Accident involving rag & bone man

lexilex

I am writing on behalf of a friend of a friend, you could not make this up.

Today my mum's friend was driving down a road where there was a rag & bone man (horse and cart, apparently they now drive vans too but this was the traditional kind) parked up at the side of the road stacking their load. As she drove around them several items from the cart fell on to her car bonnet, including a steal bedframe, causing quite a bit of damage.

He immediately offered her £200, she got in touch with someone she knew who worked in a garage, explained the situation and gave them an idea of the damage. They told her she would be looking at a minimum of £500 for the repairs. The man told her to follow them to his home and he would give her the money. She offered to take him in her car but he refused.

At this point my mum made her way to her friend and got in the car with her. They both then started to follow this horse and cart.

It all got a bit ridiculous, they were causing traffic problems as the rag & bone man (how exactly should I refer to him?) was walking with the horse. Also, it started getting a bit dodgy when he started leading them the wrong way down one way streets, and down dead end roads.

In the end they got in touch with the police on the none emergency number, who managed to track them down on CCTV. Two officers made their way to the seen.

To cut a long story short, it turns out this man is known to them. They had a chat with him, and he admitted he did not have the money.

The police said they did not require any insurance.

She has been told the only thing she can now do is claim on her insurance, obviously having to pay her excess, lose he no claims and see her premiums rise.

The police mentioned small claims but it seems a bit pointless.

Anyone got any advice?? It all seems completely wrong, surely he shouldn't get away with it.

DaveF327

It's the same as if a passer-by stumbled and fell on your car, damaging it. There is no requirement for a passer-by to have insurance, so your only hope of claiming the cost of damages is to sue the person and prove to a court that the passer-by was negligent.

This is exactly what the small claims procedure will do. Unfortunately, even if you win and the court orders damages, there is nothing they can do if the chap simply has no money. They can't take his horse or his cart, so the best you can hope for is what's typically carried on his cart every day.

If you really want to clutch at straws, make enquiries of his business and establish whether he holds public liability insurance. Good luck with that.

Moral of the story? When driving your car, avoid uninsured and skint people like the plague

NeverAgain_2

I hit a dog which had been left to run loose on a dual carriageway.

About £350 damage to my car, although Fido walked - or possibly limped - away.

Turns out the dog was owned by some travellers who were staying at a site nearby.

All the police were interested in was my driving docs and if they were up to date.

No point trying to pursue the travellers, so it was a claim on my insurance.

As ever, the law-abiding citizen has to pay, and the stateless, !!!!less and potless do not.



Looks like the swear filter doesn't like the word f-e-c-kless.

esmerobbo

Unfortunately looks like your friend is going to have to take the hit on this. Even if they took him to court I don't think they would be able to get anything from him.

rev_henry

DaveF327 wrote: »

It's the same as if a passer-by stumbled and fell on your car, damaging it. There is no requirement for a passer-by to have insurance, so your only hope of claiming the cost of damages is to sue the person and prove to a court that the passer-by was negligent.

This is exactly what the small claims procedure will do. Unfortunately, even if you win and the court orders damages, there is nothing they can do if the chap simply has no money. They can't take his horse or his cart, so the best you can hope for is what's typically carried on his cart every day.

If you really want to clutch at straws, make enquiries of his business and establish whether he holds public liability insurance. Good luck with that.

Moral of the story? When driving your car, avoid uninsured and skint people like the plague

Why not...?

pulliptears

Was this them?



Sorry OP, joking aside its not a nice thing to happen is it?
Hope its not too expensive to fix.

The_Crunchy_Nutter

rev_henry wrote: »

Why not...?

There are certain things that bailiffs cannot seize to enforce a debt:

http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/debt_basics/bailiff-guide.php

Are there any goods that the bailiff cannot seize?

Bailiffs (except bailiffs acting on behalf of the magistrate's court - see below) cannot seize the following goods:
tools, goods, vehicles and other items of equipment necessary for use by you in your employment, business or vocation;
clothing, bedding, furniture, household equipment and provisions as are necessary for satisfying the basic domestic needs of you and your family

Bailiffs acting on behalf of the magistrates' court cannot seize the following goods:
clothing, beds and bedding tools of the trade
basic domestic needs of the family would normally include fridge, cookers, freezers, but may not include video recorders, second TV's, jewellery, washing machines, stereos or microwave cookers.

Tilt

I wonder what the position would be if the 'several items' had fallen onto a small child or something? I thought that if you were carrying out a trade in a public place which could possibly pose a risk to the public that you had to have public liabilty insurance.

Incyder

If you ever get involved in an accident with a horse on the road, however it is caused, you will lose legally everytime.

spiro

Contact your local council and see if he has a 'waste licence' or whatever its called. You can no longer transport 'rubbish' of any type (unless personal) without a licence. If he is he is breaking the law.

Round my way the use transit pickups some of which I have seen loaded to the point of being dangerous i.e. upright fridge freezer with another one stood on top and nothing strapped down.

[Deleted User]

Most of the "rag and bone men" round my area are boarder line thieves, if not, down and out thieves.

The traditional rag and bone men are long gone.

Like spiro says, they all go around in dangerous transit tippers in my area looking to see what they can pinch from your property.