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Original poster

Card accident - deer involved - can I claim against forestry commission?

22 replies

pupuce · 20/10/2003 11:28

Friday afternoon DH (and the kids in car) had a deer jump in front of the car... I'll spare you the details but deer was shot dead later as too seriously hurt, kids fine, DH fine... car total wreck (awaiting confirmation but we expect it to be considered "total loss". Which is VERY bad news for us.
Anyone had this ? What did you claim ?
Someone suggested claiming against forestry commission. There was no postsign warning of deers on road.... and as it jumped onto the road.... DH could not even brake to avoid it.
Any advice/suggestions?
Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
pupuce · 20/10/2003 11:29

CAR accident of course....

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CountessDracula · 20/10/2003 11:32

Pupuce how awful for you and upsetting too. And poor deer Not sure about the legal angle, I don't think the forestry commission are responsible for the acts of wild animals though! May be diff if for eg you were driving through Richmond Park and it happened as the deer aren't wild. Were they in a park or on a normal road?

WSM · 20/10/2003 11:34

I would certainly persue the lack of signing etc, not sure you'd get much though. Surely your car insurance will cover it, even if it is a write off ?

Enid · 20/10/2003 11:34

This happened to a friend of mine very recently, he was fine but deer and car were write-offs. I think as deer are wild there is nothing you can do, as CD says if you were driving through a park it might be different.

Jenie · 20/10/2003 11:38

Act of God maybe

Sorry not much help just wanted to convey my sympathy.

Original poster
pupuce · 20/10/2003 11:38

It was on a normal road in Ashdown Forest. There are signs warning of deers in other areas of the forest though....

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fio2 · 20/10/2003 11:39

We live by a Forest and I have never heard of anyone being able to claim off the forestry commission. My friend had a stag jump onto his bonnet off an embankment and his car was a write off, but he managed to claim off his insurance. Sorry this has happened to you I have seen it happen loads of times and it isnt very nice

Original poster
pupuce · 20/10/2003 11:51

Insurance will pay but we would like to avoid having to have our "no claims discount" affected... and we'd love not to have to pay the excess or have it deducted if it is a write-off! Which we expect it to be

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Blu · 20/10/2003 11:58

Not sure what you could have done differently to avoid a collision even if there had been notices...doubt the deer would have read it and thought twice about jumping out at you like that.
What a horrible experience, glad you are all safe and sound, must have been v distressing.

LIZS · 20/10/2003 12:10

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you have recovered from the shock of it. Apparently it is quite a common cause of road accidents.

This happened to us about 3 years ago - same time of year. We were visiting friends in Yorkshire, driving along a country road at dusk, deer leapt out of ditch straight in front of our car. Sickening noise and the deer bounced off the bonnet into the ditch on the other side of road. We were in the dark in the middle of nowhere with no mobile phone but were fortunately just able to drive on to our friends' house. When our friend passed the scene there was no sign of the deer so we think someone had a stash of venison for the winter.

We claimed on our insurance, and took a hit on our no-claims - no claim against the deer or its "owners" (road went through a private estate). You need to check your policy but don't think actions of wild animals are usually covered. Ours caused serious damage, although luckily we were n't hurt, but not quite enough to write-off the car, despite the front end being well and truly mangled. We also had to endure a 4-hour drive in a tow truck home with then 2 1/2 yr old ds. PIA to organise on a Sunday. Also had to hire a car for about 4 weeks whilst car was assessed and repaired (not coverd on our policy as accident was deemed "our fault" ).

Hope you manage to get this sorted out.

handlemecarefully · 20/10/2003 12:15

Where was this?

I live in the New Forest where the warning signs are very prominent and everybody drives very slowly and are aware of the need to be vigilant.

Its a bit poor if there were no warning signs where you were! I hope you are over the shock - poor you, must have been horrible

Freddiecat · 20/10/2003 12:22

Pupuce - I grew up in the New Forest (where do you live handlemecarefully?! I was in Lym)and I've also never heard of anyone claiming against the Forestry Commission.

Infact (sorry to alarm you) I have heard of people having to pay for the "disposal" costs of the animal. However I think these were cows and horses which are owned by people whereas the deer are wild.

I would have thought your car insurance should pay out! Might be worth a strong letter of complaint to the FC tho as there were no signs.

suedonim · 20/10/2003 13:36

My ds had an accident involving a deer - no damage to him or his GF, lots of expensive car damage, terminal damage to the deer. We had to claim on our insurance as deer are wild and aren't under anyone's control so it isn't anyone's 'fault' as such - it's just one of those things.

There is a campaign in Scotland to change the law on this but I'm not holding my breath. Btw, I don't think it affected my No Claims as we have that protected - maybe yours is too?

Jimjams · 20/10/2003 15:04

NO sorry i don't think there's much you can do. There have been a couple of deaths locally in the last few months from deer running into roads and the campaign for signs has been taken up with the normal sign people (highways agency???). If it was a farm with a dodgy fence maybe (deer fences need to be very high)- but not if its a wild animal not fenced in iyswim.

Glad everyone's OK though, even if the car isn't. Must have been scary.

GeorginaA · 20/10/2003 15:08

This happened to my parents once - fortunately it was a company car so I think it was all sorted out under the company's insurance.

Of course, my dad didn't help matters much when he phoned up the forestry commission (this happened one December) because he was worried the deer was seriously hurt when it limped off into the trees. He told them he'd hit a reindeer. They put the phone down on him thinking it was a prank call!

You have my sympathies. Hope you're all feeling a lot less shaky now.

Easy · 20/10/2003 15:11

I don't think you have a claim against the forestry commission, but might be able to get some compo from the county council if there is no signage in this part of the forest, as there is in other parts. I believe the council has authority for road signage (except motorways, when it's the highways agency).

Don't try asking the council tho' they have a policy of denial about any such responsibilities (I mean councils in general). Do you have a friend of a friend who's a solicitor? Might even be worth a fixed-fee interview (usually about £25 i think)

Original poster
pupuce · 20/10/2003 15:24

hi all, pupuce's hubbie speaking...
many thanks for your feedback. Given the circumstances of the accident, I think the council is a better bet. There is no signage where I was driving, and the hedge bordering the road prevents anyone from seeing anything before it moves out onto the road.
What do you mean by compo, easy?
For those worried about the poor animal (Daddy hit Bambi, hope DS forgets that sooner rather than later...), we called the rangers before the insurance company and they came quickly, had to put it down of course

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fio2 · 20/10/2003 17:05

Oh it is horrible mr pupuce, I have had near misses many times and I am sure they look you straight in the eye! I would try the council but I wouldnt hold out any hope Im afraid but good luck

Easy · 20/10/2003 17:07

compensation mr pupuce. If an accident can be due to their negligence, the council can be asked (or legally forced, if you or your insurers go to court), to compensate you.

My dad burst a tyre by hitting a jutting-out curb when they had put in traffic calming measures without warning signs of the road narrowing. He got that by writing to them, but your insurers or solicitor may want to persue the council on this one, perhaps to get your excess??

Bron · 21/10/2003 10:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bobsmum · 21/10/2003 10:45

My dad had the same problem with a deer a few years back and I'm sure like Bron's bro's BIL (that's a mouthful!) he had to pay for the deer; must have been protected or something similar. Car wasn't written off but was very badly damaged.

Original poster
pupuce · 27/10/2003 22:29

quick update - no news about who we can claim againt but we are trying the council.
The insurers have already paid us - and well too.... we bought a new car (used) this AM....

Thanks for all your posts

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