Not my fault, but I'm left with the bill

minikarter

Hi,

On January 13th I was in an accident whilst driving on my way home and an elderly pedestrian stepped out in front of me. By now the police have finished their investigation and all witnesses and the police say there's nothing I could have done to avoid the accident. A younger person would have been ok, but he died in hospital the next day. Absolutely anyone could have been driving my car at that time, and no-one would've been able to avoid it. I've been told by police "it's just one of those things".

My issue is that I've had to pay for the damage as a result, plus taking 3 days off work coming to terms with the accident and losing the use of my car and phone (whilst police invetigated) for a month. My car insurance has to pay for it, so I lose my no claims and have a 450 voluntary excess on my car, plus 250 compulsory (700 total) which I've had to pay. This was agree'd at the very beginning when I took the car insurance so I know there's no way around this..

But is there anything else I could possibly do to claim for my expenses? Any other piggybanks reserved for innocent drivers or anything? Or should I just do my best to absorb the financial loss and move on?

I don't want to be a part of the "blame" culture we sometimes find ourselves in, and I also imagine it's very difficult for the family who've lost someone. But it shouldn't have been anything to do with me in the first place, and it's not fair that by being a careful driver and going about my daily routine can still mean I have to pay out at all.

Any advice either way, especially with experience of anything like this would be extremely helpful.

rs65

If he had home insurance it would include public liability cover but I don't know how you would establish whether he had cover and who it was with.

Other than that, you would have to pursue his estate.

nidO

As the police said, it's just one of those things. You've had a pretty crap time out of it, but frankly you came out of it rather better than the other guy.

jonesMUFCforever

If you have a mind to, you could claim off the deceased's estate - but do you really want to go down that road?

Quentin

Claiming off the estate is the only route/road available!

The OP is entitled to make a claim - and deserves to be compensated if the other party is responsible for the
damage/trauma/costs etc the OP has suffered.

magpiecottage

If you can demonstrate that it is more likely than not that the gentleman was at fault (and it sounds like the Police are saying he was) then yes, you can claim against his estate.

His personal legal representatives would be able to then make a claim on the personal liability section of his home contents insurance in most cases.

minikarter

Thanks for the replies so far. Seems like the only way would be to claim against his estate, what would you do in the situation? (Directed to anyone).

I'll naturally feel bad for claiming against someone who's paid a big price for the accident anyway, but all he had to do was look before he walked. I haven't seen an official statement yet, but verbally the police have said that if it was anyone's fault, it was definitely his and there's no black mark against me at all.

Smithers37

Do you have a legal cover? Check your car insurance policy, some have a legal advice line that you could speak to, they will be able to offer the best advice.

It's tragic what happened to the elderly man, however the cost of the incident should not be your debt as you were not at fault, so don't feel guilty if you 'go down that road'.

Quentin

minikarter wrote: »

Thanks for the replies so far. Seems like the only way would be to claim against his estate, what would you do in the situation? (Directed to anyone).

I'll naturally feel bad for claiming against someone who's paid a big price for the accident anyway, but all he had to do was look before he walked. I haven't seen an official statement yet, but verbally the police have said that if it was anyone's fault, it was definitely his and there's no black mark against me at all.

No need to feel bad. Consider the situation should you have been unable to work again as a result, or died. What would your dependents/relatives have done about pursuing a claim?

AND though irrelevant, who knows how much of this was negligence by the pedestrian as opposed to a deliberate (suicidal) act?

Try to look at it as a practical/business matter and don't forget you are the totally innocent victim in all this. Much like the train driver when someone falls in front of a train.

Lit_Up

What a horrible situation to be in. It must be traumatic to have been involved in an incident which led to someone's death, even when it wasn't your fault. To then be lumbered with the dilemma of claiming against the deceased's estate is also difficult. I can't suggest anything but I extend my sympathies. I hope that it's an insurance company of some kind who pays for this and not the family or yourself.

minikarter

Thanks for all the advice, and some particularly good points. My own car insurance doesn't include legal cover, at the time, I never thought I'd need it and was more interested in saving money to get cheap car insurance! hence the large excess as well.. hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I will seek legal advice anyway as I think we have family contacts who might be able to help point me in the right direction (or any tips from here?).

The point about treating it from an impersonal business-like situation is the correct one for me. Of course I never want to add to any emotional trauma for the family, but the last thing I need right now is to pay for someone else's mistakes.