Insurance procedure after car collision with a child UPDATE
Discussion
Some of you might remember my thread from January 2015, following a collision that I had with a child running out in front of my car. The original thread is here.
I thought that it would be of interest to provide an update on the outcome.
A few months after the collision, the child’s parents made a claim against me for personal injury to the child, and the estimated claim value was to be over £25,000. My insurance company investigated the claim and they came out to interview me, and also visited the collision site.
CCTV footage of the collision was also available, and with this my insurance company denied liability and challenged the claim. At the time, I was advised that the claim was likely to end up in court.
My insurer has been updating me every 6 months but no significant progress or news had been made over the past 18 months, as understandably these sorts of claims can take years to be resolved.
However, I received a phone call today from my insurer advising me that on the basis of the video footage, the claim has been withdrawn, and that they were now closing their file in this matter.
I’m somewhat relieved that this has been finally concluded, although I had fully anticipated that because the child was injured, that they would still receive some sort of pay out, even though negligence could not be placed on my part.
I thought that it would be of interest to provide an update on the outcome.
A few months after the collision, the child’s parents made a claim against me for personal injury to the child, and the estimated claim value was to be over £25,000. My insurance company investigated the claim and they came out to interview me, and also visited the collision site.
CCTV footage of the collision was also available, and with this my insurance company denied liability and challenged the claim. At the time, I was advised that the claim was likely to end up in court.
My insurer has been updating me every 6 months but no significant progress or news had been made over the past 18 months, as understandably these sorts of claims can take years to be resolved.
However, I received a phone call today from my insurer advising me that on the basis of the video footage, the claim has been withdrawn, and that they were now closing their file in this matter.
I’m somewhat relieved that this has been finally concluded, although I had fully anticipated that because the child was injured, that they would still receive some sort of pay out, even though negligence could not be placed on my part.
Hi Mandat,
Congrats on the result. Must be a massive relief after all this time. Had a child, maybe 5yrs old, run out between parked cars 2 or 3 years ago as I was exiting a roundabout, literally 2 parked cars in front of me. I must've been doing less than 15mph Thank God!! Slammed on and stopped with a couple of inches to spare but the sight of her frozen in front of me totally sh*t me up!! And the guy behind me who really helped matters by sounding his horn and shouting out of the window.
Her mother screamed at me that I was an 'Effin Lunatic' amongst other things.I managed to squeak 'Sorry' then had to drive a couple of hundred yards to find a parking space I was shaking so much! It was only after 2 or 3 cigs that I started thinking calmly and realised the little girl was 15 - 20 yards in front of her mother so no control over her at all! Really careful when passing parked cars anywhere where kids could be now, but just wish some of the parents out there would think a bit and keep their kids in tow and safe.
Cheers,
Short Grain
Congrats on the result. Must be a massive relief after all this time. Had a child, maybe 5yrs old, run out between parked cars 2 or 3 years ago as I was exiting a roundabout, literally 2 parked cars in front of me. I must've been doing less than 15mph Thank God!! Slammed on and stopped with a couple of inches to spare but the sight of her frozen in front of me totally sh*t me up!! And the guy behind me who really helped matters by sounding his horn and shouting out of the window.
Her mother screamed at me that I was an 'Effin Lunatic' amongst other things.I managed to squeak 'Sorry' then had to drive a couple of hundred yards to find a parking space I was shaking so much! It was only after 2 or 3 cigs that I started thinking calmly and realised the little girl was 15 - 20 yards in front of her mother so no control over her at all! Really careful when passing parked cars anywhere where kids could be now, but just wish some of the parents out there would think a bit and keep their kids in tow and safe.
Cheers,
Short Grain
geeks said:
Am glad all involved are ok.
An interesting point, LoonR1 was wrong
So was I.An interesting point, LoonR1 was wrong
But, to be fair, there was no mention of CCTV footage in the original thread. That's been key to the outcome. Also, the TP seem to have gone for a crazy amount of money. Had they gone for something more reasonable (£3-5K), I'm sure Loon & I would have been right.
Also, quite a few people were suggesting that the OP could claim for his damage from the child! That was shot down in flames by Loon & I and we were right.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Also, quite a few people were suggesting that the OP could claim for his damage from the child! That was shot down in flames by Loon & I and we were right.
Edited
Nope I have just checked the OP never mentioned trying to recover his costs. . Other than a post a few days after the incident detailing how it had effected him and a later post to update the outcome.
Edited by Markbarry1977 on Wednesday 24th August 12:06
Markbarry1977 said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Also, quite a few people were suggesting that the OP could claim for his damage from the child! That was shot down in flames by Loon & I and we were right.
