Son's motor accident - how to settle
Programmer
Posts: 30 Forumite
in Motoring
I've just had a phone call from my 25 year old son. He was turning right on to a main road in fairly slow moving traffic. Somebody let him in but he had to nose forward slowly as visibility was impeded by a lorry. A motorcyclist hit the car and the rider came off. Police and ambulance were called. Brief facts:
* no damage to car apart from minor paint scuffing
* some damage to bike; some instruments a bit loose and handles slightly out of alignment, but rideable
* rider not seriously hurt but paramedic said he could possibly have a sprained ankle; rider was happy to continue his journey to work (on the bike)
* after speaking to a witness, policeman said no obvious offence had been committed and said police would take no further action; invited son and rider to sort it out between themselves or with insurers
* my son remembered his Dad's previous advice and did not offer any apologies or admit blame (that's my boy!
)
My son said there was no hostility and they shook hands. On the question of blame, he was unsure. He thought the rider was going too fast, considering he was approaching traffic lights. and the bike hit him, he didn't hit the bike. ...but was my son nudging forward too quickly? Hard to say.
In the post-accident conversation the rider said the damage to the bike would be £300 max (bike value £1000) and invited my son to pay the garage bill, in which case (he said) he would make no insurance claim, either for the bike or his ankle. My son invited him to let him know the cost but made no commitment. The insurers already know about this offer, by the way. The black box in my son's car registered the impact and they were on the phone immediately. The insurer's initial advice is for my son to pay the garage bill, in which case (they say) the incident will be treated as a non-event and have no impact on future premiums.
My son now wants my advice. My first thought was he should pay this garage bill and keep the whole matter out of the hands of the insurers. But I'm having second thoughts. This bike rider SAYS he will not take further action if his bike repair costs are met, but what is to stop him settling in front of the TV in the afternoon, watching an ad put out by some firm of ambulance-chasing solicitors, and immediately rushing out to buy a walking frame, neck brace, crutches and other where-there's-a-blame-there's-a-claim requisites, then phoning the 0800 number, pound signs flashing in his revolving eyeballs? And if my son pays this bill, could that be taken as an admission of responsibility is some future compensation claim?
By the way, the £300 approx would be easily affordable and not a problem.
* no damage to car apart from minor paint scuffing
* some damage to bike; some instruments a bit loose and handles slightly out of alignment, but rideable
* rider not seriously hurt but paramedic said he could possibly have a sprained ankle; rider was happy to continue his journey to work (on the bike)
* after speaking to a witness, policeman said no obvious offence had been committed and said police would take no further action; invited son and rider to sort it out between themselves or with insurers
* my son remembered his Dad's previous advice and did not offer any apologies or admit blame (that's my boy!
)My son said there was no hostility and they shook hands. On the question of blame, he was unsure. He thought the rider was going too fast, considering he was approaching traffic lights. and the bike hit him, he didn't hit the bike. ...but was my son nudging forward too quickly? Hard to say.
In the post-accident conversation the rider said the damage to the bike would be £300 max (bike value £1000) and invited my son to pay the garage bill, in which case (he said) he would make no insurance claim, either for the bike or his ankle. My son invited him to let him know the cost but made no commitment. The insurers already know about this offer, by the way. The black box in my son's car registered the impact and they were on the phone immediately. The insurer's initial advice is for my son to pay the garage bill, in which case (they say) the incident will be treated as a non-event and have no impact on future premiums.
My son now wants my advice. My first thought was he should pay this garage bill and keep the whole matter out of the hands of the insurers. But I'm having second thoughts. This bike rider SAYS he will not take further action if his bike repair costs are met, but what is to stop him settling in front of the TV in the afternoon, watching an ad put out by some firm of ambulance-chasing solicitors, and immediately rushing out to buy a walking frame, neck brace, crutches and other where-there's-a-blame-there's-a-claim requisites, then phoning the 0800 number, pound signs flashing in his revolving eyeballs? And if my son pays this bill, could that be taken as an admission of responsibility is some future compensation claim?
By the way, the £300 approx would be easily affordable and not a problem.
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Comments
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Insurance companies never treat incidents as non events.I am not a cat (But my friend is)0
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Going to fast is rarely provable.
Sounds like your son pulled into moving traffic when it was not clear to do so.
I would be wary of paying for the bike on the side when the rider has already said he was injured.
As above I would not believe the insurance Re NON EVENT.0 -
As your son was entering the road, the onus is on him to ensure his entrance is unimpeded. I suspect that your son is at fault. Keeping schtum might save him money but it could get quite messy.
The fact that the bike hit him is likely irrelevant since the bike will have had priority.0 -
The insurer's initial advice is for my son to pay the garage bill, in which case (they say) the incident will be treated as a non-event and have no impact on future premiums.
Just out of interest, which black box insurer is advising you to settle the claim directly?
How much is the excess? - if its about the same then go through the insurance as this protects you and is exactly what you have possibly paid a lot of cash for in premiums anyway.
It WILL go down as an incident against your son and likely increase future premiums regardless of which option you choose now despite what they say. The incident WILL be recorded by them on the mystical insurance 'CUE' database of everything and can be seen by all future insurers so when asked 'have you had any claims or incidents regardless of fault in the last x years?' - the truthful answer is now 'yes'
Hope this helps0 -
Which side was the biker coming from? Juts because someone "let him in" it's still your son's full responsibility to enter the road when it's clear to so and take full care and consideration when doing so.0
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Programmer wrote: »* after speaking to a witness, policeman said no obvious offence had been committed
Strange. Failure to comply with a traffic sign seems obvious.
RTA 1988 section 36.0 -
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Just out of interest, which black box insurer is advising you to settle the claim directly?
How much is the excess? - if its about the same then go through the insurance as this protects you and is exactly what you have possibly paid a lot of cash for in premiums anyway.
It WILL go down as an incident against your son and likely increase future premiums regardless of which option you choose now despite what they say. The incident WILL be recorded by them on the mystical insurance 'CUE' database of everything and can be seen by all future insurers so when asked 'have you had any claims or incidents regardless of fault in the last x years?' - the truthful answer is now 'yes'
Hope this helps
I'm pretty sure his insurer is Hastings. Not sure the excess comes into it...do you pay an excess if someone claims against you? My son will not be claiming as he has suffered no significant damage. I think the excess is £2500 -
Expect the motor bike rider to go home, think about it, claim for injury at £,£££'s, possible loss of earnings at £,£££s and the insurance company will probably write his bike off valued at £1,000.
There is no way to contain this and a claim could come months or years down the line. I'd be 99.999% certain your son wont get away with just a £300 cash payment.0 -
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