Car insurance advice - weird one

[Siren]

Just after some advice after a weird situation I find myself in.

Driving to the golf club this morning a youngster has tried to cross a main road on his BMX and ploughed straight into my rear left panel. Thankfully the kid is ok although im sure he will be sore in the morning. The police were not interested as he wasnt driving a car and have basicly said it is down to me and him to sort this out. While I was being interviewed by the police they allowed the kid to go home with his dad without me being able to take their information. The Policeman interviewing me passed me over their info but the contact number on there is wrong all I have is an address.

I have spoken to my insurance company who have said if I claim for the damage done to the car through them I will lose my no claims (not protected) and will have to pay the excess.

The though of just turning up at their home unannounced doesnt sit right with me.

Surely i should be covered somewhere as this is not my fault and the kid admitted liability to the police and I have witnesses. I will call them again tomorrow as the person I have spoken was more interested in looking at google maps than helping but I cant help but feel I am being punished for something I had 0 control over.

Any advice?

 

[rulefan]

Have you got Uninsured Loss Recovery (ULR) ?
This provides the policyholder with cover for legal expense costs to pay for a solicitor to pursue a guilty third party in order to recover your uninsured losses - policy excess, hire car charge, any other out of pocket expenses caused by the third party negligence - as well as costs to pursue a personal injury claim. ULR often provides cover for free 24 hr legal advice of a personal nature.

 

[Lump]

Old school it, send a letter via recorded post. Its not going to be sorted quickly, so whats a couple of days to get a response.

 

[Foxholer]

If you do simply roll up to their home, take a witness just in case the situation escalates!

Presumably you didn't opt for ULR either!

 

[Siren]

Thanks for the advice guys im going to check my policy again to see if im covered, otherwise I think Ill go around there in a few days.

Appreciate the feedback :thup:

 

[woody69]

I'd write them a letter first, explaining the damage and ask if you can have a discussion about covering the cost of repairs and wait a few weeks for a response. I'd even go around and post it myself if they are local. However let's face it, the kid isn't going to be insured, so unless the parents step up and offer to cover the damage themselves you have a decision to make. You can either go through the insurance company and lose your no claims and deal with everything that comes with that (increase premium for a few years), pay for the repairs yourself and instigate legal recourse to get the money back via something like small claims (i.e. sue them), pay for it yourself and forget about the cost or leave the damage as it is and do nothing.

Ultimately, it is one of the reasons we have insurance and one of the reasons I pay to have my no claims protected as there is a high probability that there could be damaged made to my car by someone that either isn't insured or doesn't stick around.

 

[gregers]

as above,i always have mine protected,and legal fees.

thought about your dilemma,why not go round AND inquire how the kid is?then judging by the way the conversation goes,mention in passing about the damage to your car,even joke about whether the kid had insurance for his bike.
if the old man gets arsy then you know exactly where you stand.armed then with that you act accordingly.

 

[Jacko_G]

How much damage are we talking?

 

[Siren]

If I get it done locally Id estimate £3/400 Whole panel needs to come off, beaten back and filled, then sanded down and resprayed. Window also needs replacing due to scratches

 

[Fyldewhite]

Good few years ago I had a young lad come straight out of an alleyway into the side of me (hit the front wheelarch). Just a few scratches to the car but the bike ended up getting damaged. The Dad actually had the brass neck to say "what about the cost of the bike?". The police put him straight saying he should be thankful it was only the bike that was damaged and it was clearly the lads fault. Moral of the story is that Dads can sometimes see their Lads as doing no wrong, especially if it might cost them a few quid. So good luck if you take it up with them directly. If the parents refuse to pay then I assume the only recourse would be through the small claims court.

 

[hovis]

I personally think the parent should have told you "I'll take care of your damage". before he left.

Hopefully he'll do the right thing when you knock on his door with the bill

 

[SaintHacker]

You would certainly hope the Dad would put it right, if not you have a pretty cast iron case for a small claim I would have thought

 

[Tashyboy]

Once had an Alsatian hit near side wing as was not on a lead. I thought the dog would be flattened. It jumped up shook its head and run off. A woman owned the dog and she was called " fat maz". I was told if I asked her to pay for damage to the car I will be lucky if I keep my teeth.
I asked her and her tyrets kicked in, she claimed to have no money but the chavvy slapper had about 2k worth of gold around her neck.
hope it bodes well for you and keep us informed.

 

[Rooter]

sorry but i cant see you getting money out of folk IMHO. You will either have to take it on the chin or use your insurance.

 

[Siren]

Going to pop around there on Monday after work, give the lad the weekend to recover and I will phone the insurance again on Monday.

Thanks for the advice all

 

[Tashyboy]

Going to pop around there on Monday after work, give the lad the weekend to recover and I will phone the insurance again on Monday.

Thanks for the advice all

Just thinking off the top of my head, why don't you ask the insurance company to contact the family, if you have legal cover let them chase it up.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Just thinking off the top of my head, why don't you ask the insurance company to contact the family, if you have legal cover let them chase it up.

Possibly because a polite visit showing concern for the lad from the other party might be viewed more kindly than an officious approach from the legal arm? You can always send in the legal eagles later if the softly softly approach fails, and having read how good some of these firms aren't, I might prefer to do it myself.

 

[Siren]

Possibly because a polite visit showing concern for the lad from the other party might be viewed more kindly than an officious approach from the legal arm? You can always send in the legal eagles later if the softly softly approach fails, and having read how good some of these firms aren't, I might prefer to do it myself.

Exactly this, if it were my son I can only imagine how I would feel if a letter turned up from the insurance company. If worse comes to worse thats what will happen but im hoping we can sort this out amongst ourselves.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Exactly this, if it were my son I can only imagine how I would feel if a letter turned up from the insurance company. If worse comes to worse thats what will happen but im hoping we can sort this out amongst ourselves.

Siren, if you have a civilised chat with the dad, might be worth raising the question of whether the son's behaviour would be covered by the home contents insurance, there's normally some degree of public liability cover under those I believe, assuming of course they have some. Just a thought.