How to pay for accident damage?

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Are you absolutely certain that your son is at fault? I mean, if the taxi driver had overtaken him, pulled in sharply and then stopped abruptly it wouldnt be so clear cut.
 

sabian92

Über Member
Are you absolutely certain that your son is at fault? I mean, if the taxi driver had overtaken him, pulled in sharply and then stopped abruptly it wouldnt be so clear cut.

Good point. Don't just take his word for it - he might have done it deliberately to try and claim off somebody. There was a gang doing it to HGVs a few years ago for a massive insurance scam.
 
Cash for Crash

It's been around for a while, and in fact I got an email about it again just a few days ago. It seems a bout of new cases has caused it to pop onto the radar of the motor trade again. Cockwombles breaking heavily in front of van drivers and preying on them not wanting to go through their own/their company insurance. FWIW these parasites are driving cars that aren't worth a w@nk! They're just looking for a quick few quid. "Just give us £50 and you won't hear anymore from me" type of thing.

I've never heard of it in relation to cyclists, but I guess we might be viewed as a soft target and easy pickings perhaps.
 
Seems a bit unlikely - the damage potential with a bike is tiny compared to a car/van/lorry.
I wasn't suggesting for a minute that the taxi driver deliberately caused the accident so as to claim a few quid from our cyclist friend, simply that there might be more to the story that meets the eye.

I'm all for taking responsibility for the consequences of ones actions but if it was my son I'd want to know a great deal more about the shape of the accident and the alleged damage to the vehicle before reaching for my wallet.

Who's to say the driver didn't pull in too sharply after overtaking the cyclist, caused the accident and then tried to turn it to his advantage?
 

Matthew_T

"Young and Ex-whippet"
I think what you should do is tell the taxi driver that the boy has no money to pay for such repairs and that it is not the parents responsibility to bail him out.
As the boy is a minor (I suspect) it means that if the taxi driver takes him to court, nothing will happen. This is also the case as noone has been injured. You cannot force anyone to make a payment if they either do not want to or are unable to.

For example, if someone comes at you with a knife and you start wrestling with them and eventually that other person gets stabbed but not killed, are you to pay compensation to their family if they are hospitalised? What if you dont have any money?

A better example: A homeless person has a recycled bike donated to them. They are cycling along and rear end a car. It is not the cars fault, the person just didnt notice. Who's fault is it? The person who gave the homeless a bike or the homeless?
Who should pay? The homeless cannot as they dont have any money. Should the homeless then be locked up in prison for not putting anyones life in danger and not causing any harm to anyone, but simply riding into the back of a vehicle and causing minor damage?

In the end it just comes to petty minute things. Such as a car is a car and a bike is a bike. If your house burned down and you didnt have insurance for fire, then yes you wouldnt have a house, but that wouldnt stop you having a home or a shelter to live in.
People nowadays are so dependant on things which they dont need. Such as a car or a house or clothes. How do you think we lived before we had these things? We are mammals and animals and people need to remember that before putting a price on things which are not important, such as a scratch on a car.

If i were the OP, then I would just ignore this taxi driver and if it came to court, then say the above (4th paragraph). People need to get a hold of themselves and stop worrying about MONEY which does not matter.
I have never understood wy so many things depend on money when some of it is natural. Such as food. Fruit and veg are natural and yet we put a price on them. You dont see people in thrid world countries complaining to their governements that they dont get enough food or water, they just get on with life.
 

musa

Über Member
Location
Surrey
That argument is subject to circumstance. The parents are responsible and are the legal guardian(s)
 

Matthew_T

"Young and Ex-whippet"
That argument is subject to circumstance. The parents are responsible and are the legal guardian(s)
What if the child did not have any parents and lived in a childrens home? Would the home have to pay out? I doubt they would be insured for such a thing.

That isnt the case here though as far as I know.
 

musa

Über Member
Location
Surrey
What if the child did not have any parents and lived in a childrens home? Would the home have to pay out? I doubt they would be insured for such a thing.

That isnt the case here though as far as I know.

1) first line: subject to circumstance
2) they are responsible
However payment as you say may not be the final result.
 

sabian92

Über Member
I doubt the government would actually have the cheek to put a child in jail over such a minor and uneccessary charge.

You can't really imprison a child.

I gather from the OP that his son is away at uni and was on his way to work and living in Halls.

Either way, he is old enough and big enough to sort out his own financial problems, whether that means getting insurance or paying the taxi driver, I wouldn't expect his dad to pay.

My dad wouldn't if it was my fault.
 
Why I said small claims court, that on Friday 8th June a woman is taking me to court and suing me for £1344.11 we reversed into each other, but she is stating that she was not moving at the time, both the insurance company’s called it 50/50, but she wants her day in court, if she wins the day I have no money to pay her as I'm on disabled benefit.
 
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