[Closed] Mrs Skip hit a child this morning in the car, can we claim off them??

Blimey! sounds like a pretty substantial child. Bit of a porker?

All of the office said the same when i got into work!! She left a right dent on the bonnet.

Blimey! sounds like a pretty substantial child. Bit of a porker?

I have concern for the future of humans as a species

Legally, I'm sure you can.

Ethically, I think you can.

Emotively, that's where [i]i now expect to get called all names under the sun for asking this[/i] might occur.

People can make a fair old dent in things, you'd be (and apparently are) surprised.

As for claiming - they would have to have insurance, wouldn't they? Unless you want to bankrupt some poor family cos their kid wasn't watching what they were doing.

And so the name calling starts.....

cheers Der

Ace OP. Ace, ace, ace. 😀
Bravo.

I'm sure there are PLENTY of companies only too willing to help you out with your claim...

thats what insurance is for,

Just think of the headlines, nurse runs over 12 year old child and then sues the childs family for damages to car.

Did the kid accept blame on the spot?

Could the bragging over facebook be used in court to prove fault?

Purely from a legal perspective I hasten to add, not sure on the moral/ethical side of things myself...

This happened to me once. The kid was visiting from abroad, and the teacher with him was trying to persuade me to drive off and not call the cops, I guess as he should have been supervising them better.

Terrifying and I sympathise with Mrs Skip, seriously worst few minutes of my life until the kid got up and kind of grinned at me.

Anyways, I was more worried they might sue me, so got a few names of witnesses. The Police were very helpful and even drove my van home cos I was so shakey.

I left the dent in the van to remind me to always pay attention when driving. Could have been so much worse.

oh and most cars are made to deform when hit by another object, if they didnt have some giove, the injured party would be more badly injured.

Molgrips, just smarts a bit on both ends thats all. We're having to payout for the work while our new "robust" 12 year old friend is hard as nails on facebook.

My mrs is now at her dads as she didn't want to be left on her own. She keeps re-playing it over and over again and then bursts into tears. Not wanting to bankrupt a family just asked if it could be done.

If there was any mileage in it, do you not think your insurance company would be pursuing it?

I would just pay to get the car fixed and be thankful nobody got hurt. Not your fault of course, but sometimes bad things happen.

Just to play devil's advocate, as I understand it:

1) The accident was not Mrs Skip's fault, it was the girl's
2) The child is thankfully unhurt
3) There is substantial damage to the car
4) A claim on Mrs Skip's insurance will doubtless cost money in increased renewal cost

Why should they not ask the family of the girl to pay for the damage to the car?

EDIT [i]I would just pay to get the car fixed and be thankful nobody got hurt.[/i]

So would I, I'm just asking the question

"It is very rare that a driver would claim against a pedestrian for vehicle damage, but there is theoretical right to do so. It would depend totally on the facts of the accident and also whether the pedestrian had the means to pay for such a claim. Often building and contents insurance might be able to pay for such claims.

Where the pedestrian is a child it would be even more rare and as a claim would have to be made against the child pedestrian direct it is very unlikely the child would have the means to meet any claim subject to being included under the parents building and contents insurance."

I think you have an obligation to sue.
If the family can't pay, you get to keep the child as a slave (or have it put down).

When I was a little younger than now I rode out in front of a car whilst on my paper round. I made a similar mess of the car which hit me and the driver successfully claimed against my employers liability insurance and I had the excess docked off my pay for a few months. I thought it was a fair cop at the time and my folks thought it taught me a valuable lesson.

Have times changed so much?

Have you asked over on mumsnet yet?

M-I-L did something similar to a 14yo coming the wrong way round a roundabout. No police,but witnesses etc there. Little scrote tried to sue HER.So why should you finish out of pocket? They would be right into you if the boot was on the other foot.Especially when she is so contrite that it is on FB.

Thread of 2012

Kids can be arseholes, but they are not the ones that foot the bill. I don't think you can make a claim dependent on whether or not they are insured, to be honest.

Would you accept a tenner to not take it any further? 🙂

Just as a matter of interest, what happens when you hit a deer that jumps out of a hedge?

Does your premium go up?

Have you asked over on mumsnet yet?

