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

We're having to payout for the work while our new "robust" 12 year old friend is hard as nails on facebook.

I think you'll find that's what kids do to "cope".

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

I don't know what she's posting but I'm sure it's more [i]"OMG I got hit by a car, look at my bruises"[/i] than [i]"I totally wrecked this car when I ran into the road, LOL"[/i].

I have concern for the future of humans as a species

Amazing foresight to summarise this thread so succinctly so few posts in... 😉

Edit: although not sure whether you were referring to attitudes of posters or kids running into the road now.

If it were an adult I'd be all for going for this as we should be responsible for our actions, but as it's a child and children make mistakes and parents can't reasonably be expected to control them at all times, I think I'd chalk this up to luck and insurance. (In reality I'd buy a new bonnet and grilles from a scrappy and fit them myself).

This is what you have fully comp insurance for. Just be glad the kids friends/family don't claim she ran out and the driver was speeding and couldn't stop.

You could always get her banned

In all seriousness OP, to help your wife with her inevitable feelings, you need to point out to her somewhat robustly that it was actually only her good and observant driving that saved this child's life.

be careful.. do nothing and the child in 2 years 11 months sues you for injuries.. you must be to blame because you didnt claim off her.. so get down the accidents are us folk and get em to put a claim in seems your mrs is emotionally traumatised as well as a bent bumper..sue em before they sue you..

I failed my first bike test because I was riding at 26/27 in a 30 zone in an absolute downpour on a friday aft at 1530, pavements were full of kids. Apparantly my speed/lack of could have beckoned a child to try cross in front. You can't win.

Cheers v8ninety, will do. I'll see what she's like when i get in.

If it was my kid I would be offering to at least stump some of the cost if not all through my insurance, then making a point of it through reduced pocketmoney etc to drive the point home to my child so they actually learn from the situation.

I had a situation last summer when my 4 year old opended the car door in excitement in the car park of a local farm. The wind caught the door and blew it into the one parked next to us.
I left a note for the owners then managed to speak to them before they left and footed the bill for the repair costs.
Kids can be nobs. I wouldn't expect other to pay for their learning mistakes though, thats part of being a parent.

Gravitysucks that is a pet hate. You are my new hero and have given me a fraction of hope for the future of the human race

Has anyone questioned the grammar of the title yet?

I assume you mean ran a child over whilst driving the car rather than used physical violence against a child within the car?

I feel this is important.

Your quandary is that it's arguably "not her fault" but the kid obviously isn't an insured driver. You feel that you shouldn't be inconvenienced, but suing the family seems wrong.

Typically, if you've been in a non-fault accident and there's no third party insurance, it should be covered by the Motor Insurers' Bureau; certainly that's the case with other drivers, though whether that extends to other road 'users' or not I don't know.

Your problem really is getting the insurance to agree that it's not her fault. I reckon you'd be looking at a 50/50 blame from an insurance PoV.

They get rid of tags and then this thread comes along...

Seriously, hope your Mrs gets her head around it soon.

See how much your wife's car would cost to fix if you were paying, rather than an Insurance co. (not sure how old/broke/scratched it was already).

And then approach the girls' parents with the cost.

And if the Insurance co. hasn't paid out, they don't care.

At the risk of a ban may I suggest Mrs Skip was not being observant enough, was poorly placed on the road and travelling to fast for the visibility.

At the risk of a ban may I suggest Mrs Skip was not being observant enough, was poorly placed on the road and travelling to fast for the visibility.

Possibly. Although the witnesses who were actually there seem to disagree with you.

Edukator - Member

At the risk of a ban may I suggest Mrs Skip was not being observant enough, was poorly placed on the road and travelling to fast for the visibility.

Yup, I spend my time driving doing just that, Bigyinn. Try it.

You have insurance. The insurance company ought to be looking to claim on the kid's parents' home insurance for 3rd party liability.

If you just give them as much info and jogging as will be helpful, leave it to them and your conscience is clear.

Playing devil's advocate, you should always be able to stop in the distance you can see. This seemingly wasn't the case.

Whether it is or it isn't is kinda by the by; but I reckon this is why you'll be lucky to get much other than a 50/50 decision.

A colleage of mine had this same scenario, but sadly the child died. My colleague needed counselling for a considerable period, and it affected him long-term in ways I'll not go into here.

But that [b]didn't[/b] happen here. The OP's wife didn't kill anyone, and the kid's fine. She needs to focus on the good news - everyone's OK - and not the might-have-been scenarios.

