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

Is the bike insured under your home insurance?

Nope, I wouldn’t be paying and if you came back to me with a “payment plan”, the response certainly wouldn’t be polite.

If they are throwing stones thats deliberate (and likely Criminal) damage. Totally different to an accidental damage to a bike in the circumstances you set out.

You my friend are an utter coin! This was an accident!!!! You’re extremely unreasonable in every sense of the word

A new rear derailleur on a mountain bike could easily cost that once you include labour.

Throwing rocks and stones deliberately is different from a bike accident. Just fix your boys bike

Here’s my non qualified opinion about the law:

A claim would be founded in negligence. To win a claim against the mother you would have to show the mother had done something (or not done something) that directly caused or contributed to the accident, in a way that a reasonable person would not have (or would have).

I don’t think you can show that.

You could sue the child, but children aren’t held to the same standard of behaviour or judgment as adults, and anyway the child doesn’t have any money so even if you won you’d not be able to collect anything.

Overall you’ll just have to suck it up.

The other boy’s mum should pay, and the boy knows this, hence offering. I would pay if my child’s carelessness had damaged property. I wonder if the people saying you should just accept it, would feel the same if the boy had accidentally crashed into someone’s brand new car and a damaged it….

However, she has no money and clearly has no intention of paying, so that avenue is closed. You may be able to claim on your own home insurance, but I imagine that would end up costing you more than £150 in time, effort, and future premiums.

I wonder if the people saying you should just accept it, would feel the same if the boy had accidentally crashed into someone’s brand new car and a damaged it….

Yes, exactly the same. Children can be expected to have accidents. If you leave your car on the street that’s a risk you accept. That’s one reason why accident and home insurance exists: to cover the risks that your property gets damaged through nobody’s fault.

It's unlikely to be a broken derailleur though. If that was smacked it would likely result in a bent derailleur hanger. And they can be had for about a fiver.

I think the OP really needs to post a photo of what this 150 quid of damage is. The OP has not said if this is a 3 grand Colnago road bike or a 200 quid Halfords own brand.

Depends how hard it was hit. I’ve seen cages twisted beyond all recognition, although that is usually in big crashes. And of course the cage can usually be replaced without replacing the entire mech.

Without knowing what the bike is and what the damage was it’s impossible to say of course. But I live in an area where mountain biking is very popular and there are a lot of kids on expensive bikes. DS has a (second hand thankfully) carbon full susser and is by no means an exception.

You're out of order here. It's an accident, kids don't have insurance nor would parents have insurance to cover accidents like that. You however may have insurance on your house policy so check that. It's totally underfair for you to try and get it off the other kid or his mum. I get your boy is disappointed but it's stupid to buy him a bike that expensive without putting it on your own house cover.
Fix it yourselves or buy a second hand replacement.

These things happen when kids are out on bikes - it would be a nice gesture if the other parent paid but £150 is a lot of money and I don't think you should force the issue. Check your home insurance and explore other repair options. If my kid did that amount of damage to another bike I'd offer to pay, but equally if another kid did that damage to my kid's bike, I'd just take it on the chin rather than make things difficult. This is why I buy our bikes off marketplace rather than new - if the bike is an expensive full suspension deal then get it insured.

150 quids worth of damage? Seriously? Either there is more to this or you’re trying to get her to pay for damage fhis kid didn’t cause.

Don't be ridiculous

I don't think there is anything you can do about it was an accident and children on bikes don't have insurance.
If she can't pay i don't see how you can force her to

Honestly, I can see why you asked her to pay and if I were the mum I would have contributed - i also would have asked like you did and i am not sure why people are upset you asked, given the situation. I think the sticky issue here is -

1. It wasn't deliberate, and it also wasn't stupid playing around (e.g. in your rocks near cars example, clearly that's kids asking for trouble whereas this was a genuine accident during sensible play)
2. £150 is an insane amount, I totally appreciate your son loves and cares for his high end bike but my dd has a £90 2nd hand bike from a charity shop - I'd be really disinclined to pay nearly double the cost of my own child's bike for someone's high end bike damaged in a mainly mutual accident.

If I was the mum I'd have said "I'll meet you in the middle" but the reality is, how are you going to force the issue? Or will your son not want to play with his friend anymore if you cause a fuss, or vice versa? Ultimately, she has said she doesn't have the money, nobody is insured (if it's a really expensive bike, I'd look at insurance moving forward for your own use - this kind of accident is fairly inevtiable and there probably is insurance you can use for this out there). I'm just not sure there's much you can do and it sounds like the friend is a sweet boy who has apologised, so I'd not want to upset/ruin that. I'd help your son fix anything mechanical and cosmetic damage can be left and move on, don't upset yourself looking at her social media and clocking the holidays, nails, hair, dinners or whatever else she happens to do - she is entitled to her life and it doesn't really tell you much, social media is full of exaggerations etc.

Cycling into someone’s bike should not cause £150 of damage unless the bike is rubbish and in poor condition so a write off OR the bike is incredibly expensive to start with.

Assuming the latter - why have you not got your own accidental damage insurance on it?

This is part and parcel of life cycling and playing out together. It wasn’t malicious and was accidental.

Me too, it doesn't sound like this was anymore than an accident.

You can't reclaim the cost, just be glad noone was hurt and leave the woman alone before you damage your reputation.

These are kids playing on bikes. You are being ridiculous. Leave it alone.

OP, no - just no.
Children out playing on bikes, accidents happen.
How old is your child?
And as for asking the parent to pay via a payment plan....oh my goodness!!!

she also doesn’t see why she should always pay for her son’s damages

How much stuff is this kid breaking that she phrased it as always paying for it??

The OP is not asking whether or not she is morally right in asking for the £150 to repair the bike, she is asking how can she enforce the other child's family paying.