Post a link when you do, actually scratch that, we'll be able to see the mushroom clouds as thousands of angry-middle class Mums heads explode!

rightplacerighttime - Member
Just as a matter of interest, what happens when you hit a deer that jumps out of a hedge?

Does your premium go up?

Posted 31 seconds ago # Report-Post

no I-Deer

Pretty much the same thing happened to my Sister. Fortunately there was no none hurt in her situation either. The Police advised that the family involved where liable (and might be covered under their house insurance liability cover).

Obviously she was concerned for the child, but ultimately why should she be liable? That's what insurances are for right? Anyway, I think she just had a chat with the family and they paid for a new bonnet.

Having just thought about this a bit more - I'm coming round to the "isn't this exactly the sort of thing that your insurance is supposed to cover?" point of view.

Yikes. Lucky the kid was ok. In my view I'd only go as far as asking the parents face to face if they could contribute toward the damage, but I'd feel pretty embarassed about doing that.

Just sort it and thank god no one was seriously hurt or worse.

[i]no I-Deer
[/i]

Oh deer...

rightplacerighttime - Member
Just as a matter of interest, what happens when you hit a deer that jumps out of a hedge?

Does your premium go up?

Posted 31 seconds ago # Report-Post

no I-Deer

I went into the back of a car on my bike once and put the back windscreen in with my shoulder. Just as much my fault as this girl's here, by the sounds of things. I paid £100 for the replacement. I thought that was fair enough.

Kind of get the feeling that the insurance company may be looking into it.

We are glad that the girl is ok. Mrs skips said that she is just thankful that she hasn't got the death of the girl to deal with for the rest of her life.

Don't fancy a slave higgo, so may just opt to have her put down!! 😉

Count yourself lucky

take it out of their pocket money £2 a week over 6 years should cover it.

My only accident (as an adult) was riding my MTB out in front of a car - it hit my bike, I went airborne and my head hit the windscreen on the way down - I must have caused loads of damage to the Golf.
I was covered by home insurance, but the bloke never claimed against me. I think he was just relieved I was alive and ok.
(Still feel a bit guilty about it actually!)

Same payment terms as the criminals get then!

It's a tough one but why should you be out of pocket when it' not your fault!
I suggest a polite approach to the family and if that fails a claim through your insurance company, failing that a County Court Judgement via the on-line 'my money' service which only costs £50 if you loose...simples!
I think people (and children) should take responsibility for their actions the poor driver is always being made to pay.

Holds breath!

a small kid (12ish?)on one of them wee scooter things stepped out in front of me on my cycle home last year i missed him and hit his scooter broke my ankle and my heel was housebound for 6 weeks and off work for 9 (my boss was furious- but i did get to spend all the time with my 6month old son!))

i suppose i could have tried to sue the kid, but quite frankly i was just glad he was ok and that i didnt need surgery, pins plates etc

id have a word with her parents about damage to the car, trauma to your missus, her attitude on facebook etc if they want to offer you some cash far enough, if not take the hit and be thankful its only a dented bonnet

there's a family of pheasants still paying through the beak for my cracked windscreen !

why cant the childs family be sorry for their child causing damage to the car and cough up, at least a little bit 😕

I ran a little lad over some years ago. Little Asian boy, about 6 or 7 in Birmingham. I was devastated. Thankfully he was ok, just badly shaken. Poor little mite. It was like slow motion as he ran out between two cars, but I just couldnt do anything. Managed to swerve so the wing & mirror took most of it. Small as he was he took the wing mirror off the car. I didnt go after him for compensation. I'd have gladly bought a hundred new wing mirrors just to know he was ok. Its a child, & children do daft things.

I think I'd just be glad this girl was ok.

Bit different if its some vindictive scrote with a football, or riding one of these mini motorbikes, but its what a protected bonus is for I suppose.

Think people are jumping off the depend in regards to claiming on this. Skiprat and his missus have to pay for repairs that were caused by someone else, why should they?

If they were to claim for whiplash or emotional distress (although I imagine it was very distressing!) on top then I can see why people would have a problem.

As it is, it was the girl's fault. Worth a claim IMO, I certainly couldn't afford a few hundred (?) quids worth of repair if it happened to me.

Things could of been a lot worse and no i wouldn't of even thought about this had it been a young child or an accident that was mrs skips fault......

