Hit by someone not insured

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Thu 26 Feb 2004 19:31
Hit by someone not insured - richard price
my daughters boyfriend has just upgraded to a very good condition Ford Escort, he paid £450 and is insured TPFT. Today a car full of 16 year olds collided with his car and caused damage to the front right wing and light, they were obviously not insured and in the care of the local authority, the Police made an arrest and will appear in court to-morrow,they also say the 16 year olds had just bought the car for £40. I seem to remember that insurance companies have a fund for uninsured situations, if there is a fund????, any advice would be most welcome.
Richard Price
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Thu 26 Feb 2004 19:52
Hit by someone not insured - Sooty Tailpipes
The scheme is run by the M.I.B. (Motor Insurance Bureau)
But I think there is a £300 excess, so unless your party has whiplash, probably a waste of time .It is usually necessary to instigate court proceedings and obtain judgement. You could always take the legal guardian (local authority) to small claims court, they may settle out of court at the last minute as they usually can't be bothered....

www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/
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Thu 26 Feb 2004 19:53
Hit by someone not insured - Sooty Tailpipes
and
www.mib.org.uk/index.asp
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Thu 26 Feb 2004 20:09
Hit by someone not insured - Hugo {P}
I'm sorry to hear about this. It is all too common I'm afraid.

The good news is that as ST says, the Local Authorety is probably the legal gardian in this respect and may therefore be liable.

If your daughter's boyfriend has uninsured loss recovery service then they may instigate a claim against the LA.

In any case PU should be along here soon and I'm sure he will give a difinative answer.

All the best

H
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Thu 26 Feb 2004 21:04
Hit by someone not insured - DavidHM
Two words: Dorset Yacht. This is a very similar case; a load of borstal boys in the late 60s were taken on a "character building" trip to the Isle of Wight. At night, they were left unsupervised while the prison officers slept and promptly caused serious criminal damage. In that case, the Home Office was held liable, basically because the complete lack of supervision was found to be negligent. It did at least establish a duty of care, but the duty can be satisfied if the LA can show no negligence.

There are later cases but, in terms of tortious liability to third parties rather than to those who are actually in the care of an incompetent authority, Dorset Yahct is the most obvious example to my mind.

So the answer, unless anyone wishes to improve on it, is that the Local Authority can be held liable - if they are negligent and that negligence can be proven. If there is no way of showing that the authority either could or should have known about the care wards' purchase of the car, or could or should have prevented its purchase or use, then there is unlikely to be any liability.
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Thu 26 Feb 2004 21:46
Hit by someone not insured - Pugugly {P}
Agree. Local Authorities' legal departments are glacial. Well worth a pop though. Uninsured loss recovery is the best bet if you have it.
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