Taxi insurance

[thejanegirl]

My partner is a taxi driver private hire who obvs has business insurance.

A pedestrian ran out in front of his car last week.

The 17-year-old lad survived but is very badly hurt.

Police said my partner was totally not at fault in fact his evasive action could have prevented a tragedy (he had passengers in at the time).

Now his firm, which act as insurance brokers through Royal Sun Alliance, are saying he isn't covered for this kind of incident in terms of loss of earnings.

It happened on the Friday of Bank Hol weekend and he was unable to work until the Tues as had no car so estimates he lost about £600 - £800.

Obviosuly terrible thing to happen but police suggest lad may have been drinking and certainly ran over four lanes of busy A road in the dark, so some degree of blame there I feel.

Any suggestions? Tried a few local law-firms but most won't touch as no physical injuries to partner - though he is having panic attacks and nightmares - and no motoring offence has been committed.

He is back on the road now because we are desperate for cash - blown all savings for engagement ring on bills and rent for this month.

Please help!

[Trojan1401]

This is an unfortunate situation however under his taxi insurance, there will almost certainly NOT be any provision for loss of earnings following an accident. I believe some of the specialist brokers do offer a policy to cover this but as a separate "financial loss" policy. If it was non fault and a traceable insured Third Party vehicles was involved then loss of earnings could be reclaimed as an uninsured loss.

Technically, there may be recourse against the pedestrian if negligence can be proven but such instances are very rare - even if the pedestrian was allegedly under the influence.

I'm sorry to be negative however you will probably find that a claim will be made for injury by the pedestrian against your other half's insurance policy ( and by the passengers ). This will unfortunately affect his no claims bonus.

Even when circumstances appear to be clear cut that the pedestrian is at fault, damages are nearly always awarded to the pedestrian against the insured driver.

Sorry that it's not what you wanted to hear.

[princess jane]

Thanks.

It all seems so unfair. He works really hard and I have two jobs - we have nearly cleared a lot of our debts.

Now it feels we are back to square one, just because some daft kid (allegedly) couldn't be bothered to walk 400 yards up the road to a pedestrian crossing.

We have spoke to a solicitor who suggested writing a polite letter to the parents expressing regret at the incident and pointing out my partner's losses.

I know a similar thing happened to a pal when a teenage girl jumped in front of her car.

She contacted the mam who sent her a cheque for £50 and a letter of apology.

Might be worth a try once the laddy is out of hospital.

[PKea]

Personally, I wouldn't write to the parents.

Although he is in the wrong (alledgedly) your hubby has harmed their son.
Some parents will say that its their sons fault and apologise, and others will blame your hubby regardless of his actions and this may aggravate them more.

Just My Opinion though, I have seen people react both ways.

P

[princess jane]

*sigh* all just seems so unfair.

Partner is looking into getting loss-of-earnings protection in case of future 'incidents'.

[Rob S]

The circumstances are unfortunate, but the advice given above is unfortunately correct. I had an accident back in 1984 involving a drunk pedestrian who just shot out in front of my car. I was able to take some evasive action and I ended up clipping him with the front nearside corner of the car. He ended up with a broken leg ( he was so drunk he couldn't even feel the pain at the time). Luckily, 4 independent witnesses came forward and told police what actually happened.

To cut a long story short, I received a letter from solicitors a few months later stating they were sueing me for my alleged negligent driving. I passed it on to the insurance company and they repudiated the claim. But as to claiming for the damage to my car it was effectively a non starter. Luckily the damage didn't render the car undriveable and only amounted to about £200.

It is very unfair when accidents like that happen. Lets hope that the EU are unable to force the UK to adopt changes in laws where it will be up to the driver of a car to prove they were not negligent should they have an accident with a pedestrian or cyclist. These laws already exist in some EU countries (Netherlands and Germany I seem to recall) and they are pushing for all EU member states to adopt them. It will be a sad day if the UK is forced to adopt such laws which go against all the usual conventions of fairness.

[princess jane]

I'm sorry to hear that.

I have been doing a fair bit of research and info from the Law Society seems to suggest if there was pedestrian wasn't taking reasonable precautions and if drink/drugs were an issue then any compo claim would be reduced or maybe even struck out.

Here's hoping the lad makes a full recovery, my partner has a good and safe weekend on the road and the whole thing is sorted without any unpleasantness.

[Pliny the Penuriosus]

You could write to the parents & tell them that you hold their son liable for your losses & request the name of their Information Commissioner. Some home policies cover such T/P incidents & you have nothing to lose

[thejanegirl]

Originally Posted by Pliny the Penuriosus

You could write to the parents & tell them that you hold their son liable for your losses & request the name of their Information Commissioner. Some home policies cover such T/P incidents & you have nothing to lose

That was suggested to us by a sols, though he warned the letter would need to very sensitive and written at a time when the lad's condition was more stbale.

Worth a try if nothing else.

On a plus note one of my partner's passengers at the time has sent him a lovely card saying it wasn't his fault and he did a great job of stopping them from getting hurt.

[Phonesurgeon]

Hiya i don't know if this is going to help or not.
I ve spoken to an old mate of mine who has been a taxi driver since.... well since i can remeber.
He basically said that:
if the person was drunk once in the hospital the medical staff would certify that, and he has not got a lot to stand if he file for compensation, also if he was drunk the police could throw their 2pence worth and arrest/file a report(which is really good news for you);
the only peoples that could actually claim for damages out of your partner insurance are the passengers.
You could file against the drunk person for your partner loss of earning.
I hope this helps, if not please accept my apology.