....but when your 12, you kind of know not to run into the road when cars are moving. Fingers crossed my mrs gets over it soon.

Um.. are you not supposed to drive in such a way as to stop in time should anyone step into the road. You might think it is unfair but that is the way it works.If it went to court the driver would be held to be at least partially liable.

Happened to me when I was a kid (getting hit, my fault, fractured wrist, nothing terrible). My parents never even questioned who should pay, it was obviously my (and therefor, their) fault and liability. They payed up without needing to be asked.

The real question here is not who is liable, but rather is there any likelihood of the family of the child seeing it the same way and doing the right thing.

imnotverygood - Member
Um.. are you not supposed to drive in such a way as to stop in time should anyone step into the road. You might think it is unfair but that is the way it works.If it went to court the driver would be held to be at least partially liable.

Any evidence for that?

would you be asking if the girl was dead/seriously injured ?

[i]Um.. are you not supposed to drive in such a way as to stop in time should anyone step into the road. You might think it is unfair but that is the way it works.[/i]

You can't anticipate that everyone may jump in front of your car, otherwise you'd never move

[i]If it went to court the driver would be held to be at least partially liable. [/i]

Not necessarily, in fact in this case (with the limited facts at hand) probably not.

So you take the parents to court, and if you loose you will have a large legal bill to pay, as well as the kids parents may not have suitable cover for accidents involving their kids, or non at all.

It must have been a real shock for your poor wife, and i wish her the best in her recovery, which will be traumatic, as she relives the event.

[i]would you be asking if the girl was dead/seriously injured ?[/i]

Well, she's not, she's demonstrably fine, so what's your point?

"isn't this exactly the sort of thing that your insurance is supposed to cover?"

That would be fine if insurance companies took a "sometimes sh!t just *does* happen view", but instead if you can't point the finger at someone else, it has to be your own fault, and not only does it cost you your excess, it affects your No Claims Bonus, and will end up costing you every time you renew for the next 3 years, even though it *wasn't* your fault in the first place.

Of course, if it was a dog, them obviously NOT the owners fault, they've got a mind of their own... 😉

I think you should at least ask for a contribution, if not the full amount.
If you were the person doing the suing in this case, i would be saying something completely different! ~ [url= http://www.****/news/article-2079940/Dead-man-killed-tragic-train-collision-CAN-sued-woman-injured-flying-body-parts.html ]WTF![/url]

Um.. are you not supposed to drive in such a way as to stop in time should anyone step into the road. You might think it is unfair but that is the way it works.If it went to court the driver would be held to be at least partially liable.

The test is whether the accused's driving falls below the standard expected of a reasonable, prudent and competent driver in all the circumstances of the case. Of course, the speed and manner of the driving should take into account the children on the pavement, but you can't crawl past every pedestrian at 1 mph. The OP stated that the police spoke to witnesses and were satisfied that his wife's driving was acceptable, or words to that effect.

Well, she's not, she's demonstrably fine, so what's your point?

why not ? the damage to the car would be the same, there would still be a claim and damage to pay for. You could hand them the invoice at the funeral.

So you take the parents to court,

he collective singletrack mind last year

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/anybody-sued-a-pedestrian

Move on and forget about it.

[i]why not ? the damage to the car would be the same, there would still be a claim and damage to pay for[/i]

Okay, I think you know you're stretching the point.

My SO had the exact same thing happen in May last year, with £1,350 worth of damage to her car - after a few months of questioning, even though the 13 year old Girl had said it was her fault and she had just walked out into the road without looking, there was no-where we could go with a claim, only to the girls parents with the bill for our excess, as we guessed that wouldn't go anywhere, we left it alone - still does nothing for the other halfs confidence. It has also affected her passenger seat driving skills too, she now jumps at anything.
Sorry to say but I certainly think your SO will remember this for a while, definately longr than the kid will....!!!

a similar thing happened to me a couple of year ago; Driving in slow moving traffic (about 5mph) and this kid came flying out of a side road on his bike and few straight over my bonnet. Naturally I got out, asked the kid if he was ok, naturally threw him in the hedge and drove off with his bike.

If it was an adult, you might get somewhere, but with a child? No chance.

