Uninsured cyclist

[1neverending]

Our parked car was damaged by an uninsured cyclist. And they have done quite a lot of damage but we have to pay £500 excess for the insurance and we may going to lose no claim bonus (I think)

Considering the accident was no fault of ours as we were not there but our neighbour was witnesses. We know who the cyclist is, and police have details of the accident.

We are now out of pocket by £500 excess and more if we hire a car whilst ours is being repaired.

Is there anyway of claiming if cyclist is uninsured and we don't even think he's got a job

Can we go via small claims court or anything .

Thanks

You could try small claims but it could end up being very frustrating as if he does not have a job, the Court could end up saying that he pays you £1 a week.

Is this a young person who still lives at home? If so, you could try asking his parents to check their home contents insurance if they have an all risks policy and it may be covered there.

99/100 times, no compensation is obtained from cyclists as there is no legal requirement for cyclists to be insured.

Young person - 20 we think but living independently

A claim is recorded against you as your liability when the costs of the case can't be recovered from a third party insurer. As you've not been hit by an insured person/vehicle, the claim will be recorded as a fault claim. This won't be overturned by taking the cyclist to small claims court

Your insurer may take legal action against the cyclist to recover the loss. The cyclist may be covered by their home insurance. You need to check with your insurance company before attempting to take action yourself. If they are able to recover the loss from the cyclist they will refund your excess and may restore your NCB.

You can take action against the cyclist even if he is uninsured. All the lack of insurance means is that he is less likely to be able to pay if you win.

A claim is recorded against you as your liability when the costs of the case can't be recovered from a third party insurer

This happened to me, I went through my insurer and I wish I hadn't as my excess was really small, only £150ish but it is recorded as my fault because even though I was stationary and something hit me and several other parked up cars, the insurance company couldn't claim any monies from them.

I had a protected 10 years no claims but it didn't stop my insurance increasing. My usual insurance with all bells and whistles is around £350, it increased to £600! I was absolutely pissed off but didn't know that it goes down as my fault as my insurance company forks for the repairs.

My insurance company actually covered about 4 of the cars damaged, but the person responsible hadn't got 2 pennies to rub together so there was no recovery of money. The police were involved due to them leaving the scene of an accident.

Your insurer may take legal action against the cyclist to recover the loss.

I've never heard of that ever happening. In the history of ever.

A cycling club or organised even where there was a group policy (and the cyclist was therefore insured) possibly.

But a one-off uninsured cyclist ? Insurers won't go after uninsured motorists, let alone cyclists.

@ProfessorSlocombe

Your insurer may take legal action against the cyclist to recover the loss.

I've never heard of that ever happening. In the history of ever.

A cycling club or organised even where there was a group policy (and the cyclist was therefore insured) possibly.

But a one-off uninsured cyclist ? Insurers won't go after uninsured motorists, let alone cyclists.

That may be, but if the insured driver has legal expenses they can make a claim under that policy for legal cover to help them sue to get the excess back and for the loss of the no claims. I had it done to me - though found not to be at fault.

That may be, but if the insured driver has legal expenses they can make a claim under that policy for legal cover to help them sue to get the excess back and for the loss of the no claims. I had it done to me - though found not to be at fault.

Yes, but they will still hit the same brick wall. If the person at the other end of the process is pisspoor then they aren't going to waste a penny going after them.

Personally, given that cyclists are just as capable of permanently maiming and killing someone as a motorist, I think there is a very good justification for requiring them to have insurance under pain of penalty.

However I was saying that nearly 40 years ago. And the rebuttal hasn't changed ... as a matter of public policy, cycling needs to be free of any and all regulation. Hence the fact you still aren't required to wear a helmet when cycling. Nor having insurance. Nor indeed a roadworthy bike (as long as it has lights).

Nope. You are stuffed.

Of pass any test to ride a bike safely. Any bikes sold should have an insurance package with them that’s mandatory.

@My0My

Of pass any test to ride a bike safely. Any bikes sold should have an insurance package with them that’s mandatory.

But ...

as a matter of public policy, cycling needs to be free of any and all regulation.

and that's despite the tsunami of people now whizzing around on bikes since lockdown (as threads on MN will attest to).

You can pursue via small claims court. If you threaten this you might be able to negotiate a settlement agreement. But that still means they need money to pay.

@eurochick

You can pursue via small claims court. If you threaten this you might be able to negotiate a settlement agreement. But that still means they need money to pay.

There's no point "threatening" to take someone to court if the outcome will still be they don't pay.

we don't even think he's got a job

so if the OP does take the cyclist to court - and wins - they'll still be out of pocket plus the added expense of the claim.

Sadly there is a subset of people for whom court action - county court judgements and the like - are simply water of a ducks back. They have no assets. They have no income. The inconvenience of a CCJ won't worry them. So any awards via court become hypothetical very quickly.