Compensation for daughter (hit by car) but who from?

[MotherOfDragons27]

Hi everyone, I'd appreciate some advice or knowledge please.

Almost two years ago (sept 2019) my eldest daughter started secondary school. In her 2nd week she was leaving school and was hit by a car as she was crossing the road. The driver was a 17 year old boy from her school who had just passed his test. When it happened another mum got out of her car and told the driver to move his car for some unknown reason, so he did. This means the police were unable to gain any evidence from the scene and as there was no proof of wrong doing there were no further charges against the boy and the case was dropped.

My daughter suffered two breaks to her pelvis and obviously scrapes and bruising. She was in hospital for 10 days and had to use crutches for 6 weeks until her pelvis was healed. I was with her the whole time and had to be signed off work with stress to cover myself work wise.

I have been thinking about trying to claim for some sort of compensation for my daughter but I'm unsure if it's possible? Where would I claim, who would I be claiming from and what are the chances of her receiving anything?

Does anyone have any similar experience where someone was injured in a road traffic accident but no fault was established? We have the letter from the police and the incident number etc so there is record of it. I also have her discharge letter from the hospital.

If anyone can shed any light on this for me I'd be very grateful. Thank you.

@vivainsomnia

The facts are that evidence gathered ascertained that it was possible to know who was at fault. So ultimately, he could claim that she was and that the accident has left him with PTSD which is affecting him daily and counter claim on that basis.

I just can't understand how you can expect compensation for your DD without any evidence that he caused the accident.

For heaven's sake!! Please stop. The only thing the op has to do at the moment is find a good solicitor who deals with PI claims. PP have posted links up thread.

If there is no evidence the claim will not proceed BUT the op really should consult a solicitor to find out what the position is and solicitors on here who do practise in this area have said that there may well be a claim.

Honestly, so much nonsense here, I worry if some of these people are advising their friends with such authority in real life with claims of ‘insurance here’.

OP others have pointed out statute of limitations applicable to your country, as other PP PI claims are usually on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis where the solicitor believes the case has a good chance of success. Future losses/injury which medical experts believes will continue into the future will be taken into account

It will honestly be not a stressful process once you go to a solicitor and get the ball rolling

@vivainsomnia you clearly have no knowledge of the legal system in relation to personal injury claims and how liability is resolved, why would you even post on a thread like this?!

@vivainsomnia

The facts are that evidence gathered ascertained that it was possible to know who was at fault. So ultimately, he could claim that she was and that the accident has left him with PTSD which is affecting him daily and counter claim on that basis.

I just can't understand how you can expect compensation for your DD without any evidence that he caused the accident.

Using long words to post an opinion doesn't give that opinion any more validity. It just makes you look a pompous ill-informed knob, rather than a merely ill-informed one.

Good luck OP. You've had some good advice here which hopefully is easy to pick out from among the rubbish!

@vivainsomnia

The facts are that evidence gathered ascertained that it was possible to know who was at fault. So ultimately, he could claim that she was and that the accident has left him with PTSD which is affecting him daily and counter claim on that basis.

I just can't understand how you can expect compensation for your DD without any evidence that he caused the accident.

Agree with others. Just to say, the evidence gathered by the police (if they were involved at all) did not establish that the driver had committed an offence. That is very different to establishing fault.

As I have said previously on this thread, when a car hits a pedestrian, the driver is almost always held to be at fault by the courts. The courts may find contributory negligence from the pedestrian which will reduce the compensation paid but, unless she leapt out from behind a large parked vehicle, the courts will almost certainly find that he is responsible.

Thank you to everyone who actually works in this field who have given factual and correct advice and not just their opinion. There is some great advice here and I will be speaking to my work to see if I can make use of their legal help, if not I will speak to a solicitor.

I have asked my daughter repeatedly what happened because I'm not one to blindly place blame with the driver just because she's my child. The car was a ways up the road, she is not one of these kids who takes risks and crosses at the last minute. Also I think it's important to say that it was 3.30pm, there were masses of children along the pavements so surely there is some onus on any driver to pay more attention to what's going on around him.

