Whats the legal position of someone who is falsely accused of vehicle damage?

[StevieBoy]

My girlfriend's sister was skidded on black ice a few months ago and the only witness was an undertaker who decided a few days later that she had hit his car in the process and he suffered personal injury. He has now sent her a letter threatening court action. She's fully comp. Is it a case of get the insurance company to deal with it. By all accounts this bloke is of dodgy persuassion. But like I said no witnesses. She's in a right state so any one out there got any ideas?

[woodpam]

Leave it to the insurers - it's what you pay them for. If he has no evidence of damage there will be nothing for him to claim and insurers will want to be very sure that she has caused actual damage before paying out. It is suspicious that he has not taken the matter straight to his own insurers and this will be noted. There's no point in getting upset about it, even if she is extremely unlucky and he gets away with it it shouldn't cost her more than her excess. She may feel much better when she has passed the problem on to the professionals.

[darth vader]

If you're feeling up to it you could show the letter to your solicitor and have him/her prepare a lawsuit against the undertaker for attempting to obtain money by false pretences

[darth vader]

sorry, i forgot it was your sister, not yourself. But you know what i mean. (I hate people like this - a product of the bloody claims adverts no doubt - sue the ba5t@rd!)

[darth vader]

...and while you're at it claim for stress brought about by false accusations.

[darth vader]

I'm in a bad mood, can you tell?

[skelly]

I was in an accident a while back as the passenger and as it resulted, anyone in either of the vehicles could not be counted as a witness. The result was that each driver had to claim their own insurance as there was deemed to be no valid independant witness to the incident. I think if the undertaker is claiming that it was the girls fault and if she contests this, then without a witness, he will have to claim his own insurance. Is it the undertaker who sent the letter or his insurance company? Never trust an undertaker, you know what they're after.