Pedestrian hit by biker - biker trying to claim from pedestrian

rob7475

Hi,

Last week, my heavily pregnant girlfriend was knocked down by a motorbike at some traffic lights. She was crossing the two lane road and checked that the lights were red first. As she was half way across the first lane a motorbike hit her causing her to be knocked over and the biker to come off his bike. She was taken to hospital and luckily her and baby are both fine with no lasting injuries.

The biker and a witness claim the lights were on green and upon further inspection it appears that there is a seperate set of lights for each lane as one lane is for a right turn. So she may have seen one red light but not realised the other was green.

She has now had a letter from a claims management company acting on behalf of the bikers insurance company asking for house insurance details so they can claim for his 'losses'.

I can not see how she can be to blame for this as, she was in the middle of the first lane - if the bike had been coming along the road at 30mph (this is the speed limit for this section of straight road), he would have seen her before she got to the middle of the road and had chance to avoid her or stop. My view is, he was either speeding, or has pulled out from the right hand lane to get out of the queuing traffic and not been looking in front of him.

She is really upset and stressed by this, which is not good for her as she is heavily pregnant.

Can anyone give any advice if he is likely to be able to claim any compensation from us. I have checked my home insurance and there is no mention of public liability insurance on there and she is also not named on the policy.

Sorry for the long post - thought it best to give as much detail as possible.

Thanks

WestonDave

If she isn't the insured on the household policy then they can't claim from that policy - which may in itself be enough to make them give up. CM co's are pretty lazy and if they think there will be a long fight to establish liability and then to recover the damages against an individual (who may not be able to afford to pay) then its a lot more work than simply dealing with an insurer who will offer something to get it off their desk.

Initially I'd ignore the letter and see if they bother to write again - if they do I would then respond very briefly saying that she is not named on the insurance policy. If they persist beyond that they you may need legal advice on defending the claim, but I would personally be surprised if this goes beyond the first fishing trip - designed to see if you are daft enough to panic and give them something to work with.

EdGasket

I thought a pedestrian always has 'right of way' on a road anyway irrespective of what traffic lights are set at. The bike should have been going at a speed where it was able to stop safely in an emergency and at a junction that should have been very slowly. I think your gf should lodge a counterclaim with the biker for her injuries/inconvenience or whatever else you can think of.

slyracoon

Your not obliged to provide any insurance details like you would be if your were driving a vehicle. Pedestrians are not required to have insurance. Write politly back telling them this and tell them you will be instructing a no win no fee injury lawyer for your wifes injuries if they continue to persure you.

If they do take this further do you have any legal cover? Some home insurance policies, bank accounts, employers give this as a free benefit. I have it through my insurance, bank and employer!

SailorSam

This is from 2009 but probably still applies. It's mainly about crashes between motorists and cyclists but does mention pedestrians and says in civil law the biggest vehicle is always presumed to be at fault, even when they're not.
If this be the case the guy in your case has got no chance.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1214856/Motorists-blamed-accidents-cyclists-fault--says-Government-advisor.html

rob7475

slyracoon wrote: »

Your not obliged to provide any insurance details like you would be if your were driving a vehicle. Pedestrians are not required to have insurance. Write politly back telling them this and tell them you will be instructing a no win no fee injury lawyer for your wifes injuries if they continue to persure you.

If they do take this further do you have any legal cover? Some home insurance policies, bank accounts, employers give this as a free benefit. I have it through my insurance, bank and employer!

Thanks for all the replies so far. I think I do have legal cover with my home insurance but I'm not sure whether it covers the wife or not.

I've emailed the contact at the claims management company explaining that I won't be handing over any insurance details. I've also mentioned that the biker has a duty of care to pedestrians and should always be prepared to slow down at a crossing.

marlot

SailorSam wrote: »

This is from 2009 but probably still applies. It's mainly about crashes between motorists and cyclists but does mention pedestrians and says in civil law the biggest vehicle is always presumed to be at fault, even when they're not.
If this be the case the guy in your case has got no chance.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1214856/Motorists-blamed-accidents-cyclists-fault--says-Government-advisor.html

I thought that was only a proposal. It's what happens in France, but not here as far as I know

marlot

My understanding is that anyone can be sued if they make a negligent act, and someone else suffers as a result. Insurance can be taken out, and for most of us it is included in our house insurance.

As to whether rob7475's girlfriend was negligent, I don't see enough information to make a judgement one way or the other. It is quite possible that both the biker and the lady were negligent to some degree; or also possible that neither were negligent and the collision was just one of those things.

Either way, I hope that the lady, and the biker both have swift recoveries and the baby comes out in excellent health.

johnfarquhar74

Personally, given your girlfriends condition, I would neither ignore nor complicate matters by counter claiming.
If your girlfriend lives in a house where there is an insurance policy, then I'd let both sets of insurance peoples know the details. If she has no insurance available to her then advise the claiming insurers accordingly.
Most household insurance policies will have cover for 'liability' that covers all members of the household. This is not to be confused with legal cover.
From personal experience, I have seen a claim successfully pursued from a road user against a pedestrian that caused damage similar to your situation.
I wasn't involved in the accident but my property was. Basically a pedestrian, either through ignorance or malice knocked a family member of my bicycle by walking in front of them. My legal cover I have through my bike insurance pursued a claim for damages(for my bike, NOT personal injury), in the end it went to court, the Sheriff Court(Scotland) tore strips off the defendants legal team as the claim was for a modest amount, they refused to go through their home insurers which was an option available to them. Quite a waste of time for all concerned.
So if I was you, let your insurers know, if the girlfriend is not covered, then by all means sit back and see if the claimant gets bored, but if they don't, then don't be surprised if they chase it up through the courts. Depends on how much money the motorcyclist is chasing?
Also, remember this is all about compo(or so it seems), it doesn't seem to be about who was responsible(legally).

Finally, make sure the girlfriend doesn't worry too much about it, no need for undue stress in her condition. Best of luck!

custardy

EdGasket wrote: »

I thought a pedestrian always has 'right of way' on a road anyway irrespective of what traffic lights are set at. The bike should have been going at a speed where it was able to stop safely in an emergency and at a junction that should have been very slowly. I think your gf should lodge a counterclaim with the biker for her injuries/inconvenience or whatever else you can think of.

quite a jump
I don't see any mention of road layout,traffic,conditions etc
The OPs girlfriend could have been coming out from behind stopped traffic for example
So the biker has a far lesser warning.

societys_child

Originally Posted by EdGasket I thought a pedestrian always has 'right of way'

Second that.