[i]Okay, I think you know you're stretching the point.[/i]

so where's the cut off point ?, bit of bruising or a broken leg is ok, sue away. Brain damage errr maybe, life support and death beyond the pale ?

What sort of insurance have you got? If you have a decent level of cover they may help/do this for you. In any event I wouldn't be suprised if they go after the parents insurance company to recover their losses.

I assume all the correct reporting has been done to the police?

Personally I'd deal with it through the insurance company rather than going direct.

[i]so where's the cut off point ?, bit of bruising or a broken leg is ok, sue away. Brain damage errr maybe, life support and death beyond the pale ? [/i]

It would depend on the circumstances, wouldn't it? In this case, the child is fine. If there were more serious injuries then I'm sure that the OP would be making a different decision. It's a judgement call, and one into which he's asking for some input.

Jonba, shes fully comp and from what she said on the phone to them, i get the feeling they will be after them for anything they can get.

My mrs called for the police and ambulance and after a 5-10 second "what the f#*k just happened" moment went into nurse mode and treated the girl. Just got to go to the police station tomorrow and produce her paperwork.

It just boils my piss that a girl of 12 (not 5,6 or 7) will just run into the road through some parked cars into a road full of moving cars. She has changed my wifes life, (and yes it could of been worse) but her mum and dad said it was only a matter of time before it happened to her.

Thanks for not teaching your kid the green cross code!!

And i'm not even going to answer what i'd be doing if the child had died.

Its just with her mum saying about her being on Facebook about it all afternoon, just hacks me off.

Ta

You have a moral obligation to get your danages paid for.
Just why should that child and by implication their parent get away with it when you are out of pocket.
I don't suppose by any chance you are a CTC member or anything? Just to help. Please do it and hopefully set a precedent.

How is the child supposed to pay?

Filtering some traffic on my motorbike, kid runs out between two large vans. He spots me and we both slowed almost to the point of stopping but we made contact and he ended up sitting in the road in front of me.

Mum appears, pulls the kid up off the road by his shirt collar and wallops him really hard, much harder than the collision with me. She then asks if I am ok, closely followed by crossing the road towing said child with her...

Remarkable...

TJ, the child's [s]owner[/s] parents are liable, surely?

It just boils my piss that a girl of 12 (not 5,6 or 7) will just run into the road through some parked cars into a road full of moving cars.

If you're saying that she's responsible for her own actions, then why should her parents pay?

FWIW I understand why you're angry, but I think in this case "can" is not the same as "should".

I reckon that as long as your Mrs is absolutely positive that she drove with absolutely all due care and attention given the conditions (traffic/parked cars/large groups of kids walking along the pavement or whatever) and it couldn't be bent or twisted, then try suing for costs/small claims against parents/guardian.
Not having a dig like, but 'they' might.

[b]NB [/b]take screen shots/ print outs of Facebook details [b][u]now[/u][/b] .. posts on facebook can always be removed.

Maybe just do a tester letter to begin with; a lot of folks have personal injury/accident/legal assitance on their contents insurances nowadays; EDIT - I do for precisely this kind of thing but on-bike

if the OP's partner's insurance choose to, they will attempt to recover their expenses from the family. just let them do what they do. the OP apparently is not at fault, and ( practically speaking ) we know that insurance companies will always load you after an accident, even if it is 'no fault', but i'm afraid that just seems to be life.
so, as above, let your insurance deal with it how they see fit, but i'd strongly fight any attempt by them to recover any money from you at all - excess or no.

skiprat - Member
...but her mum and dad said it was only a matter of time before it happened to her.

It just boils my piss that a girl of [b]12[/b] (not 5,6 or 7) will just run into the road through some parked cars into a road full of moving cars. for not teaching your kid the green cross code!!

Its just with her mum saying about her being on Facebook about it all afternoon, just hacks me off.

[url=

order to be eligible to sign up for Facebook, people must be thirteen (13) years of age or older.[/url]

You could always get her banned 😈

Not read all that, obviously, but back to the OP's Q....

Many moons ago I went through the back window of a stationary car while cycling (front mech problem.... looking down.... looking down.... through rear window of car.... sh!t that hurts....). Clearly my fault, parents house insurance covered it no issues - most policies have a 3rd party cover included for just this kind of thing.

offer to send the child on holiday then route it to an iphone factory till its earned enough to pay for the damage