Weightmans recently completed the defence of a serious injury claim in which the claimant alleged that he was run over by his own parked vehicle after his wife had sat in the driver’s seat and adjusted the controls.
This version of the facts was disputed as was the claim that his wife’s insurers were liable under Driving Other Vehicle Cover for this off road incident in which there were various indemnity issues. Proceedings were issued close to limitation, were defended vigorously and were discontinued in full.
The claim is noteworthy because of the novel facts. As the claim was made by a husband against his wife, albeit her insurers would pay any damages, this raised challenges in obtaining evidence to rebut the claim. Ultimately, we were able to achieve an excellent result and no damages were paid, with the pleaded value of the claim totalling over £1,000,000.