Moving now onto the purely practical, the kid's parents will probably have 3rd party liability cover under their household policy. You're going to have to inform your insurance company of the incident, and, if you have fully-comp cover, make a claim. If they then choose to pursue the parents, that's their concern.

As for the comments that it was the driver's fault (it must have been, she was there, speed kills etc etc): I completely disagree. Firstly, unless you were you can never know, so to pass judgement is simply ill-informed pontification. Secondly, you cannot predict who will run out in front of you. A good driver will anticipate, be travelling slowly, and will be ready to brake - HARD - if necessary. That will cater for perhaps 98% of situations, but it won't cover everything. For those 2% remaining, you'd hope to be able to swerve or take other avoiding action, but there's no way to mitigate your risk 100% other than to park the car and never move.

Two things, at somepoint her parents WILL instruct personal claim Jackals.

Second thing, your missus is a hot Nurse? 8)

If she'd have been going faster this thread wouldn't exist

EDIT and what nickf said. What speed should I drive at when 2 vans are parked back to back and there are kids running up and down the kerb?

Yes, Cougar, except on a single track road when you need to be able to stop in half the distance you can see.

Not wishing to fan the flames but something not dissimilar happened to a mate of mine (kids on bikes came round the corner and ran in to his car). I believe he claimed off the parents household insurance or something. But that was in a nice middle class area, and the damage was to an M3 ...

GaryLake

I don't know what she's posting but I'm sure it's more "OMG I got hit by a car, look at my bruises" than "I totally wrecked this car when I ran into the road, LOL".

Phew, as long as you're sure.

Cougar

Playing devil's advocate, you should always be able to stop in the distance you can see. This seemingly wasn't the case.

If the kid ran out between cars the driver could have been doing 5mph and still hit her.

Playing devil's advocate, you should always be able to stop in the distance you can see. This seemingly wasn't the case.

Not particualy accurate, you must be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear and remain on your side of the carriageway. You make allowances for things you can see, can't see and can reasonably expect to occur. In this case it seems likely the op's wife could stop in the distance she could see to be clear but struck an object (child) which suddely veered into her path from the pavement and she could not have reasonably expected this to happen, hence the police not summonsing her.

If it was my kid I'd be offering to pay the costs, that is providing I had been approached by the individual rather than receiving a threatening letter from insurers or solicitors. Once the profiteers are in all bets are off.

Hopefully there will be 30kmh/20mph limits in urban areas with parked cars beofre long. 30mph is the maximum speed allowed and often too fast. The 5mph case is interesting if you consider when you see a child coming out between cars. Given thinking distance and stopping distance at 5mph the child would probably hit a stationary car.

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

You are a very, very, very, very bad man!! 😆

If it were an adult I'd be all for going for this as we should be responsible for our actions, but as it's a child and children make mistakes and parents can't reasonably be expected to control them at all times

Same with a dog though, you're meant to be able to keep them under control but it dosen't always happen! If the person here had their car damaged by a dog not a child they'd be quite within their rights to recover the cost of the damage from the dog owner.

So what we've learnt from this is that children are no different to dogs and they should be both be insured incase of an event like this occuring 😆

you always play out every possible risk scenario when you see potential hazards on the road

Umm, yes, I do this too.. somewhat alarmed that some people think this is overkill to be honest.

I only read a few replies in the first page, so please ignore me if I'm repeating what others have said by now.

My daughter at about 12 years old went over the bonnet of a car whilst on he bike, they were driving out of an entrance and then tried to sue us for the damages, long and short of it was our home insurance took care of it, of course it took us a while to realise that we were covered by this. It was a worrying time as we had no money totally brassick, of course their insurance company were hassling us like crazy and we were quite worried. In the end we only rang the insurance as we had the legal cover and then they were the ones who told us we were covered. In the end the other party were found to be to blame, they were coming out onto the main road at the time and it was all sorted out.

What I'm trying to say is that your insurance company "will" try and recover their money and will give the family of the 12 year old grief.

Phew, as long as you're sure.

No, you're right, I apologise for not fanning the flames of a good old lynching of a 12 year old girl... 🙄

Edit...

[b]mum says[/b] shes fine and is bragging about it all over facebook.

So no one knows first hand what she's said on facebook and what constitutes as bragging. We get from 2nd hand to quote from mother to "make sure you screen grab her facebook account" and "how dare she" in less than a page.

