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Insurer pursuing for damage caused by child!!!


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Long story!!

I am a single parent with an 11 year old daughter.

We have a pony which we keep at a livery yard on a working farm.

A few weeks ago we were at the yard and the farmer was there with his quad bike.

He allowed my daughter and another child to drive the quad bike.

While they were on the quad bike it skidded into my friends horse trailer causing 2 small dents and the plastic wheel guard was damaged.

Luckily the children weren't hurt.

 

My friend pays around 5 or 6 pounds a month for insurance for the trailer.

She said she could claim for the damage and myself and the mother of the other child agreed that we would pay any excess

and cover any increase in premium at renewal if this was due to my friend making a claim.

 

My friend told me tonight that the quote for repairing the damage was over £800 as a whole panel on the trailer would need to be replaced.

There is no excess on her policy so the other mother and I were quite relieved that all we would have to pay was any increase in premium.

 

My friend then informed us that she was passing our details onto the insurance company who had said they would pursue us for the money they pay out.

The other mother and her husband are on benefits as her husband is no longer able to work after having a heart attack.

I am a single parent and I do variable shifts as a nurse.

I get working tax credit and child tax credit and as my income in variable,

some months I get some housing benefit to help towards my rent.

I cannot afford to pay the money for the repairs to the trailer and wanted to try and find out if I will be liable for the money

when it was my daughter and another girl who did the damage.

 

Due to my income, will I have to pay if I am liable.

Does anyone have any advice please?

So worried as don't know what I'll do if I'm chased for this kind of money:-(

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Deny any liability as there is no way that the Insurers would be able to pursue this. They might try, but as it involves an 11 year old, they won't bother, as the cost of doing so beyond a few letters would be more than the claim payout. If you receive any letters, then just explain that you deny any liability for any damage to a trailer, as your daughter was allowed to drive a quad bike owned by the farmer on the farmers property. It will the quad bike Insurance that they should go after, as the farmer should have some form of liability cover on the quad bike.

 

So don't worry, as this is not your responsibility. It is down to the farmer and his quad bike Insurers to deal with this. The farmer might have to explain why he let 11 year old girls drive it, as that might be seen as negligent.

We could do with some help from you.

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Thank you Unclebulgaria, that's reassuring.

 

Any further help you can offer Honey bee would be appreciated. Don't want my friend to be out of pocket over this but very worried as just don't have the kind of money the repairs will cost.

 

Thanks

x

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Any further help you can offer Honey bee would be appreciated. Don't want my friend to be out of pocket over this but very worried as just don't have the kind of money the repairs will cost.

 

I'm sorry, no-one has come forward to offer help. But Uncle Bulgaria has always given good advice in the past. Nice to see you back on the forum, UB :).

 

With luck you'll have other replies if other people in the know see your thread. If not, I would personally trust UB.

 

My best, HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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I with UB on this one. Whilst it is not a certainty that the TP's insurers will not come after you, I would be fairly confident that most claims handlers will just put this one down as the farmers fault as a) he was the occupier of the land on which the activity was taking place and as such, he has a duty to visitors under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957 to ensure that his land is safe to visit and b) it was his quad bike and I don't reckon there are going to be many judge's that are going to think that a quad bike owner who allows two eleven year old girls to ride it around their land unsupervised has ensured that there was no reasonable risk of damage to the TP's vehicle...and c) the insurers are likely to just chalk this up as an accident due to the little chance of any recovery and just bump up the TP's premium on renewal.

 

My advice would be to stop worrying about it.

 

If the insurers do present you with a recovery claim then please scan their letter of claim, removing any personal information, and post it on this thread and then we can have a look at the allegations of negligence, which should be interesting to say the least. We should all then be able to give you loads of advice as to how to repudiate it.

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If the insurers do present you with a recovery claim then please scan their letter of claim, removing any personal information, and post it on this thread and then we can have a look at the allegations of negligence, which should be interesting to say the least. We should all then be able to give you loads of advice as to how to repudiate it.

 

Well you can, as I am ok with the principles, but when it gets to the stage of quoting the various laws/cases that are relevant, I am a bit rusty.

 

I think the OP has just panicked at what was said at the time with emotions running high and they won't hear any more. I would be surprised if anyone at the trailer Insurers wasted time/money, unless they usually make the tea.

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

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  • 2 months later...

Today I recieved a letter from the trailer insurance company:

 

"We write to you regarding damage caused to (trailer owner's name) horse trailer by a quad bike being driven by your daughter.

 

Please note from the circumstances of the incident we will be looking for reimbursement of our outlay as the quad bike was being driven by your daughter when it collided with our poiicyholder's parked trailer.

 

We will provide evidence of our outlay in due course in support of the claim, however we can confirm that the cost will be in the region of £570.

 

Please can you acknowledge reciept of this letter and confirm that you will be dealing with the matter.

 

I look forward to hearing from you."

 

HELP!! What do I do now? Any advice very much appreciated

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Just found this on a website:

 

"Damage done by children. If a child causes damage , a conciliatory approach to settle the matter is probably the best solution. Legally, the child can be sued for damages if s/he is old enough to know what s/he was doing. In practice, this is unrealistic since few courts would look favourably on such an action, and a child is unlikely to have much money to pay any damages.

However, the parents of the child may be liable for negligence and damages if they have trusted the child with something dangerous that was beyond her/his capability to use responsibly, for example, an air gun. The parents may also be liable if they have failed to exercise the control that would be expected of a parent given the child's age.

 

Does this mean I can be held liable for negligence as the quad bike could be deemed dangerous? I knew my daughter and her friend were going on the quad bike and they were told to drive slowly which they did. When they were driving round the farmyard they stayed in first gear and tried to be very careful. They weren't driving recklessley, it was just a silly accident.

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Hello again.

 

As you know, I'm not a forum expert and I hope they'll be back soon. But looking at what you posted above, you didn't entrust the child with something dangerous did you? It was the farmer from what you said?

 

My best, HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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Just write back. Saying. Thank you for your letter dated xxxxxxx. May I formally advise you as the parent/guardian of xxxxxxxxxxx, that I totally dispute the allegation of any liability in regard to the matter you raise.

 

May I suggest that you contact the owner of the quadbike who supervised two young children while they were allowed to ride it, on the quadbike owners land.

 

My advice and that of Endymion in their post still applies. They are just fishing, hoping for you to pay something to admit liability. There is absolutely no way your daughter was responsible. This is down to the quadbike Insurance and trailer Insurance to resolve between them.

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

 

 Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

 

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