Child in Car Accident

jasimbo

Hi My first post on here, Thanks for the boards Martin they are a life saver.

My 11 year old son accidently ran his cycle into a car. The car owner is claiming from her insuarance and pressuring me for her loss of no claims discount. The last time we spoke in a rather ehated fashion she told me her insurer is goign to pursue me for the full cost of here repairs which is about £1000. Where do I stand and what is likely to happen? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

lisyloo

Do you have house insurance?
If you do then give them a call.
You are covered for 3rd party claims, so what is likely to happen is that your insurance will cover it.
You will have increased insurance costs in future.

If you don't have insurance then you will need to get legal advice.
If you are liable then you will have to pay the £1000 yourself if you have no insurance.

bb2611

You may also have access to free legal advice on your house insurance

mattymoo

I hope your 11 yr old is okay.

A lot will also depend on the accident circumstances.
If your son ran in to a parked car on his bike then yes, you may be liable. If the car was moving or even worse, overtaking your son, then the law will place a greater duty of care on the car driver to avoid your son.

Best bet as Lisyloo say is contact your household contents insurers and ask them to deal with the matter under the third party liability section of your policy. They will investigate if you are liable and also ensure the womans claim is reasonable.

jasimbo

My son is fine just a little embarassed he actually rode off the pavement and the car was right in front of him driving past so there is no doubt there. Thanks for the advice folks, in view of the likely cost of increase on the household insurance I have offered to pay her excess and I am waiting to see what happens next.

lisyloo

£1000 seems quite expensive.
I am wondering whether she is exaggerating a bit and then getting the repairs done somewhere a but cheaper (or not at all).

Maybe a little cynical, but it sounds like an awful lot.

My husband had his car scratched by a child on a bicycle and he reckoned it would costs £800 to fix properly but that was because the scratch ran down the entire length of the car so covered front wing, 2 doors and rear wing.

Is it possible that she's exaggerating?

Even so it may well still be easier all round to pay up.

mattymoo

Wrong move.
It is not just her excess. Her insurers can also reclaim the cost of the repairs and if she hires a car you are liable for that as well. You could easily be looking at a figure over £1000. Tell your insurers.

Sponge

Be aware that many household insurance's 3rd party cover excludes vehicles, which may extend to bicycles.

mattymoo

Sponge - it is normally written to exclude motor driven vehicles. Liability for cycles will be covered.