Hi all,
I'm after a bit of advice if possible. In brief, my husband was driving my car and had a collision with a pedal cyclist. Fortunately the cyclist was not hurt. The collision was not my husbands fault as the cyclist had jumped a red light and ended up causing nearly £900 worth of damage to my car as well as the distress my husband suffered and the inconvenience caused to myself. The police were called and in the presence of the 2 officers, the 17 year old admitted fault and it was agreed that he would pay for the damage caused. The officers let him off from his offences, namely jumping a red light & having no lights on his bike(it was gone 9pm and it was turning dark), as he had agreed to pay the cost of the damage. I went round to the cyclists house the next day to check he was ok and to show his parents the extent of the damage and they agreed also that he would pay for the damage, they were very apologetic and saying how cross they were at him. I said we would get some quotes and suggested they do the same and we would go for the cheapest quote. They said how reasonable I was being and thanked me. A few days later, i told them I had a few quotes and asked if they had managed to get any. There reply, in a nutshell, was that the young man was not at fault, that my husband was speeding (we live less than 50 yards from the set of traffic lights where the collision occurred, the lights were on red as my husband approached them and changed to green as he drew up to them.....there was no way he was speeding) and he would only pay half of the cost of the repairs at a rate of £10.00 per month. I have been back in touch with the police station who dealt with the incident to see if there is anything further they can do regarding his offenses but I am still awaiting a phone call from either of the officers that attended.
As the cyclist would have no insurance, the insurance company have put this down as a fault accident, even though it wasn't, as they cannot claim the monies back from him. This means that my insurance will now be loaded at renewal due to a fault claim on file.
My question is this.....can I take a 17 year old/his parents to the small claims court to recover the monies for the repairs to pay back to the insurance company and for compensation for financial loss, inconvenience and increased insurance premiums over the next 5 years which, I have been informed, will be an increase of 20-40%?
Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.
Jenniewren
I'm after a bit of advice if possible. In brief, my husband was driving my car and had a collision with a pedal cyclist. Fortunately the cyclist was not hurt. The collision was not my husbands fault as the cyclist had jumped a red light and ended up causing nearly £900 worth of damage to my car as well as the distress my husband suffered and the inconvenience caused to myself. The police were called and in the presence of the 2 officers, the 17 year old admitted fault and it was agreed that he would pay for the damage caused. The officers let him off from his offences, namely jumping a red light & having no lights on his bike(it was gone 9pm and it was turning dark), as he had agreed to pay the cost of the damage. I went round to the cyclists house the next day to check he was ok and to show his parents the extent of the damage and they agreed also that he would pay for the damage, they were very apologetic and saying how cross they were at him. I said we would get some quotes and suggested they do the same and we would go for the cheapest quote. They said how reasonable I was being and thanked me. A few days later, i told them I had a few quotes and asked if they had managed to get any. There reply, in a nutshell, was that the young man was not at fault, that my husband was speeding (we live less than 50 yards from the set of traffic lights where the collision occurred, the lights were on red as my husband approached them and changed to green as he drew up to them.....there was no way he was speeding) and he would only pay half of the cost of the repairs at a rate of £10.00 per month. I have been back in touch with the police station who dealt with the incident to see if there is anything further they can do regarding his offenses but I am still awaiting a phone call from either of the officers that attended.
As the cyclist would have no insurance, the insurance company have put this down as a fault accident, even though it wasn't, as they cannot claim the monies back from him. This means that my insurance will now be loaded at renewal due to a fault claim on file.
My question is this.....can I take a 17 year old/his parents to the small claims court to recover the monies for the repairs to pay back to the insurance company and for compensation for financial loss, inconvenience and increased insurance premiums over the next 5 years which, I have been informed, will be an increase of 20-40%?
Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.
Jenniewren
Comment