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 😔

That would be my assumption. I don’t suppose that means that the householder can’t be responsible. Interesting question though.

(Genuinely sorry you’ve suffered the damage and aware that my question doesn’t help.)

Have you spoken to your neighbour and asked them about it? That would be the most reasonable course of action in the first instance I think.

I know in this area we've started to have to pay for our bins if they are lost or damaged and there was a bit of thing about it because nobody wanted to pay for a bin that's still then owned by the council and can't be taken with you if you move 😅

But the bin is classed as the responsibility of the home occupier and the council can issue fines if they are left on the footpath outside of collection time, I've never known that to actually happen though

The neighbour isn't home yet. They've been coming and going all day, damage happened at 11:05 but we didn't know about it until 3:30, they went out i assume on the school run and haven't come back yet. There bins are now on the opposite side of the road and 4 doors down from them after blowing away and being returned to their property at least 3 times since hitting my car. Ive just found out from 2 doors up that her wing mirror has been smashed off by one of the same bins a couple of hours after mine was hit so she is also waiting for them to get home

Sounds like matter for your car insurance.

OP should claim of their car insurance. If they are liable, the neighbour may be able to claim from their home insurance.

Make a claim on your car insurance and tell them what happened. Give them the footage from your dashcam.

If it is your neighbour's fault, they will contact the neighbour directly. The neighbour can then choose to involve their house insurance or just write back.

It doesn't matter who owns the bin because it is whoever is responsible for the bin. So the council could be responsible because the refuse team misplaced the bin (ours blocked the path today) or it could be the neighbour for not bringing in the bin.

Doesn't really matter because the insurance company will make all the enquiries. If you're comprehensively insured you'll be able to repair the car immediately.

However it's probably force majeur (formerly known as an Act of God). This may or may not be covered but any comprehensive insurance should pay out.

Unfortunately it might just be one of those things. should your neighbour have secured her bin? Probably. But it was also not her fault because of the storm. If you have a protected no claims you won't lose out.

I'm so sorry that you've got to sort it all out, but just make an insurance claim and let them deal with it.

Before thinking of next steps, wait until you speak to them. Especially if there are two of you with damage. They actually left on the school run, which means they drove past their own bins sitting there and didn’t bother to put them away so I’d be speaking to them with the assumption that they’ll pay for the damage and I’d act quite surprised if they wouldn’t, and wonder why since they didn’t bother to secure their bins.

You claim off your car insurance.

They will decide whether there is any liability/to pursue your neighbours.

I had to do the same for a trampoline that smacked into my car from somewhere up the street.

Sadly it went down as an accident that was my fault which pissed me off immensely as I was in bed asleep.

But there was no where else to claim from and it damaged a lot of different panels so was expensive.

You claim against your car insurance.
IAAL
@prh47bridge is also lawyer
Please ignore the amateurs speculating and giving their opinions on what they think ought to happen.
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