kfae8959 wrote:I can't, of course, comment on this particular case, but often court action is used as a tactic to force a settlement. That means that cases like this may not ever come in front of the judge - although if they do settle, it may not be until the last minute.
And I concur with Horse: do ask your Union for help and make use of legel expenses cover you've paid for! And make sure that the HMCTS knows in advance that you may need translation if you are called.
David
I do think that the taxi company's insurers are doing exactly this. It was unprompted, and there was no suggestion prior to this week that they were even considering it, and my ins. co have been pestering theirs for evidence of the damage I alledgely caused etc, with no success. My gut feeling is that they'll go as far as discussing court dates and then when they realise my insurance company are not going to back down, they may just quieten down and accept whatever's been offered.
Obviously, the ideal case for me is that they take it all the way to court, only to find both the driver and the passenger end up prosecuted for fraud and becoming liable for all the costs etc, then I get my NCB back as there won't be a claim against my policy!
I have ensured my ins co know about my requirements for interpreting, and I'll refuse to allow any court proceedings to progress if I have no interpreter present!
Horse wrote:TheInsanity1234 wrote: - I am indeed a student! Didn't realise the NUS could help with legal stuff...
I don't know that they can/will - but it's well worth checking. Even if it's the Ins Co who are in the dock
it's still worth getting advice.
Fair point - I'll certainly bear that in mind! I was considering popping over to the university's student support department (they have legal advisers employed at the uni for students who need legal advice).
Horse wrote:TheInsanity1234 wrote: I may be wrong and they may be taking me to court, in which case I'm not sure what they can do as I'm a student with literally no savings, so unless they're happy with compensation being paid at about 50p a week, for the next 20 odd years, there's not much they can do to me!
In which (hopefully not) case it would be a hollow (and costly) victory for the taxi driver!
Is it bad that I kind of hope he spends loads of money trying to sue me for damages etc, only for him to essentially make himself bankrupt as I certainly won't be able to pay for any of his costs let alone mine? That might just be the bitterness speaking however...