I was in a similar situation about 18 months ago. Driving home from work, teenage kid runs into the road. He actually hit the front wing of my car and then goes into the windscreen. He fortunately got straight up although had a cut on his face. I helped him up and a crowd gathers, meanwhile I am feeling really shocked.

After 5 minutes or so his dad turns up, and starts throwing accusations and trying to get me to admit to driving too fast when I wasn't, and several witnesses were backing me up. I guess he was upset!

The police later tell me that he's going to make a claim and to get all my witness statements together, and about 3 months later, just when I'd stopped thinking about it non-stop, I received a letter from their claims company.

Thankfully my insurance company were very good and said they would fight my corner rather than just settle it out of court. The kid's claims company didn't take it any further, basically because they didn't do a very good job of making it look like my fault. So I was pretty lucky I think.

Get your witness statements in order now. If I hadn't done this right away, by the time I'd received the letter my evidence would have been far from water tight.

As for the damage to my car, I only needed a new windscreen which was about £150. The wing was also dented which I didn't bother fixing.

Frankly I was so shaken, and thankful not to have killed the guy despite the fact he was trying to sue me, I didn't even consider claiming off them. I guess if the damage was worse I might feel differently. I think in your case the parents ought to contribute something to your costs.

It has definitely made me look at how I drive, not that I was at fault in this case or reckless any other time, but who can honestly say they don't sometimes take risks?

Personally I'd only be claiming from the child (her family / their insurers) if I thought she had "done it intentionally" i.e. she was playing chicken and it went wrong. If it was a genuine "accident" caused by lack of observation then I think it would be one of those, "well at least nobody died" moments, and let your insurers deal with it (who may choose to pursue, but probably won't bother).

Every possible risk scenario is overkill, surely. That would have to include some fairly unlikely scenarios, such as helicopter crashes or spinning penguins that were on fire. Someone walking out from behind a row of parked cars isn't [i]that[/i] unlikely. However, since the police visited the scene and accepted that she wasn't to blame we should all concur with that.

I'm not entirely sure what I'd do tbh. One option would be to phone the parents to let them know you're going to have to report it to your insurers. Their response will show you whether they are reasonable people. That could go well, or not 😉 Or you could just leave it with your insurance company to see what they do. Can't see that it'd make much odds.

To te OP (sorry don't have time to read all the posts as I'm going out).

My experience when a 16 year old walked out in front of me from between a parked car and a van - lunchtime on an industrial estate and witnessed by her Mother (they worked at the same place) and everyone, including the girls Mother, said I wasn't speeding and that I had no chance of avoiding her and it was entirely her fault. She had a broken collar bone and ankle and my car had minor damage.

Two weeks later I had a visit from my insurers. The Mother was now claiming I was speeding, had accelerated and made no attempt to avoid her Daughter. To cut a long story short, the insurers had set aside a 5 figure payout and my insurance went up by £700 the next year. To say I was disgusted was an understatement.

Get yourself some proper legal advice.

Gary Lake - you are correct with the former.

National Accident Helpline ad up there ^^^ for me. Hilarious....

If it was my kid and I was absolutely sure of events, I'd offer to cough up regardless of how little or how much they got hurt.

If I wasn't sure of events I'd talk to the other party to work something out.

If it was the drivers fault I'd deal with it through the courts.

If I was a scumbag I'd probably change my mind and contact the personal injury parasites. If I was you OP I'd be building my defences against this. All other posters who have been challenged have been a short while after the event when the perps have seen the ads and talked to their mates who've succesfully had a new telly via the personal injury route.

Virtually the same thing happened to my wifes sister and she ended up having to pay compensation to the kid who stepped straight out in front of her and admitted liability initially , you may be better letting things be .

I think I'm like a few people that haven't gone through the full post.

However, I'd take legal advice ASAP. I believe there is precedent in Law for cases where drivers have taken claims against pedestrian's for coming out between cars without due care and attention.

Given the current claims culture in this country. I'd take an protective stance now. Those no win no fee lawyers are the reason everyone's insurance is going through the roof (and Yes, I've got access to some of the stats)

LoL. Love the ambulance chaser advert from the National Accident Helpline on STW. They make estate agent's look like caring people!!!!

Sweet Jesus I thought I'd heard it all!

I'm a former insurance claims manager, although a bit rusty now!

Yes, you can make a claim against the kid if you can prove that the damage to your car was caused by their negligence. Would be covered by their household insurance [i]if they have any[/i]. I've seen it done successfully - but very, very rarely, and only where the witnesses are rock solid behind your wife.

