% win.

However, at this stage (and for everything after the first few weeks), it's got very little to do with the guy who was driving - it's about his insurance company exercising their legal obligation to their shareholders, i.e. not giving away any of 'their' money unless they really really have to.

[bluecassandra.livejournal.com]

Good to know he'll end up paying for this in soem respects whatever happens.

Bah to shareholders.

[arachne.livejournal.com]

Well that's just the smartie with no chocolate in.

Sorry these wankers are messing you about, here's hoping it just costs them more. Any chance you can put a bid in for extra due to the mental anguish, or some such, they're putting you through with all this toing and froing?

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

I don't think you'll allowed to class them (eventually) defending themselves as unnecessary mental anguish, nice though the thought is :) I would have expected them to have to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why they completely failed to file a defence within the original timeframe though... seems a bit pathetic otherwise.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Let me know if you need moral support during the case. Working from home has its benefits. *cuddle*

[dryad-wombat.livejournal.com]

How absolutely exasperating. I'm only belatedly catching up on LJ - I don't suppose it's turned out, in the days since you posted this, that they aren't going to get a delay after all?

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

First hearing is tomorrow, after which I may know whether their application has been refused or allowed. Or I may not, because apparently they're now late for filing their paperwork for explaining why they were late filing their defence, so the preliminary hearing may have to be postponed too.

[dryad-wombat.livejournal.com]

Crikey. Let us know what happens.

XXX