Can I claim bike repair costs after another child rode into my son?

[Sunisfinallyherebut]

Could anyone advise on where I stand with this following issue.
My son was out on a bike ride with some of his mates. They stopped and was stationary but the boy behind him wasn’t looking ahead and crashed into him.
He was lightly injured but it caused extensive damage to his bike that he worked to pay for.
To fix it, it’s going to cost £150.
The boy was very apologetic and agreed he would pay for the cost.
A few days have passed and he now says his mum would not pay as she has no money.
I txt her and she basically said she has no money but also doesn’t see why she should always pay for her son’s damages when no one pays for her.
I sympathised with her and offered to do a payment plan but no response.
She is a single mother and I know things are tough at the minute for everyone but when i looked on her social media page. She’s been on 2 separate holidays abroad in the last 4 months which doesn’t prove she is well off but my sympathy has slightly deflated.
Where do i stand in terms of trying to claim the cost?
Thank you

Wow so rude OP if you’re like this in real life no wonder the other parent has fucked you off. What sort of a bike does your son have that needs £150 worth of repairs?

1. £150 for a bike repair is insane, and more than most people spend on a whole bike.
2. Accidents happen.
3. Literally everyone is telling you this is weird. It is weird.

Legally speaking…..

in order to claim damages you’d need to prove negligence (as opposed to accident) on the part of the boy who rode into your son. Can you? If your son had stopped without warning and/or without heed to anyone behind him and/or in a place where a collision would be unavoidable he could be deemed to have been contributorily negligent. This seems likely from what you’ve said. This would take a percentage off your “damages”.

You would like hard work OP. This is not a hill to die on, just one of those unfortunate incidents of life. Fix the bike (or buy a new second hand one for less than £150!) and move on.

I wouldn’t expect the other parent to pay either. It was an accident. Annoying, but still an accident. I feel so sorry for the other parent having to disclose she’d struggle to pay due to lack of funds. I’d be mortified. You’re making too many assumptions about the holidays. I hope this doesn’t affect the boy’s friendship.

How old is your son and the other boy? As your son has a job (he worked to pay for the bike), does the other boy? If the mother has no money, she has no money. I'd suggest your son and the other boy are the ones who need to come up with paying for the repair. Agree with looking for somewhere that can offer a cheaper repair.
It's not the same as the throwing stones example - it was an accident not intentional damage.
If my son had caused the damage, I'd probably question the scale/cost and see if I could find a cheaper repair, then stump up between 50-100% of the cost (based on what my son told me about the accident being entirely his fault or not) and have my son work back the money. But I do have £150 that I could pay with and understand that not everyone does.

You could get another bike for £150. What damage did it cause, for it to cost that much.

This is in legal so I think the OP’s asking if legally she can claim.

and the answer is ‘no’ I believe.

I wouldn’t claim on house insurance for 150 quid. It will cost you more in increased premiums.

Do what pp suggested and teach the kids how to ride in a group.

These significant unexpected costs are upsetting but it is part of having kids and them going out into the world.

Please don’t encourage your son to feel aggrieved against his friend, or entitled. I’d guess your son has shared responsibility if he never signaled he was stopping and you have responsibility in not ensuring they were trained in group riding. Encouraging a sense of grievance will just ruin a friendship. No one wins from that. Friendships are important and a rupture in the group will hurt your son more long term.

You are not going to see that money again, regardless, so accepting that and moving on is your only constructive option.

How old are these "children"? If they're old enough to earn their own money and go on bike rides without you, they are old enough to work this out between themselves. If the other boy doesn't agree to give your son anything towards repairing the damage, that's a useful lesson for him in choosing his friends more carefully.

do you have a bike co-operative near you? they are generally located in areas cycling is popular, like the housing scheme i live in.

They are very cheap for repairs. Your child could potentially have all the repairs done for £50 or something way cheaper than what i suspect is an expensive bike shop quoting for expensive repairs using brand new parts. A secondhand wheel and tyre etc will be more affordable.

I got a whole bike for my pal to commute on for £40 six years ago. Second hand but who cares. It works.

children damage things. it happens. they are children. it was an accident. If you want to insude the bike on your household insurance you probably could but itll put the premium up when you claim in future next time this happens.

How do you think you're going to make her pay for the bike? Sue her?? Have a word with yourself. Get your son on YouTube and help him learn how to fix his bike.

If your sons bike wasn't insured then unfortunately you need to pay to fix it or buy a second hand bike for less money.

Kids will be kids. They will hurt themselves, break things etc. all part of growing up. Not sure how £150 damage was caused but at the very most a 50/50 contribution here.

That scenario is not comparable.

