Bob is a middle-age man living with a physical disability. He was involved in a car accident and was not insured. Following the accident, the Police were called. Bob felt that he was not at fault. His difficulties with reading and writing meant that he did not feel comfortable in writing a letter of demand to the other driver, concerned that she would not take any letter coming directly from him seriously.
Our lawyer sent a letter of demand to the other driver. The initial response from the other driver’s lawyer was that she was not liable to any damages to his vehicle. Fortunately for Bob, the Police Report confirmed his version of the accident. A copy of the report was then sent to the other party’s lawyer who promptly informed us that they were no longer acting for her.
We decided to send another letter of demand and a copy of the Police Report, this time directly to the other driver. After several weeks and no response, we filed a Complaint in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court.
Twenty-one days after service, we still had not been served with a Defence, so we filed to get a judgement in default. The day after, the other driver’s insurance contacted us and started requesting all these documents obviously unaware of the Complaint. We informed them that we had a judgement in default. Two months later, we were served with an Application for re-hearing from the insurance company lawyers.
Undeterred by their intimidation tactics, we found a barrister to represent our client, receiving costs only if Bob’s case was won. A few days before the hearing, the other driver’s insurance company agreed to settle the matter and our client got the money to replace his car.