Bicycle Accident Claims

stumpped

My seventeen year old daughter was hit by a car whilst cycling and the driver admitted that she was dealing with her son in the back before the accident. The police is preparing a report. We contacted the drivers insurance company and we were told because she is a minor they will not talk to us we need to hire a solicitor ? Is this the common practice now ?

Thanks

lisyloo

Do you have legal advice or legal insurance on your home insurance.

Most home insurance policies excludes accidents whilst the driver or a passsenger in a motor vehicle, but I believe the ones I've seen would cover a cyclist.

If you have either free advice or the legal cover then that could be your first port of call.

Another place to go is a "no win, no fee" lawyer.
The advantage of this is that they are reliant on a successful outcome to get paid so they are very assertive (or even agrressive) in getting things resolved.

stumpped

Thanks for the advice I think our contents insurance have legal assistance which we can use. My question is " Is this now the standard practice that you will need legal representation to pursue a claim ? "

Thanks

mattymoo

Its always been the practice. All awards to minors have to be approved by the courts and protections put in place to ensure the money reaches the child.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

I bet if the OP's daughter had been to blame nothing would have happened

Cyclists are happy enough to claim off folk, different story when its them to blame:mad:

cogito

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

I bet if the OP's daughter had been to blame nothing would have happened

Cyclists are happy enough to claim off folk, different story when its them to blame:mad:

Absolutely. They ride like maniacs, think nothing of weaving in and out of traffic and happily ride on pavements. Let's hope we never get to the point where motorists are automatically assumed to be the guilty party in an accident involving a cyclist as in some European countries.

geri1965_2

The OP asked for advice, not for people to go off on an anti-cycling rant. If you want to do that, go to another forum please.

To the OP - you don't have to have a solicitor to pursue a claim, but I'd recommend it unless you are confident that you can deal with it yourself. If your daughter is still under 18 when the claim is settled, it will need to be approved by the Court as mattymoo says, however, if she turns 18 before it's settled then she doesn't need to bother. I've settled claims before and at the request of the claimant waited until they are 18 before paying over the money (if it's only a short time away for example).

In some circumstances you can agree a settlement with the claimant only for the Judge to overrule it and say it isn't enough!

pinkkaz

cogito wrote: »

Absolutely. They ride like maniacs, think nothing of weaving in and out of traffic and happily ride on pavements.

Sounds like the majority of cars/taxis on my London commute. They drive like total maniacs and seem to think cyclists don't have a right to be on the road. Maybe if this country adopted the European stance there wouldn't be so many of these idiots - or at least the idiots would stop and think and make the roads safe enough for cyclists who are too scared and thus cycle on the pavement.

pinkkaz

stumped, you might find this link useful - lots of contacts and info in it:

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=19381