Hit a pedestrian

pokopoko

Hello, I'm new to here and I need advice from you.

My partner was involved in a car accident where she hit a pedestrian.
We have an witnesses and they support my partner.
What happened was basically, my partner was driving a car through T junction(Going straight.) There were 3 lanes, 2 lanes ahead only and right lane to turn right(Gridlocked). She was driving in the middle lane when woman suddenly jumped out into the lane without checking. She came from island on nearside. The traffic light for pedestrian crossing was red.
There's no way my partner can see her as there's a Trasit Van waiting to turn.

The police turned up swiftly and they said there was nothing she could do. Eyewitness shares the same stance.

Fortunately, it was a low speed accident and woman sustained only bruise. She admitted it was her fault at the spot.

My partner's car however is damaged and need to to replace windscreens(cracked), wing mirror and some door parts.

Now, my partner need to pay £350 excess for the insurers in order to settle this claim. I also just checked and it will be around £30 a year increase in insurance premium. We run 2 cars and the records must be on for next 3 years, which I reckon extra £180 for next 3 years. Plus, we are having great difficulty continueing our normal life until the car's repaired.

So, my question is, is there any way to recover the cost from this woman ? She's pedestrian hence no insurance company. We don't want to(can't) afford absorbing all costs.

Can we do that ?

What will be the likliness of outcome ?

Has anyone experienced a similar situation ?

I appreciate your input.

tomstickland

Put it down as "one of those things" and get on with the rest of your life.

Quote

I agree with Tom. And whilst I do empathise, I would add that you'll probably have to check your maths on the price increase, I expect it will go up more than you think. Regards the excess, if you can't afford it, you shouldn't have taken the policy out with it on there.

Unlucky.

Oscar_The_Grouch

Claim for the windscreen (that won't affect your NCB, but you will still have to declare it) and pay for the wing mirror yourself.

You could get 2 quotes for the whole work and then try to claim off the woman's home contents insurance (that includes liability cover), but there is no guarantee that they will have any cover and you will probably just end up upsetting someone who currently feels bad enough about their situation already.

lisyloo

She's pedestrian hence no insurance company.

Firstly she may have home insurance which covers her for 3rd party liability. This doesn't of course mean they will pay up without quibble, in fact it will be some degree of hassle making a claim and the onus will be on you to prove negligence.

Secondly, not having insurance, doesn't mean you are not liable.
It's just potentailly makes it harder to get the money and some people literally don't have it. In theory you could take her to court armed with police/witness statements. You might have legal cover that could help you pursue her or give you advice for free.

In both cases you need to weigh up the costs against the hassle because it won't be hassle free to claim.

In your posistion I would
1) work out the costs of private repair
2) work out the costs of insurance claim (excesss and increased premiums for 3/5 years). You can guestimnate increased premiums by adding a claim onto quotations and seeing the difference.
3) If you have free legal advice call them, Ask for their advice. Ask them if they would be prepared to take the case on.

Once you know all this you should be armed with more information to make a decision.

BTW - it not being your fault, is a long way from proving she was liable, but I don't feel in a posistion to comment on that, you would need to get legal advice on your chances.

Quentin

pokopoko wrote: »

Fortunately, it was a low speed accident and woman sustained only bruise.....

There is the chance of you getting a claim made against you.

In any case you should inform your insurer about the incident

C_Mababejive

You got off lucky.

Your lucky she didnt assume the position...go off in an ambulance and make a very expensive and protracted personal injury claim against you.

You have no recourse.

Its tough but there you go.

pokopoko

Can I walk into your kitchen and stick my hand in the hot oven and then make a claim against you then ?

This matter is already dealt with insurance company. We need to pay £350 for the claim. Someone said, I shouldn’t have taken the policy out with it if we can’t afford it. I should make it clear. It’s not we can’t pay. We don’t feel it’s necessary as it wasn’t our fault. The woman ignored the red light and was literally RUNNING toward us. What can we do ? I feel sorry for ourselves than feel sorry for her.

GEEGEE8

The woman has smashed their car up because they weren't paying attention.

I would want money back for fixing it too!

Quentin

pokopoko wrote: »

What can we do ? I feel sorry for ourselves than feel sorry for her.

You had comprehensive insurance who will fix your car for £350, so there is a silver lining! (You could be facing paying for your own repairs if you only had third party cover).

If you can't afford this, maybe see how much this will cost you using a back street garage and recycled parts from a scrap yard, and just use your insurer to get the windscreen replaced.

mattymoo

The problem you face is society's belief that the motorist is to blame when a pedestrian is hit. This is reflected in court decisions and insurers will work to these decisions in deciding current and future cases. Essentially, the motorist is expected to drive with a far higher level of consideration and awareness than that of a walking pedestrian, simply because they are in control of 1-2 tonnes of metal moving at speed.

The previous government also talked about making the motorist pay no matter what if they were involved in a collision with a cyclist or pedestrian. Not sure if this will die a death under the coalition govt we have now though - hope so.