Can I claim and if so who off 😩

[Whowhatwhere21]

The whole passenger side of my car is smashed in and scratched. I've looked back through my camera and it's somebody's bloody wheelie bin that's smashed in to it, can even see the car shake as the bin hits it 😩 I know who the bin belongs to but can I actually claim against them and if so how? Would it be a claim on their house insurance, car insurance? Or am I going to have claim off my own insurance which right now I need to avoid if possible as IVF Is eating up all spare funds 😔

What caused the wheelie bin to hit your car? Strong wind or was someone pushing it?

More info needed. Was this a freak event and the bin was blown hard into your car by the wind in the storm (no human involved), or can you see the bin owner deliberately ramming their bin into your car?

Was it done deliberately, as an act of malice?
Was it a run away bin, or blown by the wind?
How much damage did it do, were you able to get a quote?

Since the wind has been well forecast I would say that the homeowner had a responsibility to make their bins safe

No it would be your car insurance you'd claim off.

Weather is an act of god = no liability.

You'll struggle to hold the owner of the wheelie bin liable.

Claim off your insurance and they will look at the claim to see if they can pursue costs from another party/entity.

You'll obviously have to claim off your insurance. Why you claim off someone car insurance when their car didn't hit you. It's windy it's an act of God.

Don't you have to sue God?

But what if it was bin day, neighbour put bin out (weighed down by it's contents) bin lorry arrives and empties bin, put it back on pavement empty (and light) and it then blows into OP's car. Neighbour is out so couldn't have put the bin away. Why would the neighbour be liable?

Thus sounds like one of those unfortunate suck it up situations to me - unless you can show that someone deliberately rammed the bin into your car.

It really depends how it happened, as has been said upthread. If it was someone deliberately shunting the bin into your car, that's one thing, but if it's just been caught by high winds, then there's no liability.
Ideally people would be able to secure their bins, but not every household has space/layout to do so.

If it was wind even it’s “an act of God” do you can’t claim against anyone. If it was a bin man or neighbour you could claim. House insurance sometimes has legal advice attached you could ask.

If your neighbour has been negligent (this is a high bar to prove - including notice, foreseeability etc) then you would claim against them. They might have liability insurance under a household policy but often this isn't included.

In any case you can't claim against their insurance as you aren't the policyholder. You claim against the individual and they claim on their insurance, if they have it.

Best bet is to claim on your car insurance and they will consider if there are prospects is a recovery claim. It doesn't sound likely though, it's one of those things.

Sympathies, so annoying for you.

One way to think about it is to consider how you would feel if your bin had caused damage to someone else's car/property? Would you be happy with having your insurance claimed on or having to cough up?

I mean, you can say that neighbours bins should have been secured but were your bins etc secured to reduce the likelihood of damage to other people's property? And if not, is that something you'll do in the future now that you've been on the receiving end? How would you manage that practically?

Just seems like it's bad luck. So frustrating for you but at the end of the day just bad luck.

Seems like you claim on your car insurance.

You could attempt to claim on your neighbour’s home insurance but I think you would struggle to prove liability. In some areas of the UK, there has been weather warnings for example. Extreme wind would likely be seen as something the neighbour couldn’t control.

It would be covered on liability section of neighbours contents /building insurance.
However you have to prove negligence against them.

You can try and fail.

You claim off your car insurance. Your insurers will decide whether to make a claim against your neighbour.

I see there are people on this thread saying definitively that a claim against the neighbour would fail. We don't know that. The question is whether the neighbour was negligent.

To answer a few questions...
The wind blew the bins, we are In an area with a warning today for High winds.
It is bin day today, bins were emptied 5 hours prior to them hitting my car, and were left sat at the end of the person's driveway whilst they were at home.
Someone asked if I'd be happy for someone to claim off me in this situation, yes I would. If it was minimal damage I'd pay up. If it was big damage I'd claim off my insurance to cover it if I was able to.
The damage to my car, the whole passenger side door is completely covered in scratches and dents from top to bottom spanning the whole width of the door. Rear quarter, front quarter, front wheel arch and bonnet are also badly dented and scratched and the wheel arch has also split. It isn't just a little damage, the whole passenger side of the car apart from the windows is completely damaged.

Someone asked if I'd be happy for someone to claim off me in this situation, yes I would. If it was minimal damage I'd pay up. If it was big damage I'd claim off my insurance to cover it if I was able to.

The basic principle is that if you don't mind people claiming compensation off of you then you are allowed to claim off of them, Small claims, Simples.

What insurance would you claim off if the situations were reversed? It's nothing to do with your car, so presumably not your car insurance...!

Just wondering - unhelpfully, sorry - but who actually owns wheelie bins?

Honestly I'd feel utterly shit if my bins caused any damage to someone elses property, even more shit if they had bashed in the entire passenger side of someone's car. If I wasn't home to put my bins away then I'd still feel partly responsible, but if I'd just left my bins on the street for 5 hours while i was sat in home knowing there is strong wind today, then I'd feel to blame knowing it could have been avoided if I had put my bins away after emptying.

And yes my bins were secured. I was home after emptying so they were put away straight after just like most of the surrounding neighbours did.
If the neighbour who's bins caused the damage wasn't at home then I wouldn't be so annoyed about it, but when they've been coming and going all day, driving on the wrong side of the road to dodge a bin blowing down the road at one point and still didnt bother to put their own away, that's annoyed me.
It is bad luck, but it could also have been avoided

Hence my question because I've never been in this situation so have no idea. No need for the snarky reply.
If the situation was reversed I'd claim off my home insurance if I could. If that wasn't an option then at the very least I'd be offering to pay the excess on the other persons car insurance

I think the council own them 🤔