Edited
Nope I have just checked the OP never mentioned trying to recover his costs. . Other than a post a few days after the incident detailing how it had effected him and a later post to update the outcome.
Edited by Markbarry1977 on Wednesday 24th August 12:06
TwigtheWonderkid said:
geeks said:
Am glad all involved are ok.
An interesting point, LoonR1 was wrong
So was I.An interesting point, LoonR1 was wrong
But, to be fair, there was no mention of CCTV footage in the original thread. That's been key to the outcome. Also, the TP seem to have gone for a crazy amount of money. Had they gone for something more reasonable (£3-5K), I'm sure Loon & I would have been right.
Also, quite a few people were suggesting that the OP could claim for his damage from the child! That was shot down in flames by Loon & I and we were right.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Also, quite a few people were suggesting that the OP could claim for his damage from the child! That was shot down in flames by Loon & I and we were right.
No, the option hasn't been explored/exercised by someone with the relevant expertise, that is a completely different thing to you being right.Mr GrimNasty said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Also, quite a few people were suggesting that the OP could claim for his damage from the child! That was shot down in flames by Loon & I and we were right.
No, the option hasn't been explored/exercised by someone with the relevant expertise, that is a completely different thing to you being right.TwigtheWonderkid said:
Did the OP make a claim on his own policy for his damage, and if so, are the OP's insurers going after them to recover their outlay?
There was no damage to my car and no claim was made by me.I appreciate that potentially I could launch a claim against the child's parents to try and recover my losses but this is not something that I would contemplate, for numerous reasons.
geeks said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
geeks said:
Am glad all involved are ok.
An interesting point, LoonR1 was wrong
So was I.An interesting point, LoonR1 was wrong
But, to be fair, there was no mention of CCTV footage in the original thread. That's been key to the outcome. Also, the TP seem to have gone for a crazy amount of money. Had they gone for something more reasonable (£3-5K), I'm sure Loon & I would have been right.
Also, quite a few people were suggesting that the OP could claim for his damage from the child! That was shot down in flames by Loon & I and we were right.
I suspect that the size of the claim gave my insurer the motivation to challenge it, rather than paying out automatically. The evidence to support my defence was always there, but I wonder how hard the insurer would have investigated this if the claim was for a much lower amount.
Mandat said:
Based on the advice from Loon and others in the original thread, I was fully expecting the insurance to pay out, purely on the basis of a child being injured, irrespective of fault or negligence by either party.
I suspect that the size of the claim gave my insurer the motivation to challenge it, rather than paying out automatically. The evidence to support my defence was always there, but I wonder how hard the insurer would have investigated this if the claim was for a much lower amount.
QuiteI suspect that the size of the claim gave my insurer the motivation to challenge it, rather than paying out automatically. The evidence to support my defence was always there, but I wonder how hard the insurer would have investigated this if the claim was for a much lower amount.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
geeks said:
Am glad all involved are ok.
An interesting point, LoonR1 was wrong
So was I.An interesting point, LoonR1 was wrong
But, to be fair, there was no mention of CCTV footage in the original thread. That's been key to the outcome. Also, the TP seem to have gone for a crazy amount of money. Had they gone for something more reasonable (£3-5K), I'm sure Loon & I would have been right.
Also, quite a few people were suggesting that the OP could claim for his damage from the child! That was shot down in flames by Loon & I and we were right.
LoonR1 said:
KFC said:
LoonR1 said:
No. They will pay out as proving a child was negligent is nigh on impossible. Feel free to explain how you'd go about it and then whether you fancy being the ones to cross examine a child in the witness box in court.
Eye witnesses ? Cctv? Gopro in the car ?
What I don't understand, and I realise it's a simplistic view, but why is it that one can make such a claim and withdraw it later without penalty?
The parents who made the claim either had an injured child, or they did not. Clearly as the evidence proved in this instance their fraudulent claim was without merit, but they were free to make it and there was no consequences for doing so.
Or is the suggestion that the child was and remains injured, but that the footage points at them being at fault? The cynic in me wonders whether or not the parents saw an opportunity for a cash windfall and seized upon it.
The parents who made the claim either had an injured child, or they did not. Clearly as the evidence proved in this instance their fraudulent claim was without merit, but they were free to make it and there was no consequences for doing so.
Or is the suggestion that the child was and remains injured, but that the footage points at them being at fault? The cynic in me wonders whether or not the parents saw an opportunity for a cash windfall and seized upon it.
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