The kid can also claim off you for any damage your wife did to them caused by her negligence. While he may be 12 and should have known better, his argument would go along the lines that he was only 12 and your wife should have seen him among the cars (unless he is very short!) and been aware of the potential hazard and been driving appropriately. You may think this sucks, but I've seen it happen - a lot.

You can each be held partially responsible, and pay a proportion of each others claim. My advice would be to consider very carefully which of you (and any insurers and No Claims) is likely to come off worst!

I've not read the thread fully but you need to report this to your insurers asap, and presumably the Police will have all the details and witnesses.

Skiprat - I'm glad that the girl and your wife are o.k.
A similar thing happened to me many years ago, however the 15year old I hit was on his bike with his 10 year old brother riding on the handlebars.
Their father wanted to sue me. When the police were involved the older lad confessed to jumping off the pavement into me.
I was shaken up for a few days.

Now it's 'First4Lawyers' ->

Apparently someone called Andrew Castle fronts their campaign. I wonder if he sleeps easily at night.

Turns out he's a retired tennis professional and now TV Presenter who was on GMTV - so he'll fit right in with the demographic his employers are targeting. Scum.

Same thing happend the Mrs V last year.

Toyota now has a big dent in the wing, kid is OK, the Mrs is OK. I'll get it straightened out in due course at my cost.

I don't think it's right to be claiming for everything that happens in life IMHO.

It's only a bit of tin after all.

im glad the girl is ok, i hope your wife gets over the shock which can be substantial and long lasting.
however i think your sick in the head for even contemplating suing a child for getting run over.
what is wrong with you? what kind of a world do you want to live in?

He's not talking about sueing a child, he's asking about claiming losses back from the child's parents. Difficult situation and not one anyone would wish to find themselves in - hope it works out ok for you, and wifey is ok

As mentioned, any claim could prompt a reaction/counter-claim. I doubt the parents can claim against you though if she only had minor bruises.

Thing is, if you tell your Insurer, I bet some snivelling little rat in there is paid to pass on the other parties contact details to Jackals.

Me a ****ing cynic?

Interesting how many have had similar experience.

Actually I think this is likely to happen a lot more frequently in coming years as I have noticed that many people seem unable to cross the road safely these days.

Frankly, cycling the kids to school every morning has become an obstacle course at one junction where our path crosses the path taken by kids going to the local secondary school. Essentially they nearly all seem to step off the pavement into the road without looking and we frequently have to change course/stop to avoid them.

Bloody lemmings.

I'm too lazy to read 4 pages, so apologies if this has been covered....
There was a motorcyclist (near Bristol if I recall) who was overtaking another vehicle. A couple of kids were playing chicken and one ran from infront of the vehicle into the path of the overtaking motorbike. I think the child was killed and the rider injured and bike written off. I believe the biker successfully claimed against the child's family. This is from memory and I can't find the article, but it's out there I'm sure!
Try Pistonheads' Speed Plod and the Law forum.

edit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/6215351.stm

I remember that. I can also remember distinctly feeling very uneasy about it. Saying that I felt for the rider as I think he was self-employed and needed dexterity etc for his job etc as well. Awful situation al-round but can you imagine being the parents?

Heres one link http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=339475&f=141&h=0

I think we all need to have a think about this sobering message.

Do the Govt still bother trying to educate children about anything as basic as road safety? Or is it too expensive these days?

Interesting that back when this was made the footage of Willy Weasle actually being hit by the car was obviously thought of as far too scary for kids!

This is the reason nearly all byuses busess and coaches andf now trains and trams are fitted wioth recording cctv, too prove negligence by whatever party, hopefuly it wil be coming to cars sooner rather than latter, and should reduce insurance costs,as well as reducing bad and aggressive driving.

NOT THAT ANYONE IS SUGGESTING BAD OR AGGRESSIVE DRIVING IN THIS CASE.

project I can see why its a great thing. The issue is what if you are a dogger and/or like having sex on your bonnet in nature spots? 😯

Get an old Capri.

You sell the vid then, and get some cash to pay the insurance, but then you would need buisness use on the insurance.

Ps never thought of that.

How is the child supposed to pay?

How is a dog supposed to pay when it causes damage, TJ?

First off - you said you had fully comp cover - then all you should be dealing with is your insurance company. You will likely have to fork our for the excess but that is it.

The insurance company themselves will try and recover thier costs from the family - you so not & SHOULD not get involved. It is not your job too and you can make a situation worst.

