claim against pedestrian

[thefly76]

I'm a taxi driver who was involved in a rta with a pedestrian and my car was written off, the accident was unavoidable on my behalf and this can be confirmed with the police report but if I claim for a car against my insurance the premiums go sky high, is there any way of claiming it back from the pedestrian who incredibly was unharmed!!!

[des8]

Re: claim against pedestrian

If the pedestrian caused the accident, you could issue a county court against him for you losses.
However before you do that you would need to ensure the person concerned has the assets or liability insurance to meet any award you obtain.
It ain't worth suing someone who is stony broke!

Why do you assume that if you make a non fault claim that your insurance premiums will soar.
Not all insurers increase premiums automatically... have you asked them?
If you have a no claim discount, depending on how many years, it may be reduced.

And the fact you have been involved in an accident (even non fault and for which you don't make a claim)) can affect your premiums

Also your insurers should attempt to recover their losses from the third party, and if they succeed there might be no affect on your premiums.
Even if the insurers don't ,you can pursue the third party for your uninsured losses which could include the extra premium you might have to pay, loss of earnings etc

And if you pursue the third party and not involve your own insurers, by the time it comes to nothing, you will want to make a claim against your policy.
At which point you might find your insurer will decline it as you are out of time! (read your policy wording)


Quite frankly, I think your reasoning for not making a claim against your insurer doesn't stack up.
If you look around this forum you will find cases where people have pursued the third party or the 3rd party insurers and had an awful lot of stress and no success.
If you have insurance, my advice always is to use it.
Making a claim against a third party following an RTA is not always as straight forward as many think.

[wales01man]

Re: claim against pedestrian

How can the car be a write off and the pedestrian uninjured?

[des8]

Re: claim against pedestrian

missed pedestrian and hit wall!

[thefly76]

Re: claim against pedestrian

Yeah i am going to claim off my insurance(meant when not if) its just theyre likely to go sky high as i own 6 taxi/private hire cars and they are insured for 5 different drivers all with penalty points.

[thefly76]

Re: claim against pedestrian

New bonnet, grill, windscreen and roof. He has a small cut on the back of his head, a sore nose and a gravel rash so not quite uninjured

[des8]

Re: claim against pedestrian

Yeah i am going to claim off my insurance(meant when not if) its just theyre likely to go sky high as i own 6 taxi/private hire cars and they are insured for 5 different drivers all with penalty points.

Had assumed you were an owner driver (silly me).

When you make your claim ask your insrers if they are going to pursue the pedestrian. If they are they might allow you to include your claim for uninsured losses at the same time. This could save you the time and stress of chasing him yourself.

[Captain Haddock]

Re: claim against pedestrian

New bonnet, grill, windscreen and roof. He has a small cut on the back of his head, a sore nose and a gravel rash so not quite uninjured

Sounds like you hit him. Any video footage?

[MIKE770]

Re: claim against pedestrian

dodgy from what we have read so far, do not assume pedestrian as could construe as " undue care and attention" on your part, like not leaving a certain distance between cars?? just an observation,

[des8]

Re: claim against pedestrian

If police report confirms the driver was not at fault (post 1)it won't be driving without due care and attention.
IMO it is a fair to draw the conclusion that it was possibly the pedestrian's own silly fault, but it would be interesting to know how police apportion the blame,

[Snoopy1948]

Re: claim against pedestrian

Thinking about this case from a drivers point of view, rather than simply who should pay, I believe that all drivers should be skilled enough to anticipate stupidity or the simply negligence of pedestrians. And while that may not clear any culpability on behalf of the pedestrian, it would be hard to acknowledge a claim against the pedestrian for the reasons that hazards are ever present and the motorist should be the one to assess them. I would be interested to know how the police have decided that the accident was in fact 'unavoidable' when competent motorists are trained ( or at least should be aware ) to expect the unexpected. It sounds like this pedestrian has not made a complaint against the driver but had the pedestrian been subject to life threatening injuries, I think the situation may have been a lot different. Clearly, this is a case for the driver's insurance and nothing else. After all, it is a question of an insurable event that may well affect the driver's no claims discount regardless of culpability.

[des8]

Re: claim against pedestrian

Thinking about this case from a drivers point of view, rather than simply who should pay, I believe that all drivers should be skilled enough to anticipate stupidity or the simply negligence of pedestrians. And while that may not clear any culpability on behalf of the pedestrian, it would be hard to acknowledge a claim against the pedestrian for the reasons that hazards are ever present and the motorist should be the one to assess them. I would be interested to know how the police have decided that the accident was in fact 'unavoidable' when competent motorists are trained ( or at least should be aware ) to expect the unexpected. It sounds like this pedestrian has not made a complaint against the driver but had the pedestrian been subject to life threatening injuries, I think the situation may have been a lot different. Clearly, this is a case for the driver's insurance and nothing else. After all, it is a question of an insurable event that may well affect the driver's no claims discount regardless of culpability.

Broad agreement with you, but pedestrians have been the sole cause of their own demise and the cause of extreme amounts of damage.
In the course of my insurance career I've seen incidents caused by pedestrians, one even walking into the side of a moving car in a busy street which caused a three car pile up!
No driver could have avoided that!

[MIKE770]

Re: claim against pedestrian

an incident with a land rover driver whose front wheel came off after changing wheel and fractured my ex wife's scull, indicated should was walking along the pavement at the wrong time otherwise the wheel would of not hit her = consequences long term character change hence ex wife etc., also silly insurance company tried all sorts to wriggle out BUT one mistake they made ex worked as an engineers secretary in the biggest insurance company of the day, but still took 18 months for the other side to withdraw and settle a court claim. the dirty insurance like bankers business issues.