Car Accident Involving Police

Brandy1986

Hello

I am trying to obtain a little advice as so far, the police or my insurance seem unable to help. I will do my best to keep this as short as possible.

On Monday on my way to work, i was travelling approximately 5-10MPH around a blind bend/corner when suddenly a cyclist out of the blue, came around the corner at speed, on my side of the road. He hit my car, bounced off the bonnet onto my windowscreen and hit the floor. He then then stood up, grabbed his bike and walked off. I got out of the car to go and stop him when a police offer then came around the corner. It turns out the police offer stopped him prior to the incident and the cyclist was trying to get away from the officer.

The officer told me he was in pursuit of the cyclist and arrested him on the spot for theft.

The officer marked the incident as driver not at fault and said the case was closed

As a result of this minor police pursuit, I am now left with a smashed window screen, and damage to both the bonnet and wing. Having spoke to my insurance, becuase cyclists dont have insurance, i have to pay my excess, lose my NCD and suffer as a result of an increased premium on my renewal date. Surely i dont have to lose out? Why does he cyclist walk away with nothing ( hes a drug addict and homeless )

On the scene, a police did mention it could be classed as a PVA ( police vehicle accident ) but suddenly became quiet when his superior arrived.

Can someone please advise? Can i claim on the police insurance as the accident was a result of a police pursuit )

Thanks in advance

Ms_Chocaholic

I've found this online, it relates to Yorkshire but I assume there will be similar doucments for other parts of the country. I'm not sure this covers your query as quite a long document but post back if it doesn't and I'll see what else I can find.


ETA: Unfortunately the link I provided didn't work, if you Google the following it's the fourth link down

"police pursuit" damage

Quentin

The problem you have with the cyclist is that he presumably has no means to pay for your damage, thus all you can do (apart from trying to make the police liable) is either claim off your insurance (pay your excess/lose NCD) or pay everything your self (no loss of NCD)


Whichever way you deal with this, the loss has now gone on your record which means you must disclose it when going to other insurers for quotes in the future. (Insurers ask about your losses and claims over 3/5 years)

Brandy1986

Many thanks for that, however it really only states the procedure and policies for damage on a police car and private land, but saying that, i cant see a difference between private land and a private vehicle

Brandy1986

Thanks for the reply. The claim has not yet gone through as i have told my insurance i wish to seek further advice before i claim on my insurance

Brandy1986

I just find it so frustrating that if you are a drug addict and are homeless etc, that they can cause such damage and walk away.

Surely it cant be as simple as ive hit your car, i cant pay and i have no insurance due to being a cyclist so you will have to pay?

Pincher

I drove into a piece of metal, which fell off some other car.

The insurance company had no interest in getting road traffic camera footage, because they know the Highway Agency won't bother unless someone died. A recent news item confirms this, lorry runs off after hitting a cyclist, who was an admiral or something, but he still couldn't get any footage.

So, I had to claim, and they put it down as MY FAULT, which I couldn't reverse. They wrote the car off, reduced my No claims bonus, and the other car got off Scott free.

You can sue the thief, of course, but I'll bet your insurance company won't pay for the case, even if you have Legal Assist.
They only want easy meat.

Brandy1986

It makes you wonder why we actually pay for insurance at all

Quentin

Pincher wrote: »

You can sue the thief, of course, but I'll bet your insurance company won't pay for the case, even if you have Legal Assist.
They only want easy meat.

Pointless suing someone like this. Even were you to win you are unlikely to get paid but will have had to pay all the court fees yourself.


Just good money thrown away.

Quentin

Brandy1986 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. The claim has not yet gone through as i have told my insurance i wish to seek further advice before i claim on my insurance

Nevertheless now that you have reported this it will now be on your record as a loss, and put on the shared database, hence it needs to be disclosed.

Retrogamer

I don't think you could sue a homeless person anyway as the papers would need an address to be served to.

It's the same way if you hit a homeless pedestrian who has no assets or money. You wouldn't be able to sue them either or force your insurance to claim from them.