It has been mentioned a few times in this thread about the ads popping up on the side for companies like NAH. If you chose NOT to go through an insurance company and forget about it - then what would you do and what backup would you have if they suddnely came knocking on your door seeking compaensation from the girl's family and the story of the accident becomes twisted?

You have insurance, your wife had an accident - let it be done properly and be thankful that no serious personal damage or loss of life occured.

I ran someone over once when I was riding to work.

A blind man.

😳

i ran over the lady employed to escort the kids to walk safely to school 😳

It was her fault though perhaps she wil teach the kids to look as well as listen as a bike behingd you is silent

[i]Do the Govt still bother trying to educate children about anything as basic as road safety?[/i]

I'm still waiting for Dave C to come round and teach my kid how to cross the road.

Once he has taught george to do it you ar enext on his list Dez

The government have stopped teaching kids how to cross the road - age of austerity, reducing child benefit costs ......

Do the Govt still bother trying to educate children about anything as basic as road safety?

Eh Government? What about the parents???

Since when were children the parents resposibility, really?

Just a quick update, girl is fine with only a couple of cuts and grazes to show for it all. Mum and dad had spent all afternoon questioning her. She has told them that she looked one way and saw traffic stood still, and then looked the direction my wife was coming from. As she couldn't see her thanks to the 2 parked people carriers and the other parked cars, she thought it was clear and went for it. This was from the front door of her house.

For the people that say my wife should of stopped and that its her fault for the accident, lets see if you can stop when something comes from you at right angles between 2 parked cars that you can't see. Do you slow down to a crawl past every parked car? There is no way that you can see this happening. If there was, nobody would ever have a crash!! Just not going to happen...sorry your ideal world just doesn't exist.

Went out tonight with mrs driving and driving at night passed parked cars freaks her out. Shes kept re-living the incident today and i can see this taking sometime to get over.

however i think your sick in the head for even contemplating suing a child for getting run over.
what is wrong with you? what kind of a world do you want to live in?

Lastly, can i just clear up what i originally meant. I am not looking to claim against the kid or her mum and dad. I am not wanting to take 50p per week off her for the next 15 years!!! I was asking from the view of will the insurance company be after them for the excess. I'm not going to be chasing them, that will be down to the insurance company.

Yesterday was just a shitty day thinking that:-

my mrs had to go through all of this,
we have to pay the excess as it goes down as a fault against her,
our premiums will go up thanks to the girl not taking time to cross the road.

Fingers crossed the mrs gets though it quick and that it all ends well.

Fingers crossed the mrs gets though it quick and that it all ends well.

The main thing is the child is fine. Mrs skip will need to keep driving even though it is probably freaking her out.
To those who are wringing their hands saying how can you even consider trying to get some money out of them. WHY the hell should you be out of pocket.
In my current situation I cant afford to pay for repairs out of my own pocket, so why should i get put in the shit because of someone elses mistake? If it was my son that caused the incident, we'd certainly be discussing it with you!

I can't believe your partner would even think about claiming costs off the family of a child she ran over! 😯

I have never heard of such a cold hearted thing !

Sounds like your missus has been traumatised by this, dropping in on the kid's parents and putting them in no doubt how much of an effect this incident has had would be good for all concerned and might teach the kid the valuable lesson that her actions can have consequences.

Don't try to claim money from the parents for karma's sake but if you go round there and the parents offer payment don't turn it down (surely to them the cost of a bit of bodywork repair is a good return for the fact that their daughter is alive and well).

I can't believe your partner would even think about claiming costs off the family of a child she ran over!
I have never heard of such a cold hearted thing !

Give it a rest . . . Restless.

The police are happy to declare that his Missus is clear of any negligence as such why's it's such a heartless act? If she was at blame and/or the child was injured I'd agree it's not very tasteful or exceptable to chase for your repairs but that's not the case here is it.

Children (and adults !) will make mistakes but why should anyone other than the parents be expected to foot the bill for them?

[i]Do you slow down to a crawl past every parked car?[/i]

When I can't hog the centre of the road to give me enough visibility due to oncoming traffic, yes. This generally means beig well under the limit on roads with parked cars along both sides.

A report on Europe 1 said US pedestrian deaths have tripled in the US and the reason is walkman type devices. I've done some Googling but can't find where they got tripled form or over what period, but there are plenty of articles confirming a rise.

Even adults look and don't see as every driver that has knocked me off my bike has said.