OT: Collision with cyclist

The message from "Andrew Portess" contains these words:

Claim off the cyclist's parents' household insurance. Many policies cover this sort of thing.

I think 13 years is old enough to understand the traffic rules. In olden times that was almost the age you finished school and went into business. We certainly had days of traffic training in my school. So you can't necessarily assume that the cyclist was at fault because of her age. As usual, there might be two sides to the story and the girl might have a different explanation.

Agreed entirely - why *should* you have to pay for something that was not your mistake ?

You will end up paying for it, through increased premiums for several years

- irrespective of protected no-claims, your premium will still rise.

In which case, she should have crossed somewhere else where she could see - her fault entirely.

Several years ago a young pedestrian ran into the side of my car. Fortunately the lad escaped with minor bruising to his foot (which he stuck under my front wheel) and hopefully he didn't run across any more roads without looking.

As far as the damage to my car went, I was able to get the parts from a local scrapyard and repair it myself.

I (foolishly, as it turns out) reported the incident to my insurance broker and had my no claims discount suspended for two years (this is normal practice, I was told - discuss how realistic/honest/a complete set of robbing b*****ds my insurance broker was). As for claiming from the other party for repairs to my car, I was advised that this is a definite no-no as they are the assumed 'victim' as the non-motorist. Finally, two years and some months later and after a number of phone calls I received a cheque vaguely approaching the amount of extra premiums for loss of no-claims discount.

So, in conclusion from this experience... probably not the not pleasant answer but as long as everyone is intact and the insurance vultures haven't got their talons in, the best solution is to get the bodywork repairs done yourself or at a decent local independent garage, forget about reimbursement and be thankful nobody was seriously hurt.

That should of course have read "not the most pleasant answer"...

In the same way that pedestrians don't carry insurance, neither do cyclists. The OP could always take out a private action to recover the costs...

The OP *may* well be better off biting the bullet and paying for the repair rather than claiming.

Tell parents. Take civil action. They probably have a liability clause in their home contents insurance. Many people do.

Sue the child. After 10 years old they're at the age of responsibility in the eyes of the law. It'll end up being the parents that paybut perhaps if they'd done a better job of educating little Johnny, it wouldn't have happened.

Under EU law any collision involving a cyclist is the fault of the car driver. So it will be the fault of your wife (for insurance purposes) even if she was in a handbrake/neutral situation.

I suggest you tell your insurance company about it. When the parents of the child see a "No win, no fee" advert they will suddenly remember your number and in 8 months time as the child will have developed a spinal problem/stress issue/sore thumb, and your insurance company would like to know about it - they would pay for your legal fees.

If the door won't open get it fixed, it's only one excess, even if the kid sues. Shame about the NCB though, but a £5,000 compensation payout is still better on the side of the insurance company.

If you don't claim the ins. co. will find out anyway, wont pay, and you'll still lose your NCB, but you'll be lumped with all the fees.

--Nick.

I'm so tempted to cross-post this to one of the cycling newsgroups...

Whilst I agree in principle that suing the cyclist would be the fairest course of action, in reality I'd just bite the bullet and cough for the repair myself. Life's too short to f*ck about with small claims courts etc.

REally? You must drive some real piles of shit. Some pisshead one=20 night decided to kick in the passenger door on my wifes BMW 525. THe=20 damage is about what you'd expect from a cyclist running into the side.

The car needs a new doorskin and the whole side will have to be=20 resprayed because it is a metallic paint.

Its going to cost around =A3800 to get it done properly. Care to bite=20 that particular bullet?

--=20 Conor

If you're not on somebody's shit list, you're not doing anything=20 worthwhile.

Are you absolutely certain about this? I thought that some nutters (reclaim the streets or similar) had suggested this and that some brain-dead MP/Euro MP was backing it but I hadn't thought things had got to this sorry state.

I hope that you're wrong.

And this is also wrong (slight qualification; if the cyclist isn't claiming against you). If you don't claim you won't lose your NCB.

You should, of course, tell the insurance co. about the accident but it won't impact the NCB. It *may* load the policy price *before* the NCB is applied so the insurance may increase.

I'd also suggest that if one didn't tell the insurance co. under these circumstances that there's *no way* they'd find out.

You'd lose two years NCB by claiming. You'd also get the policy loaded for (IIRC) 4-5 years.

In the past I've shelled out (almost) a grand for repairs to avoid claiming so if it added up, yes I would.

However, I must admit I'd assumed that the repair wouldn't be this expensive though; assumed sub-500 quid tbh. I'm sure I'd do more damage 'kicking the shit' out of a car door than riding a push bike into it.

I hope so, but I remember it on the news, I remember a reporter saying that the car being responsible for the bike was now okay under UK law to "bring it in line with europe" so let's have a dig...

"" Motorists involved in road accidents which are not their fault may still lose their no claims bonus under new proposals to shake up insurance laws.

Plans drawn up by Brussels mean car drivers would automatically take the rap in any accident, regardless of who was really to blame.

It could mean pedestrians and cyclists receive compensation, even if they were the cause of the accident. ""

...That was an article in July 2002 (Gosh, was it really that long ago?) but I can't see anything that appears more recent from a quick BBC News search and a google hunt, so I'm not sure if this has been actioned yet!

I'd be more concerned about never telling the ins. co. and in a few months the parents feel like cashing in and then demand cash.

Unless the parents of the child asked for his insurance company details, which they can do and expect to receive.

--Nick.

Thanks everyone everything is much clearer now!!! We have informed the insurance and have been told to ring back on Monday to speak to one of their legal advisors. As a precaution based on previous family experience my wife also reported the accident to the police who stated that the accident clearly isn't her fault.

There is a lot of hype about these no win no fee claims businesses but I have seen some clear acts of negligence that have resulted in serious personal injury and the legal firms refuse to take on the case because no legal action under criminal law was taken; civil law claims are much more likely to succeed if there is has been a breach of statute or criminal law as that proves blame beyond all reasonable doubt - it is up to the civil law court award compensation according to level of liability.

I will see what the legal advisor has to say on Monday.

Thanks,

Andy

The message from Nick contains these words:

Which I believe hasn't yet been adopted here.

You've obviously failed to factor in the cost of "doing the job=20 properly". Sure I could get the door resprayed for about =A3150 but it'd=20 stick out like a sore thumb.

And as for doing more damage than riding a pushbike into it..no. Its=20 only a slight dent barely a few mm deep but happens to be along a swage=20 line.

--=20 Conor

If you're not on somebody's shit list, you're not doing anything=20 worthwhile.

In Message-ID: I did a bit of searching, and it doesn't APPEAR to be here just yet.

--Nick.

As I have said before, the way this country works is that the inocent pay for the guilty. If you're not paying for crimals through taxes then you're paying for them on your insurance premiums etc. Of course, the criminals don't pay taxes or insurance premiums.