@rwalker

From what you say it sounds to me like it was her fault she saw the car walked out into the road and was hit by it.

Why would anyone see a car and walk in front of it if it was too close? It was far enough away that she thought it was safe. And it should have been, especially outside a secondary school with hundreds of children milling about. Cars have breaks for a reason.

@EdithDickie

Hi *@MotherOfDragons27*

I'm a PI lawyer in England and would be more than happy to talk to you about your daughter's possible claim if you like. No obligation at all and no charge.

There's been an awful lot of nonsense in some of the replies!

It's really not that stressful at all. You wouldn't have to worry about gathering her medical records etc (I'd have you sign the right form and do all that), I'd get police report etc.

Sounds as though she's had a really horrible time.

Drop me a DM if you like a chat.

That's very kind of you, thank you so much. This is going to sound stupid but how do you DM someone? Tried to click on your username but nothing. I'm using the app if that makes a difference?

Why wasnt the police called to deal with this.

You know that bit where the OP said that the police were called in viviennemary? Maybe go back and read it again.

@Viviennemary

Why wasnt the police called to deal with this.

Why comment if you're not going to read my post properly.

@vivainsomnia

The facts are that evidence gathered ascertained that it was possible to know who was at fault. So ultimately, he could claim that she was and that the accident has left him with PTSD which is affecting him daily and counter claim on that basis.

I just can't understand how you can expect compensation for your DD without any evidence that he caused the accident.

Dear lord, just stop. You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, and it’s embarrassing for you.

Having worked out how to message someone OP I'll drop you a line (it's been a bit of a day and I can reassure you I'm much better at dealing with civil proceedings than websites 😳😂

@DirectionsForUse

You'd sue the boy and his insurance company would deal with it.

It's not as easy as just claiming. She'd have to show what losses or costs she incurred. Insurance companies tend to fight these quite hard nowadays because of all the spurious claims, so it might well go to court. I'm not sure it would be worth the aggravation, for the limited amount of damages she might get if she was only out of action for 6 weeks.

That is a complete load of claptrap, did you write that to get a rise from others? Or have you been on the gin all day mummy dearest?

@MotherOfDragons27

Thank you to everyone who actually works in this field who have given factual and correct advice and not just their opinion. There is some great advice here and I will be speaking to my work to see if I can make use of their legal help, if not I will speak to a solicitor.

I have asked my daughter repeatedly what happened because I'm not one to blindly place blame with the driver just because she's my child. The car was a ways up the road, she is not one of these kids who takes risks and crosses at the last minute. Also I think it's important to say that it was 3.30pm, there were masses of children along the pavements so surely there is some onus on any driver to pay more attention to what's going on around him.

I'm curious to know how you ascertain 'who knows what they're talking about' and who doesn't. Are the ones agreeing with you the ones who do?!

The posters who say they work in insurance may well be armchair experts as they have suggested the rest of us are. For my part I'm a solicitor with nearly 20 years experience. But hey, what would I know about the basis for suing someone huh?

I find it absolutely infuriating that people who clearly know nothing about the law in the area of accidents and injuries just Wade in with some ridiculous notions of what "should" happen.

Contrary to some popular beliefs...

1. It's not necessarily as straightforward as a tabloid paper tastic opinion would have you believe

1. It's not a lot of hassle

1. Where claims involve a child the courts literally make sure their best interests are looked after in terms of amount of settlement etc

1. There doesn't need to be a criminal conviction

@headintheproverbial I never said anything about people who know what they're taking about, and I never mentioned names? Your first comment didn't provide any advice or facts, you were purely questioning my reasons for wanting to claim. I'm sure the reasons would be obvious. Did you read my posts where I mention the counselling my daughter had to have as a result of this trauma? Which only came to an end two months ago. You say you're a solicitor but you don't mention in what field. There is a difference in family law and personal injury law for example. If it's not your field of expertise then please remove yourself from your lofty steed.

[quote rwalker]@Zzelda
I do hope you're not a driver. Ever heard of keeping your eyes and ears open and taking care when approaching a school crossing?

