Unisured loss recovery

[mind_the_goat]

Curious if anyone had had any experience of making a claim on their legal protection cover for car insurance.

A young driver we know was side swiped by a child on a pushbike, he drove at speed through a gate into the side of the car, broke the mirror and dented the door. Thankfully no injuries sustained. The car was going slowly and stopped pretty much instantaneously. The parents initially conceded responsibility but have since refused to even contribute to repair costs.

The choice now is to put a claim in or for the driver to pay for repairs themselves.
If a claim is made the excess is high due to age and NCB will be lost, potentially costing the driver a lot more than the quote obtained from a local garage. however it would then be possible to call in the legal cover protection which may, or may not recover the losses
If the repairs are paid directly there may be an option of a county court claim against the parents.

So option 1 could result in a 4 figure expenditure, however it might be possible to recover all the costs, option 2 reduces the maximum losses but would rely on a CCJ to recover any of it.

I'm not looking for legal advice here, the driver will seek a professional opinion, but interested in anyone experiences of recovering losses using either method.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

not for car related but I did use the legal cover on my home insurance once to take legal action against an employer (& won). The insurance picked up the bill entirely and it was around £60K when all was said and done so I have a fair bit of faith in home insurance legal cover.

 

[RobinBHM]

I think what you do may depend on whether you have any proof, either acceptance of responsibility in writing, an independant witness or maybe photgraphs of bike and car at scene.

Without proof, I think It would be difficult to recover as the legal costs of persuing one persons word against another, would soon make it prohibitive.

No claims bonus is sonewhat a smoke and mirror sales ploy -insurers can simply put up the premium to get the renewal they want.

The childs parents may be able to claim on their house insurance -bit of a long shot, but if the parents wont have to fork out personally, perhaps they would entertain that route. My neice when young decided to rub the neighbours BMW with a lump of coal requiring a major respray and thank god, was paid by house insurance, although I dont what section of cover it was covered by.

 

[NickWelford]

Going through the insurance company route, even if all is recovered, it seems to count against the driver in future and makes subsequent insurance much more expensive. Rip off.

 

[finneyb]

You could try Small Claims Court aka Money Claim Online. You pay the Court fee, but its added to your claim so the other side have to pay it if you win. They have a mediation service which maybe what you want in this case. I was very pleasantly surprised with it - would certainly use it again

The only issue is that you need to assess whether the other side has the money to pay if the Court awards for you. Its a hollow victory if they can't pay.
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Brian

 

[mind_the_goat]

@Bob - thanks , good to know
@Robin - Yup, my concern is it turns into one word against another, there were no photos taken on the day unfortunately but looking at where the car stopped in relation to the gate suggests a stopping distance of 1 or 2M at most, which backs up that the car was going slowly and it was the bike's speed that did the damage. The parents are starting to suggest it was the cars speed that contributed, have to consider the possibility they may change their minds on where the car stopped.
@Robin - My concern also, and being a young driver it makes a big difference
@Brian - This is likely to be the route taken, at least it lessens the potential financial exposure, for both sides.

If the parents had not got defensive then some compromise might have been agreed, and to be honest, if the insurance route is chosen then it could well cost the parents a hell of lot more than working something out with the driver, could also cost the driver a lot more of course if for some reason it was decided the evidence wasn't strong enough

 

[MMUK]

Personally I'd give Judge Judy a call :-"

 

[acewoodturner]

A woman hit the back of my wife's Fiesta in January when it was parked near our house and and left the scene without leaving a note. With luck a neighbour noticed it and took her details down inc her description. A few days later the neighbour was at her car at the same time I was there and gave me the info. I went to the police who spoke to her but didnt charge her.
My wife phoned her insurance who arranged for it to be fixed and she had to pay the excess of £100. 4 months later she still hasnt reported it to her insurance company and her insurance is aware of the accident as the wife's insurance has written to them to recover the 600 quid it cost to repair the car.
I spoke to the wife's ins co during the week and its now in the hands of the legal dept and they are about to issue proceedings against her. Its probably going to cost her about £1000 by the time it goes through court. Im going back to the police to see if they will charge her and if so that will cost her 200 quid and 3 points. Absolutely stupid, as all she had to do was put her details on a bit of paper and stick it under the windscreen. Probably thought she could get away with it I suppose.