Accident with a pedestrian

mikeyranson

I had an accident today where a jogger ran into the side of my car. Damage to my car is minimal with damaged paint along the wings and door pillar and a broken wing mirror where she collided with me.
Without going into much detail, a bus was in the right hand lane make a right turn correctly. I was in the left hand lane going straight on correctly. Both myself and the bus had a green light. The pedestrian crossing at this point had the red man indicating to pedestrians not to cross.
Just as i came alongside the front near side corner of the bus, two joggers suddenly appeared with one of them bouncing of my car. She landed on floor, i stopped immediately and went to her aid.

The police arrived doing all their thing, everything checking out good with all witnesses blaming the jogger for the incident, as well as my own dash cam showing the full incident very clearly.
The police advised me to contact my insurance which i have and they have declined to get involved with a non vehicle accident. I have fully comp cover, legal expenses and everything else that goes with it to cover my backside.
I have the girls address so what is my best move? I'd like to contact her and offer her the chance to pay for my damage between myself and her privately.

What if she refuses to pay for damage?
What if she agrees, then i get the work done then she refuses?

What would be my next move? Solicitor, small claims?
She has a suspected broken shoulder which has only come out of plaster in the last three weeks from a previous accident.
She has admitted to the police that it is all her fault and not mine, so hoping that she will go along with my claim for my damage. She seems a decent enough lady.

Advice appreciated

Aretnap

mikeyranson wrote: »

The police advised me to contact my insurance which i have and they have declined to get involved with a non vehicle accident. I have fully comp cover, legal expenses and everything else that goes with it to cover my backside.

That doesn't make much sense - if you have comprehensive insurance it should cover accidental damage to your car, however it is caused. The only exception would be if the cost of repairing the damage was clearly going to be less than your excess (which may actually be the case if it's a matter of some scratched paint and a cracked mirror).


Or do you mean that they'll pay for the damage, but won't then attempt to pursue a pedestrian for their outlay?

bertiewhite

Aretnap wrote: »

That doesn't make much sense - if you have comprehensive insurance it should cover accidental damage to your car, however it is caused.

The "that's what insurance is for" subject has been discussed on here before. Why should the OP claim on their insurance and be rewarded with a premium hike when another party is clearly at fault?

Aretnap

bertiewhite wrote: »

The "that's what insurance is for" subject has been discussed on here before. Why should the OP claim on their insurance and be rewarded with a premium hike when another party is clearly at fault?

The OP said that his insurers refused to get involved - I just pointed out that this doesn't sound right. Whether he actually wants to make a claim is a different matter.

sal_III

If you have a police report and dash cam footage and witnesses, it should be relatively straight forward to get some money using MCOL, the jogger refuses to settle it privately.

Whether it's worth pursuing even with the relatively small fee for MCOL is up to you.

mikeyranson

Thanks for all your replies. I should have made this clearer. I could have gone through my insurance which would have cost me £500 excess. The repairs i estimate to be around a £1000. That leaves me financially out of pocket due to another persons wrongful actions. It frustrates me that even though i am 100% not at fault, it is still my cash to put things right. So idealy, hopingthe lady would be offereing her support. Just looking at options if she wont.
Even with fully comp and all the extras to cover myself, then i am not covered. This also includes some of those dangerous careless cyclists on the road. Living in london, your surronded by thema nd when millions have been spent on cycle lanes, the !!!!!!s still dont use them and ride without any form of lighting at night. Your always on alert even more when there is no chance of a claim against a pedestrian or cyclist. Motorists suffer again.

MCOL would have been my next option if she refuses.

davidwatts

I suppose you could contact her and tell her how much you feel she owes you for the repair of the damage. Her options at that point would be to comply (accepting she is at fault), decline (having thought better of the matter after the immediate shock of the accident) or, assuming she has the cover, contact her Contents Insurers and notify them that a personal liability claim is being made against her. That would be the correct thing for her to do in the circumstances (though she should also not have admitted to it being her fault in the first place, as that may cause her some difficulty with her insurer).

Best outcome for you is she is genuinely contrite, reasonably affluent and has no wish to involve her insurers!

sal_III

mikeyranson wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies. I should have made this clearer. I could have gone through my insurance which would have cost me £500 excess. The repairs i estimate to be around a £1000. That leaves me financially out of pocket due to another persons wrongful actions. It frustrates me that even though i am 100% not at fault, it is still my cash to put things right. So idealy, hopingthe lady would be offereing her support. Just looking at options if she wont.
Even with fully comp and all the extras to cover myself, then i am not covered. This also includes some of those dangerous careless cyclists on the road. Living in london, your surronded by thema nd when millions have been spent on cycle lanes, the !!!!!!s still dont use them and ride without any form of lighting at night. Your always on alert even more when there is no chance of a claim against a pedestrian or cyclist. Motorists suffer again.

MCOL would have been my next option if she refuses.

Such is life, sometimes you have to pay for accidents that weren't your own fault.

Just be reasonable with the demands both in your initial conversation and in potential MCOL claim. £1000 seems excessive for a broken mirror and some scratches (obviously we can't be sure without pictures etc.) unless it's a newish car. The more reasonable the demand the higher the chance of settling outside of court.

Just get some actual quotes in place as "ammo" in your discussion with the guilty party.

Penelopa.Pitstop

If it's car with folding and heated mirrors it can be quite expensive to fix/replace them. And if you add other damage, £1000 is not that much.

Ganga

Getting £1000 from a pedestrian will be fun,dont hold your breath waiting for the money even if everything points to her being at fault.

mikeyranson

Thanks again all. It is a folding mirror, the paintwork maybe the most expensive work to be done , i dont know. A claim on my policy increases my prenmiums.
I will give her a week to settle down and send her a letter and then contact her further in the new year.