Isn't that as useful as saying make sure that no cars coming when you step into the rd.[/quote]
No. As people have pointed out, if you hit a pedestrian, especially on a pedestrian crossing, you will almost inevitably be found to be liable. The assumption is that you approach with care and look out for people who might be about to step onto the crossing, especially children. The positions of the driver on the one hand and the child pedestrian on the other are simply not equivalent.

@headintheproverbial, the fact that you asked OP about her loss demonstrates that, if you are a solicitor, personal injury is clearly not your field. If it were, you would know that it would be her daughter claiming damages, not OP.

@MotherOfDragons27
You have been given some awful and contradictory advice here.
This is a field I've worked in for 30 plus years.
Firstly, I hope DD is OK.
Secondly, you could pursue this yourself but sounds to me like you're not confident in what you're doing so I suggest you Google and find a personal injury claims specialist.
If the driver and vehicle are identified and the vehicle is insured, the relevant company will deal.
If not, the Motor Insurers' Bureau will deal under the Untraced or Uninsured Agreement.
In either case, they will look into liability and quantum.
Hope that helps. Its not nearly as complicated as some posters are suggesting but without all the facts no-one can really comment on liability or how successful any claim may be.

Detest this suing culture

I detest people who buy into the "compensation culture" bollocks peddled by right wing papers and insurance companies. The notion that people should simply suck up serious injuries and the long term results of those injuries caused by totally avoidable negligence is utterly absurd. I suspect that people who are vociferous about it would change their tune very quickly indeed if they or their children were on the receiving end of negligence of the type suffered by OP's child.

[quote FoxyBadger]@MotherOfDragons27
You have been given some awful and contradictory advice here.
This is a field I've worked in for 30 plus years.
Firstly, I hope DD is OK.
Secondly, you could pursue this yourself but sounds to me like you're not confident in what you're doing so I suggest you Google and find a personal injury claims specialist.
If the driver and vehicle are identified and the vehicle is insured, the relevant company will deal.
If not, the Motor Insurers' Bureau will deal under the Untraced or Uninsured Agreement.
In either case, they will look into liability and quantum.
Hope that helps. Its not nearly as complicated as some posters are suggesting but without all the facts no-one can really comment on liability or how successful any claim may be.[/quote]
Thank you. I haven't a clue where to begin with this (or if it would be a fair thing to do) which is why I wanted impartial advice from people in the profession. Which I have got amid quite a few surprisingly judgmental ones and am thankful for. I now have a couple of email addresses to be going forward with and I'm also going to ask at my work tomorrow what is available in legal help. Thanks again for the replies.

And for those who asked, DD is doing well now, thank you. It took a year and a half to better her mental health and learn how to cope with the anxiety that resulted from the incident. She was receiving counselling until two months ago, which has helped enormously. Her physical injury healed within 6 weeks but she couldn't walk without crutches for that whole time, she missed weeks of school and she was left with a limp on her left side which is where the fractures in her pelvis were. She received a few physio sessions free of charge from the very kind parent of a girl who's been in her class since preschool. It helped strengthen her joints/leg back up and the limp has now gone. She's very very lucky to not receive worse injuries or suffer real long term damage. But saying that, she has indeed suffered. Which is why I wondered wether there would be anything in it if I was to look into claiming compensation for her. Im definitely not part of the 'compo culture' as one PP suggested, or it wouldn't have taken nearly two years for me to do anything about it. If DD can benefit in any way from the traumatic thing that happened to her then it's my job as her parent to try. Thank you for all the (proper) advice.

good luck to your Daughter OP, terrible thing to have happened. 🌸

@MotherOfDragons27rwalker
From what you say it sounds to me like it was her fault she saw the car walked out into the road and was hit by it.

Why would anyone see a car and walk in front of it if it was too close? It was far enough away that she thought it was safe. And it should have been, especially outside a secondary school with hundreds of children milling about. Cars have breaks for a reason.

Yes but also there is breaking distance cars cannot stop instantly . If someone made a mistake and stepped out within the breaking distance a collision can't be avoided.

I totally get where your coming from but when it's your child involved i would struggle to be objective .