Libel / Slander help needed

[lolom]

I'm in the process of completing an insurance claim for a fire in my house. My ex has taken it upon herself to write a long letter to the insurance company in which she lists numerous ridiculous examples of my 'bad' character (completely unrelated to the fire or the claim) and ends off saying that I was infact responsible for the fire. This is all absolutely not true and pure fabrication.

I am seeing an avocat next week but if anybody can give me some pointers as to where I stand and what actions I might take I would be most thankful.

Lolom

[Northender]

Welcome to the Forum and may I offer you my sympathies towards your predicament.

One question came to mind , how did you gain access to the letter written by your "Ex"?

[Gardian]

Not an exhaustive list, but a few immediate questions come to mind:

• Were you divorced or merely separated, (a) at the time of the fire & (b) now?
• Are you seeing the avocat purely in connection with the letter, or on another matter?
• Are your dealings with your insurer via a 'local office'?
• If so, did the letter go there, or to the insurer's head office?

[lolom]

The letter came to me (ie. sent officially) as part of a dossier which had been sent to an Expert who was apointed by the courts to value the property.

[lolom]

We were separated at the time of the fire. Never married.

I'm seeing the avocat mainly about this but but also about child custody issues.

Dealings are with a local Agent.

The letter was sent to the local agent but I pressume it was forwarded to their main claims office.

[Gardian]

[quote user="lolom"]We were separated at the time of the fire. Never married.
I'm seeing the avocat mainly about this but but also about child custody issues.
Dealings are with a local Agent.
The letter was sent to the local agent but I pressume it was forwarded to their main claims office.

[/quote]

Well, my reaction would be that it would be preferable to see this expert (presumably acting in the role of loss adjustor) before you see your avocat. If that were possible, you'd be able to establish how much credence he / she puts on the allegations. Chances are that they'll be dismissed as being without substance, but you'd at least get a feeling for the way the wind was blowing.

Of course this may not be possible before your meeting with the avocat, and if it were me, I'd merely mention this issue as something that has come up and on which you might need some help. In short, avoid setting the hare running before you know what view the insurance company is taking over it all. It sounds as though you've got enough on your plate without giving the avocat another (expensive) problem.

Sorry - I'm not a lawyer & others will doubtless have a proper legal view, but I guess that pragmatism is what you're after.  Best of luck.

[Cat]

Scroll about halfway down for an outline of French libel law...

http://medialibel.org/libel/other.html

 

[Will]

Technically, such a letter could be described as libellous. But in practice libel law is only likely to be invoked when something is published, i.e. disseminated widely in print, via the internet etc. Although you may, justifiably, feel aggrieved by a letter to an insurance company, involving lawyers, particularly in France, is likely to prove a good way of emptying your wallet without any tangible benefit.

Unless the allegations, whatever they may be, are directly relevant to your insurance claim and can be substantiated, then the insurer is likely to dismiss the letter as malicious, particularly if you point out that you have seen the letter and it has no foundation. So, frankly, I wouldn't be too bothered. Unless there is some substance behind it, in which case you could be on dodgy grounds claiming it was defamatory of course. As an example of your ex's unreasonable and malicious behaviour towards you, then that's quite a different matter...