A single mother from Somalia with some limited English sought our assistance after she was involved in a car accident.
The insurers of the other driver and the lawyer for the insurer had both sent her correspondence seeking more than $4,500 in damages and giving the client seven days to pay the money. The client was distressed, anxious and frightened. The client did not have the means to pay. The client was a single mother with three children.
The client had little support. It was clear that she did not have the financial means to pay the insurers and her circumstances were unlikely to change. We referred her to the financial capability worker Lee-Ann Reid, who completed an income and expenditure assessment with the client. Ms Reid’s assessment was that the client was in deficit of $22.83 a fortnight and wrote a letter of support confirming and successfully negotiated a settlement with each party to bear their own costs.