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

You are a cf. It would be a no from me... It wasn't intentional as your throwing stones example would be. Shit happens.

The Legal board has a long tradition of completely ignoring the law and focusing only on moral issues or what the poster would do. It's not going to change!

She can't. The parents aren't responsible for damage caused by their children unless there was an unreasonable failure of supervision.

If you have insurance for bikes on your contents policy you could claim for repairs against it

My Son broke his collarbone when another teen accidentally cycled into him. Bike also ruined.

It would never have occurred to me to ask them to pay for the broken bike. The child was incredibly apologetic and so upset that his pal was hurt. Accidents happen and you don’t want to ruin your children’s friendships.

Stuff gets broken when you have kids. Sad but true. So don’t buy them expensive stuff.

I’ll tell you what, if I was a parent of this friendship group I’d be banning my kid from going on bike rides with your kid. Too financially risky!

£150 for a bike repair is crazy
It seriously isn't to be fair..
If the derailleur is smashed that's probably the most expensive part of the bike, add labour costs and it'll be a lot more than £150.00.
Even a smashed wheel rim, add labour and VAT and it adds up.

However when we've had stuff happen when ours were kids, we just let it rill otherwise it will cause years of bad feeling and you are unlikely to get any money from them anyway.

If you child plays with rocks and throws it around and damages someone’s car. Should you not have to pay for damages as they were just playing???
Not comparable. One is bad behaviour causing damage maliciously, gbe other us an accident.

Equating a criminal act like throwing stones that damage cars, to someone riding into the back of someone else makes you sound a bit unhinged.

Legally, if damage is down to an unavoidable accident, you don't have any claim for damages. And while this doesn't sound entirely like an unavoidable accident (as defined in law), it isn't reckless or malicious behaviour, just normal child behaviour so would effectively be treated the same.

I understand why you're upset and think it would be the right thing for the parent to try and provide some money towards repair, but they don't have to and clearly aren't going to. So you will be better off accepting that than getting worked up over it.

This is ridiculous - who knows whether your son abruptly stopped. It isn’t like car claims!

Can you claim it on your house insurance?

Your son can claim on his own insurance, or maybe your house insurance?

I wouldn’t pay £150 either.

I think you’re ok to ask and I would pay if my child did this and the payment plan would be off his pocket money if I didn’t have the money. And I’m a single mum!

Nope. There isn’t a hand signal that is actually used by any cyclists anymore (it exists, but literally no one uses it). And, like driving, if someone goes into the back of you, it’s their fault.

OP is still being a bit ridiculous, but it’s not right to be blame the kid for getting ridden into.

Stuff like this happens, and I’m not convinced I’d ask the other parent to pay unless I genuinely couldn’t afford it myself.
It sucks and I’m sure the kid feels bad, but he wasn’t being malicious.

What is the actual repair? Is there a local cycling charity/second hand bike shop/repair cafe type place nearby that could do it cheaper than Halfords or a local bike shop? You son should maybe look into learning to fix his bike himself even. Lots of these sorts of places have very cheap
or free sessions where people can learn basic bike mechanics. They’re not complicated machines. I repair and maintain my own bike and my kids bikes and just watch YouTube videos if it’s a trickier thing. Where did you get the £150 quote from?

You offered her a payment plan ? 🤣🤣 Kids play on bikes, accidents happen. You can't expect her to pay, you are being a CF. You were not even there you son could have stopped abruptly or not signalled properly. Cant wait for you ds to crash into someone's car when he is older

I agree, except for the last bit. If a child is using a bike for daily transport or a sport, then they do need a decent bike. It might be second hand (or even 3rd or 4th hand), but a light bike with good components is something that is worth spending money on if it’s used often. Bikes aren’t toys, and £150 for a repair isn’t completely insane a price. It doesn’t even mean the bike itself was incredibly expensive. But a bike mechanics time and the parts for replacing something like a rear derailleur could easily come to £150.

This. Things happen. If the shoe was on the other foot would you think you should pay?

Even though it’s annoying, let’s be honest when kids are playing things can happen and I don’t think you can ask for money. Accidents happen when kids are playing either outside or indoors. I have some of kids friends coming over for a playdate and they accidentally broke toys. I never even considered asking for their parents to buy us new ones.

This is shameless 😳

It was an accident. The only time I've paid for something like this was when ds was about 7 and scratched a neighbours car with his scooter. He admitted it to the neighbour immediately and we covered the cost of the paint job. (Co incidentally another child done it to another neighbours car but blamed ds, the parents were adamant it wasn't their golden child and we should foot the bill, until the neighbour who's car was damaged pulled their cctv and it was cf neighbours child!). You can't charge parents for children playing, I know it's frustrating, but it's part of growing up. As for the fact she's been on two holidays in 4 months so what? I'm broke and haven't long come back from an AI holiday...... that took me 16 months to pay each month for.

She didn’t run into the bike, she can’t afford to pay. Stop stalking her!

This is just part of life. He didn't borrow the bike, he didn't intentionally damage the bike. It is just one of thise annoying things that happen

OP, this is nobody's fault but an accident. I would be really happy my DS had mates to ride bikes with and not want to alienate one. What is the damage to the bike? You have to go some to damage things with a push bike and a collision would normally involve minor damage to both bikes. I cycle in a group regularly but would never expect the other participant in a collision to pay for any damage. It just isn't how it works.

No, I wouldn't. But, I also make sure bikes are covered on my home insurance.