no courtesy car/ legal cover on car insurance help!!!!

lisyloo

May I ask how on earth is the car written off

Yes, certainly. It was a very low value car.
It was 17 years old and worth about £300.
You get very little work done on a car for that money.

The windscreen was completely shattered and there is also a dent above the windsreen. This dent would have to be fixed plus the windscreen, that bill would exceed £300 by quite a lot. Also (I'm not an expert but) I believe that damage to roofs can sometimes be irrepairable. I believe the area affected is part of the integral "safety cage" of the car and may be irrepairable.
The reason that we aren't fighting for it to be repaired is that it was very much on it's last legs, otherwise we would be negotiating more with the insurance company e.g. can we pay the extra and have it back please.

the pedestrian must have been seriously injured?!

The pedestrian was injured but went home the same evening so I don't believe it was that serious.
The main reason is simply if you have a very low value car, it takes next to nothing to write it off.

old thought that "pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way".

Is this a legal fact?
So if you run out across the motorway after hiding behind a bridge into traffic going at least 70 mph then you have right of way??
Clearly motorists have a duty of care, but it is not always possibly to stop if people are (for example) trying to kill themselves.

for contributory negligence

Is this always the case?
Even in the circumstances above?

I accept your point of view and thanks for your experience.
It does make me very dissapointed if there is that much bias in the legal system that you can be held responsible for a deliberate act by someone else (not saying it was in this case but you seem to be implying that the motorist is at fault in ANY scenario even a deliberate suicide attempt by a pedestrian).

We will start to prepare them for the worst.

I don't know whether I've mentioned it but the man had 4 dogs with him and was running into the road (he trains greyhounds). Make of that what you will.

nadnad

Just a note - if the dogs were running into the road and one of them hit the car - the duty of care is with the dogs owner - and your parents would probably have a better chance of getting their money back - its a weird world - I'm not saying its right but its just the way it is - try not to worry them too much - it may come to nothing - this man may have a conscience and not claim - if so its good news all round - just play it by ear.

lisyloo

if the dogs were running into the road and one of them hit the car

No, the man hit the car and the dogs ran away (I suspect a racing greyhound can move faster than a man).
One of the dogs has not been found.

Going back to the previous point about pedestrians ALWAYS being right, I remebered a case with my sister from a few years ago.
She hit a child (clipped the wing mirror) who stepped out on a crossing.
The traffic lights were green, the pedestrian lights were red.
She was going slowly as it was heavy traffic at rush hour.
She was not prosecuted and there was not an injury claim.

Personally I don't believe the pedestrain is ALWAYS right but probably statistically MOSTLY right.

In cases where pedestrian lights are red or someone deliberately steps/runs out for a suicide attempt or negligently walks/tuns out right in front of a car I don't believe the driver is at fault.
Neither do I personally believe that it is possible to ALWAYS drive at a speed to avoid pedestrians, because I believe they can step out quicker than you can get pedal to metal (at ANY speed - even 1mph).

It will be interesting to see exactly how much the pressumption of innocence comes into play but thank you for all the warnings.

To be honest they don't have a great deal to lose even in the worst case. I just know my mother-in-law will be hell to live with :-(

Bossyboots

I know two people who have been the victims of people committing suicide on the roads. One of them was a police officer. On both occasions, the victim stood at the kerb and appeared to be waiting for the vehicle to go by. At the last minute, without any chance of doing anything about it the pedestrian ran out. One of the vehicles was a motor bike and the rider almost died as well. We also had a story running in our local paper a while back about someone who hit a car by running into the side of it and was killed. In all three cases no blame was found to lie with the drivers.

However, as I posted earlier, the burden of proof for criminal civil proceedings are different and while the police may not consider the driving to have fallen below the the standard required to the degree and offence is committed, that does not mean that the civil courts will also absolve the driver of liability. A settlement on a contributory negligence basis is often the outcome as has been mentioned.

lisyloo

Thanks. I don't know whether to mention this kind of stuff to them or not.
I'm tempted to wait and see what happens.

On the one hand I want to prepare them, on the other hand my mother-in-law will find it very difficult to cope with this kind of news and be hell to live with.

Probably best to cross that bridge when we come to it.

Bossyboots

I think I would take the line of least resistance and as you say, wait and see what happens. At least you have some info for them if you need it but I don't think you really need to worry them unnecessarily at the moment. You'll no doubt get short shrift if you tell them what you have learned and then nothing comes of it all. My mother in law would tell everyone endlessly about how I worried her needlessly in this situation.

edmundli

back to my topic, finally managed to get in contact with the other driver but it seems he has no insurance, that mean I have to claim on my own insurance and lose my no claims?

Also will helphire want the car back, now that there isnt a insurance company to claim off of? - this will cause the most problems as I drive 30miles to work.

just a thought, if I could get hold of a m8's car, can you get temp insurance for like 2weeks?

nadnad

if the other driver has no insurance you may have to claim off the MIB - who sort out problems with claims to do with no insurance or untraced drivers etc. Contact your own insurance company they should be able to advise - they may pay you and then try to recoup the loss - either way it shouldn't effect your no claims if the accident wasn't your fault. As for getting temp. insurance you can get it but sometimes costs a lot - though its worth a try - if you've been driving longer than your mate it may not cost anything to add you to the policy - my sister added her boyfriend for nothing.

MarkyMarkD

Your own insurer should allow you to add an additional (substitute?) vehicle for a couple of weeks for a very small charge.

Helphire might lose interest in the case... although they could go after the individual rather than the insurer, there is a far lower chance of success.