You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Someone pulled out of a side road yesterday afernoon and hit the rear of my son's bike as he rode past. There is a reasonable amount of damage to the bike (luckily he is unhurt) Rear wheel, rear mech, mech hanger, chain, mudguard. I have not had a close look yet to see if the frame is bent.
The driver was a young lad (my son thinks possibly a 6th former from his school) who stopped and my son did all the right things (got his number, reg no and the number of a witness).
I called him when I got home from work and asked him what he wanted to do about the damage (pay or go through his insurance). He said he would think about it and get in toucch. I did not hear from him so got in touch again tonight and he wants to talk it through with his dad (who is away) he said he would call in a few days. I pressed him for when his dad was returning and he said Sunday night.
Is there any reason not to wait until Sunday? Is there a window in which these sort of incidents need to be reported? Am I being too nice in giving him a chance to settle outside of his insurance?
If he's old enough to drive then he's old enough to take responsibility for his own actions and sort it out himself without Daddy. Get a quote for the repairs and call him tomorrow and give him an ultimatum. Might be worth checking on AskMID that he is insured.
Might be worth popping down to the station and logging it with the police so you have a reference should it need to go through insurance. They will normally understand that you just want it recording in case he doesnt play ball. Normally you would do this within 24 hrs but that is in the case of an injury etc and shouldnt affect a claim as far as I know.
His dad has a phone, surely. If he wanted to talk to his dad he could do it straight away.
If he's old enough to drive then he's old enough to take responsibility for his own actions and sort it out himself without Daddy.
This x1000
I got hit by a girl in her twenties a couple of years back. I was very nice and polite as she was shaken but I ended up having to deal with her dad.
Old enough to own and drive a car, should be old enough to deal with (& learn from) your mistakes.
If he's not told the insurers yet he may be out of time to claim for his loss but I'm not sure how that affects your rights as a third party.
My first thought from the stalling- is he actually insured on the car etc
Minefield. Report to insurance yesterday.
Might be worth checking on AskMID that he is insured.
Done that and he is insured. Have told him that if I don't hear Sunday then I will proceed through insurance.
Have also spoken to police and they suggest going to a station tomorrow and getting the accident registered and getting a reference number.
Askmid will show the cars insured not to who and who is covered. Is he insured on the car specifically and/or have permission?
I'd report to the police first, so you have a clear record. They'll be able to put you in touch with his insurance.
Maybe ask to speak to his dad yourself before going to insurance. It's fair of you to give the benefit of the doubt, but also a good chance you'll get shafted. I wouldn't be leaving it days.
son probably expects dad to offer a few quid for repairs to bike, dad may well have other ideas. Thats what insurance is for
I'd start a claim, if he coughs up in the meantime you can always withdraw.. Any sort of cagey-ness over a cash deal is immediately worrying as you're essentially doing him a favour, especially at that age, his premiums will rocket with a fault claim.
Quick update:
He changed his story and then refused to give me his insurance details.
Got onto British cycling and got his insurance details through their legal service (at the same time he decided to send me his details). Lodged a claim with his insurance company and then got a call from his dad asking if I would be happy to settle outside of the insurance!!
Gave him the opportunity to do so and his dad transferred the money for the damage (no quibbles) straight into my bank account. I have now withdrawn the claim.
I reckon he thought the problem would go away and then suddenly realised his premium would probably rocket next year (new driver).
I reckon he thought the problem would go away and then suddenly realised his premium would probably rocket next year (new driver).
It probably will rocket anyway, once you made the claim.
oh, that's interesting!
And confirms my belief I really need to join BC or CTC to get access to the legal cover..
Glad you got a good outcome.
He changed his story and then refused to give me his insurance details.
No way I'd have been so generous after this, although I would have before.
He changed his story and then refused to give me his insurance details.
Failure to provide details is an offence in its own right.
Gave him the opportunity to do so and his dad transferred the money for the damage (no quibbles) straight into my bank account. I have now withdrawn the claim.
I'd have told him to roll it tightly and grease it lightly by that point I reckon.
Still, glad you got it sorted.
shitty behaviour for sure, but [i]legally[/i] the details he has to give are registration number, name and address of driver (and of keeper if different). I'm interested to know in what way he changed his story; it sounds a tough one to spin out as not his fault...He changed his story and then refused to give me his insurance details.Failure to provide details is an offence in its own right.
but legally the details he has to give are registration number, name and address of driver (and of keeper if different).
Slightly worrying you need to give your address. I assume that's to the other person involved in the accident (not the police).
It's to 'any party that has reasonable cause to require your details' or words to that effect. So other involved parties, and the police if in attendance, I suppose.I assume that's to the other person involved in the accident (not the police).
Gave him the opportunity to do so and his dad transferred the money for the damage (no quibbles) straight into my bank account. I have now withdrawn the claim.
But saying youve withdrawn the claim beware of solicitors asking for fees already costed out.
Glad that is sorted.
Bet the driver got told off by his father for trying to refuse giving further details.
Father is quick to pay coz I bet next insurance premium would be more than £3k easy for new driver if a claim was made. Then it will remain high for sometime to come ...
correct me if i'm wrong but i think the driver is screwed anyway now. once a claim is reported to the insurer regardless of whether said claim is pursued or not, it is now in the system against his name and any renewal will take that into account
Insurers will have him down as an accident magnet.
Fairly in this case, but colour me cynical, it's much harder to get them to take account of any factors that vastly REDUCE risk...Insurers will have [s]him down as an accident magnet[/s] use any excuse whatsoever to load premiums and cash in.
Insurers will have him down as an accident magnet use any excuse whatsoever to load premiums and cash in.
The majority of motor insurers haven't really been able to cash in for the last 5 years or so on standalone motor insurance.
Premiums are based on rating factors with a certain amount of price elasticity. Unfortunately having a claim is going to score highly in any pricing framework.
Yeah, I don't really buy that. They may be creaming off smaller percentages, but their willingness to pay out gazillions for spurious claims has multiplied the size of their business many times over. It's a golden goose for them; they can put prices up, and just blame the size of the payouts. Which they control. You don't ever hear the motor insurance industry calling for personal injury payout caps, do you? Wonder why...
Er, yes they did and measures were introduced to limit smaller, nuisance and bogus claims. MOJ / Jackson reforms were pretty big news.
The larger pi claims are controlled by the courts not the insurers. Things like Periodical Payment Orders mean that some of these claims have no set limit.
It's a golden goose for them; they can put prices up, and just blame the size of the payouts.
No. They're in a highly competitive market. Consumers don't GAF about their costs. Insurance companies would prefer to keep their money instead of giving it to chancers