With the car, you have insurance. You claim on the insurer, the car is fixed, and they go after the other party to recoup their loss in fixing your car. The reality is, if the other party has no money, the insurer is not going to recoup, but that’s not your problem.

The other aspect is throwing rocks at cars is not an accident, but a deliberate act. What you have described is an accident and the sort of thing that may occur if kids ride in groups.

As soon as I read that reply it made me think are you on a wind up. Its a strange thing to say after just a few replies .people who say things like that so early in a thread are often looking for a reaction.

And no the other parent shouldn't pay. Damage can accidentally happen especially with children playing on bikes.
Its life it happens.

Did you let the parents know before hand? Ie i have bought my child a bike at the cost of £xxxx. Any child who causes accidental damage. Parents will be liable to pay costs. Please play at your own risk.

Parent's may end up telling their children not to play with your child. Because they don't want the hassle.

Edit to say op had called parents who said the parent shouldn't pay. Are dead beat parents. Thats what I was replying to.

So this is a friend if you know her holiday plans and have her mobile number?

how old is your son?

Some harsh comments on here OP.

I think we need more info.

How old are the kids?
How much is the bike worth?
What is the damage and who quoted £150?
Did your son use the correct signal to say he was slowing down?

I crashed my expensive bike a few years ago. It was unrideable at the time but turned out it just needed to gear cog bending back into shape and a couple of adjustments. It only cost £50 and that included a service.

Yesterday I was out with DH. We were both riding expensive e-bikes. In a moments intention he went into the back of me…. I was fine, he fell off. There was no damage to either bike…. I know bike repairs can be pricey, but many are things you can do yourself, or aren’t strictly nexesssry. I’d be interested to know what damage was caused. But I would not be asking for payment unless there’s a lot more to the story.

You are sooooooo unreasonable !!!

From a legal perspective, it depends on the situation. If the parent was negligent by, for example, failing to properly supervise their child, they are liable. They are also liable if they encouraged the act. Otherwise, liability falls on the child. As children generally have no money, taking legal action against them is pointless. Parents may feel a moral obligation to pay if their child is liable, but they are not legally required to do so.

The same applies in your situation. There is nothing to indicate that the boy's mother was negligent or encouraged her son to crash into your son's bike, so she is not liable and legal action against her will fail. Taking legal action against the boy who crashed into your son's bike would be throwing money away. There is a good chance that the courts would decide that he wasn't liable but, even if he was, it is unlikely you would be able to recover £150 from him.

Another consideration is that you are required to minimise your losses before taking legal action. I agree with others that £150 for repairs sounds a lot for the incident described. Is that really the minimum cost for fixing it?

What sort of damage has been done to cost so much to repair? It’s a kids bike for goodness sake. That’s ridiculous. Of course the parent has said no.

Yes, you can buy a new bike for under £150 but you can also very easily spend over £150 on a saddle or a set of lights. We don't know what type of bike the OP's son was riding or what has been damaged.
If the OP's son is older than about 11 he may well be riding an adult bike and if it's a decent one it's not beyond the realms of possibility that repairs could cost £150. Damage to a rear wheel can be expensive. A broken rear mech will probably set you back £50 for the parts alone for a mid range groupset and a good one will be a lot more. I respoked a rear wheel this winter and it cost me over £70 for the (decent but not massively high end ) materials. We did the work ourselves but you can only do that if you have the tools and the skills, so labour has to go on top of that and it is a fairly time consuming job. I'd expect to pay £20 or £30 for replacement of even a couple of broken spokes in a bike shop.
It's unlikely that a lowish speed rear end shunt would cause extensive damage but not absolutely impossible,in much the same way as you wouldn't normally break bones if you trip over in your back garden, but land in a particularly awkward way and you can. I guess it's also possible that the lads may not be telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about exactly what happened! But £150 won't necessarily go very far if it's a reasonably good bike and the work is being done using genuine parts by a qualified bike mechanic in a decent shop.
OP I think you are in a bit of a tricky situation. I can't see how you can force them to pay without going down the legal route which could cost more than it is worth and will almost certainly destroy the boys' friendship forever. And it may well be hard to prove anything anyway. You may be able to claim on your home insurance, but again, as an PP has already said, the excess and potential increase in future premiums may mean it isn't worth claiming. I suspect you're going to have to put this one down to experience I'm afraid. Going forward you could indeed get your son a cheap bike for going out with his mates on and save his good one for "best" until their skill levels improve. Or look at bike specific insurance - though do read the small print carefully as some policies have so many exclusions that they're not really worth bothering with.

It was an accident caused partly by your son's actions, and not remotely comparable to throwing rocks around.