Pedestrian caused car accident

[Nobadvibes]

Looking for advise for my mum that is very stressed and upset about the situation.

2 years she was driving down a road as the schools came out. A teenage boy started ducking down and acting odd at the side of her car, this boy then decided to play the game chicken and ran in front of her car and she hit him, lucky for him she was going 10mph and not 30 and there wasn’t a car directly on the other side. He bounce of her car and had injuries that initially weren’t deemed to be serious by the police at the scene of the accident. There are several witness’s along with 3 cars dashcam footage that prove this is what happened. Police investigated, they close the road off which later they admitted they should of as initial assumption he’s broken just his leg was wrong and once at our local hospital they transferred him a well known children hospital. His mother and grandma attended the scene and both reassured my mum it was not her fault along with other witness’s. Police concluded the accident was his fault and advised my mum she take legal action to recoup the damage to her car which a head light and bumper. Him being a child she never did so and also went through her insurance to claim as my dad was ‘rightfully’ worried they may sue.

I know from a local Facebook post his injuries were worse and him to have an operation on his leg and skull. I’ve never shared this with mum as the accident traumatised and she tries to drive when only she has to. The family received £500 from a local business man to help cover costs of going back and fourth to hospital, said man believed the boy had been ran over rather than ran into the road.

So now 2 years on the boys father has some how got hold of mums number plate which has led him to find her insurance details so that he can sue for the accident. Considering the police concluded with evidence and report she was not at fault how far can this go?

I work in motor claims and am not surprised. He has until his 21st birthday to make a claim.
It sounds like a potential high ish value claim. Whilst it sounds like your Mum really want to blame, the insurer will take all the information into account and weigh up the costs and risks of litigation.
The best advice is to let them get on with it.

It’s a road with 3 schools on it, it gets busy she doing 10mph as there was other traffic and there is traffic lights so kids can cross over. He was on side on a grass verge not the road itself.

My friends dad said the Dad’s been bragging in the pub he’s out for a big pay day. What’s started all of this, he’s realised by parents have money. My mums car is a unique colour so he’s recognised it outside their house and asked around about them. The boy is completely fine now even though he did need surgeries at the time.

He may get money from the insurance company - he won't get any money from your family

The car insurance underwriters will pay, if they do have to. Not your family.

Really?

I was 16 when I was hit by a car (directly outside a school between a school and a playground, directly next to the "children running across the road sign"

I was seriously injured

I was at fault because I didnt look (but I wasnt "playing chicken" or other silly games, it was just a mistake)

I ended up sueing the driver for tens of thousands of pounds as compensation for my serious injurys...... and was told by my solicitor, that as I was under 18, the drivers had a responsibilty to anticipate my actions and was therefore at fault (he was also over the 30mph speed limit)

I also wrote off the car that hit me.

But I won because I was under 18 and driver should have been driving aware i might cross in front of him. (The drivers car insurance paid)

Also the child is entitled to sue him self for up to 2 years (i think its 2 years) after their 18th birthday, even if at the time the parents havent.

The car insurance will deal with it

Three years.

I don't think you need to keep focusing on how he got your mum's details - these would presumably have been available to the family from the time of the accident. Let the insurance company deal with it, that's what your mum has paid them for. The outcome doesn't always seem just in these cases, but they'll weigh up the cost of a settlement vs the risk of going to court and make a decision. Either way, your mum's involvement at this stage is likely to be minimal.

In these situations there isn't necessarily one party at fault, there's a concept of contributory negligence eg your mum might have been at fault but the boy was too, and this would reduce any compensation by a set percentage.

They only go to court if they can't decide on the settlement or liability.

The dad wouldn't have got your car number plate, the legal firm undertaking a personal injury claim would have access to this and also your insurance company.

Also a lot of damage for 10mph.... bumper, light.....

