You responded to a cry for help from GP of Tolleshunt Major in respect of an accident in which his (her) daughter had received a County Court Summons. Here are some thoughts that may be helpful. The accident happened in September 2004. If this date is correct then the proceedings could well be ‘out of time’ under the Statute of Limitations (the time limit is six years for property damage). The car is insured so I assume that the insurers have been dealing with and disputing the claim from the third party. I also assume that the hire charge has arisen from credit hire. As you know the insurance industry is taking concerted action to try to combat these exorbitant claims. It will be a term of the insurance policy that "any letters, writs, or summons or notices that you receive from anyone else be immediately sent to us." This is the wording from my own policy, but there will be something similar in GP's daughter’s policy.

So I urge you to tell GP to contact the daughter's insurers to advise them of the summons and to get it to them straight away. Any delay could prejudice their defence. It may be that the required notice of the issue of proceedings was given to the insurer and if so they should have warned GP's daughter and advised her of the action to take on receipt of the summons. In all probability the insurers have been disputing the amount of the claim with the third party's solicitors hence the summons. They will get quite upset if GP now tries to deal with the matter. Any such action could also be regarded as a breach of the policy conditions. I hope that the above is helpful.