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Liability whilst charging Electric Car??
Sea_Shell
Posts: 10,048 Forumite
Good Morning Folks.
My random thought for the day whilst out for my morning contitutional...There's an Electric/Hybrid car in our village that's charged from their house, with a cable running across the public footpath. They have placed a rubber cable "tidy" over the cable to hopefully avoid anyone tripping over it. However if someone did, and the owner was held liable for any injury, which policy would pay/deal with the claim??
Household or Motor???
I'm thinking that the charging cable is an accessory of the vehicle, therefore it would be a claim against their Motor Insurance....but of course this would then effect their NCD.
There again, the cable is running from the house's electric supply, as would say a lawn-mower, so could there be an argument that it should be the Household insurers that deal??
If it is the Motor Ins, I can see this becoming a bigger problem, the more EV's there are on the road, with charging cables everywhere, and everyone losing their NCD as people keep tripping over them.
My random thought for the day whilst out for my morning contitutional...There's an Electric/Hybrid car in our village that's charged from their house, with a cable running across the public footpath. They have placed a rubber cable "tidy" over the cable to hopefully avoid anyone tripping over it. However if someone did, and the owner was held liable for any injury, which policy would pay/deal with the claim??
Household or Motor???
I'm thinking that the charging cable is an accessory of the vehicle, therefore it would be a claim against their Motor Insurance....but of course this would then effect their NCD.
There again, the cable is running from the house's electric supply, as would say a lawn-mower, so could there be an argument that it should be the Household insurers that deal??
If it is the Motor Ins, I can see this becoming a bigger problem, the more EV's there are on the road, with charging cables everywhere, and everyone losing their NCD as people keep tripping over them.
How's it going, AKA, Nutwatch? - 12 month spends to date = 2.60% of current retirement "pot" (as at end May 2025)
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Comments
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Motor. It’s a liability in connection with the use of the car.
Why worry about careless people losing their ncd.0 -
Car insurance policies don't really cover "any risk related to a car" and home insurance policies don't really cover "any risk related to the home" - they each cover specific risks.
If you read through a car insurance policy I don't think you'd find it mentions any relevant risks.
However, most home insurance policies cover Public Liability risk. That would include injury claims made against a home owner arising from their ownership of the home.
So the home owner could try making a claim on their home insurance on that basis. I don't know if it would succeed.0 -
Car insurance policies don't really cover "any risk related to a car" and home insurance policies don't really cover "any risk related to the home" - they each cover specific risks.
If you read through a car insurance policy I don't think you'd find it mentions any relevant risks.
However, most home insurance policies cover Public Liability risk. That would include injury claims made against a home owner arising from their ownership of the home.
So the home owner could try making a claim on their home insurance on that basis. I don't know if it would succeed.
Home insurance will exclude liability in connection with owning or using a vehicle.0 -
If personal injury claims spike because of this, then we'll all (motorists) end up paying for it, not just 'careless' car owners.
As the powers that be want to encourage EV's, then our paths will become an obstacle course of tripwires.How's it going, AKA, Nutwatch? - 12 month spends to date = 2.60% of current retirement "pot" (as at end May 2025)0 -
If personal injury claims spike because of this, then we'll all (motorists) end up paying for it, not just 'careless' car owners.
As the powers that be want to encourage EV's, then our paths will become an obstacle course of tripwires.
I know of one motor insurer that already factors this type of risk into their pricing. Hopeful most people with EVs don’t trail cables across pavements though0 -
In the future though, what proportion of properties actually have private off road parking, if we're all supposed to convert to electric (eventually).How's it going, AKA, Nutwatch? - 12 month spends to date = 2.60% of current retirement "pot" (as at end May 2025)0
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In the future though, what proportion of properties actually have private off road parking, if we're all supposed to convert to electric (eventually).
Kerbside chargers like a lot of cities have?
Charge at work, car parks etc. Still a risk of people tripping over charging cables anywhere.0 -
In the future though, what proportion of properties actually have private off road parking, if we're all supposed to convert to electric (eventually).
Wireless charging will probably be efficient enough by that point to make cables unnecessarySam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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Home insurance will exclude liability in connection with owning or using a vehicle.
House insurance usually includes the garage?This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Side note. There are millions of pounds available to councils to install on road charging in cases like this. Most people don't know about it. They could ask if the council will install a charger by the curb for them.0
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