Police confirmed it 10mph due to the camera footage and level of traffic etc, he bounced off the car

The insurance company will deal with this. They will require the injured party to provide medical reports both from the time of the accident and ongoing reports. They will also require police reports from the incident - believe me, insurers will do their utmost to get out of paying out a big claim! The driver will not be taken to court, not will they be personally liable for any pay out - that’s what we pay car insurance.
It sounds like the father is chancing his arm here. Tell your mum not to worry. Get her to phone her insurance up and speak to them directly, they will explain the process to her. Under no circumstances must she engage with the father in any way. That’s for the insurance to deal with. If he tries to contact her, notify the insurance as it could be seen as harassment.

As others have said, you and your mother need to leave this to her insurers.

There is nothing to stop this going to court. There is no pre-screening process that prevents someone from bringing their case. This could well end up in court unless either your mother's insurers offer him a settlement which he accepts, or he realises that he isn't going to win and could end up out of pocket.

If he does take legal action, he will sue your mother, not the insurance company. However, the insurance company will deal with the case on your mother's behalf and, if damages are awarded, the insurance company will pay. If there is a hearing, your mother will have to attend and give evidence.

Your poor mum.

Sounds like the dad is chancing it.

There is no legal case for your mum to answer. That's done and dusted. She was not at fault.

Let the father fight with the insurance company all he wants. They won't want to pay out and most likely won't, as the police deemed your mum to not be at fault. They can put up more of a fight than this boys dad can.

Let him wrangle with them. This stress is not your mother's.

This.

Being sued is scary. I’ve been there. Worst time of my life.
But that is what you pay insurance for. All your mum has to do is is answer their questions. And wait. That is the worst part. I had over a year of waiting and not knowing.

The technical and legal stuff isn’t anything to do with you.
They will deal with everything. Any correspondence your mum gets should be forwarded straight to them, she should not have any contact with them herself.

In my case, my insurance settled, to this day I have no idea how much they paid out. Didn’t cost me a thing.

But I do empathise as being sued is such a scary concept.

Definitely leave it to insurance. They will investigate the claim and pay out if required. It does sound like he was more seriously injured than thought if it's true (from the Facebook group). I have read that kids under 15 cannot be trusted to not dash across roads but no idea what law is. However there should be hospital records which should state what actually happened. You should maybe tell your Mum about the injuries though or it will be a big shock for her when she finds out.

I’m going to see if my friends dad knows what the injuries were. I can’t find the original post on Facebook as the page was removed. ( I never told her at the time as she was so traumatised she refused to drive for a while).

She’s rung the insurance back up today to confirm what are the next steps. Insurance said whilst the dad has rung me to say he suing her there has been no formal notification via a legal party. They had a duty of care to inform her. Also confirmed they have all the details form the original police report including witness statements (15 of them) and dashcam footage (3) plus come house CCTV footage the police also added into evidence.

My mum also rung the police officer in charge to ask advise and she said she can supply confirmation of programme the local police run going into local schools about crossing the road safely which includes parts about not playing games in the road. She’s also said the fact the road has 5 separate points to cross safely will also go in her favour.

Also advised my mum if he tries to contact or she seems him near the house to alert the insurance. My dad checked the cameras and there is a man taking pictures of my mums car late last week so he’s also going to raise with police to ensure there is a formal record of it.

The dad who is expecting a large payday is in for a shock, if any monies are due and paid they will be placed in a court account that will only become acces
sible to the child once they are 18.

Please tell your mum not to worry this is why we pay for insurance.

The insurers will investigate and instruct lawyers to represent your mum if necessary. They will guide you through any legal stuff. Your mum might have to write a statement but it will be drafted for her. 99.9% of PI claims do not end up in court.

As others have said, the insurers will deal with this on behalf of your mum. There is no need for Facebook sleuthing. It actually sounds like the lad sustained serious injuries, and even if he was at fault, there may be financial consequences for him and his family.

We are conditioned to condemn no win no fee firms as scammers, and many are. But we should also remember that having a seriously injured child can impact their parent's ability to work whilst incurring additional costs associated with hospitalisation. The way they recoup that money along with any other costs in future is to sue your mum.
Try not to take it personally, and let the insurance do their job.