My son hit a parked car on his bike and scratched it.?

Question

The owner wants money from me. Could she claim on her insurance?

Answer 1

You have to step up and be responsible for your son.That's part of being a responsible parent. The woman is entitled to have her car fixed so just do it.

Answer 2

well you have two choices,

Pay her now in an agreeable situation or go to small claims court because she knows who did it and if it's worth enough for her and she'll get it back that way.

Answer 3

If was another car that hit her she would claim it back from the other parties insurance. The best thing to do would be to tell her to get in touch with her insurance and find out from them but I doubt it would cover from a bike hitting her so you may need to put your hand in your pocket to cover the damage your son caused.  

Answer 4

Why? It wasn't her insurance company that damaged the car it was your son.

If you or your son don't pay she will just go to the Small Claims Court get a judgement against you and then hand it over to the baillifs to collect.

Answer 5

This your responsibility. Why should the car owner use their insurance to pay for damage your son caused ? Pay the damages, then find a way for your son to repay you

Answer 6

Every one seems to agree, you should pay.

Her insurance is there to pay for damage she is responsible for, Whilst comprehensive policies will pay for damage caused by uninsured people, it will cost in lost no-claims and higher premium.

In any court you would be liable and believe me if she claimed on her insurance, her insurance would recover their losses from you. !!

Answer 7

I agree with the above, it would be easier to have your son pay for the damage, it should make him more careful next time. Hope he wasn't hurt, cars don't move when you run into them do they?

Answer 8

why should she...she will lose her no claim bonus. Your son hit her.

Answer 9

If she has collision coverage then yes she could claim.

How bad was the scratch? Chances are the cost to fix the scratch is less than her deductible so she probably won't/or doesn't want to claim on her auto policy.

Since you/your son are liable for the damage he caused, have her go get a few estimates to repair the scratch. Tell her you will pay her the lowest or the average of the three.

If you do pay her, make a note saying that you paid Ms. So and So for the damage to her car in the amount of $XX.  Both of you should sign the note, and each should have a copy. That way, should she try and claim from her insurance later, you have proof that she was already compensated for the damage.

Hope this helps

Answer 10

If she claims on her insurance it will cost her money. Chances are she'll have to pay her excess and then her premium will go up next year. I'm afraid it would be good courtesy for you to pay the repair bill.

Answer 11

And lose her no-claims discount? It's your son that has caused the damage and is to blame. It will be a good lesson in life for him to realise that one has to take on board ones responsibilities and not try to duck out.

Answer 12

The cost of the scratch is probably less than the deductible so using her insurance won't help. Your son is liable for damaging her car and she has the right to ask for payment.

Answer 13

If it is a large enough claim, sure, but the insurance company will sue you.  If it is a smaller claim, she is better to ask you directly.  If you do not pay the damage, then she can sue you.  Do the right thing and pay.  Think how you would feel if she hit your car with a bike and didn't pay you.

There is no open season on parked cars, she is entitled to have it restored to the condition it was in before your son damaged it.  It is no different from owing for a neighbour's window if someone in your family hit a golf ball or baseball through it.

brainwrong_danj, I suggest you read the question.  Nowhere does it say "my adult son rode his motorcycle into a car and scratched it".  If the son was old enough to be insured, the owner of the car would be talking to him, not to Mom.  The way I read it, this is a youngster on a bicycle.  Good lord, take an English comprehension course.

Answer 14

Good lord, there's some stupid answers to this question.

Firstly, neither you nor your son owe her any more assuming your son is insured., All he needs to do is report it to his insurance company and tell them that he admits liability for the accident and could they please contact the third party (the lady whose car he hit) and deal with her claim.

Your son's insurers will then pay for her repairs or give her the cash settlement to pay for them herself,

Legally, all your son and you are obliged to do is give her your contact details and insurance details and that's it. You certainly do NOT have to pay out of your own pocket if your son is insured.

You won't have to pay an excess as you only do this on comprehensive cover when you make a claim for your own damage. And her no claims bonus won't be affected as she'll be claiming directly off your insurance.

Secondly, if you don't want to involve your insurance (this is unwise) you can deal privately with her. However there's nothing stopping her taking £x*x off you, then turning round to your insurers and saying "my car is damaged, fix it" You'd have to prove that you paid her the money.

This is the exact reason you buy insurance.  

Answer 15

Yes she probably could do, but she would lose her no claims bonus and that would cost her a lot of money,  he did it, he's your son, so pay up.

Answer 16

i dont know how old your son is, but if hes careless enough to do it, he should be the one to pay!

Answer 17

It would be incredibly daft of her and unfair on her to claim on her insurance. My excess on my insurance is £400 so even if I claimed for that sort of damage I would be paying out of my own pocket and losing hundreds by losing my no claims. It must be a similar situation for her.

We all owe a duty of care not to commit any acts of omissions that we can reasonably foresee would cause harm to our neighbour (Lord Atkin in Donoghue v Stevenson 1932. The tests have moved on slightly from that case but the principle is the same)

If your son is over a certain age then he failed in his duty of care to the car owner. If he's under a certain age then you failed in your duty of care to the car owner by allowing your son to be in a position to be so negligent.

You need to pay up for the damage but it's good sense to ask for more than one quote and to each have a copy of both of your signatures on something to say that you paid. Then you need to get your son to somehow pay you back. It will teach him much more than if you somehow got him out of it.

Answer 18

If she claimed on her insurance the insurance company would want you to pay them, and there is a good chance they would take you to small claims court if you didn't pay up.

Just pay up! Your son did the damage so he/you are responsible, and make sure your son pays you back in some way as well, he needs to learn to be more careful!

Answer 19

Even if she did claim it and pay her deductible, the insurance company would then subrogate against you or your homeowners or renters insurance if you have any.  One way or another, you are going to pay for it.  If you have homeowners or renters, you can turn the claim in to that - of course, then your policy will increase.  Or, you can pay it out of pocket.  Or, you can wait for her to get a judgment against you, which will include court costs and filing fees, or her insurance company to go after you.  But, in either case, whether it was accidental or intentional, why should she pay for what your son did??

Answer 20

She could but she will still have to pay the excess and the insurance company will then look to you for payment.  If you have all risks on your household policy you can claim on that.

Answer 21

Why should she?  Not her fault, he who causes the damage pays - or his mum.

Can I come around your place & kick the windows in? It's all right, you can claim on your insurance . . .  

Answer 22

I did that once...cept I was moving about 25 mph

it hurt like h**l lol

I got the frig out of there!!

Answer 23

As far as i know,this is a question with many different answers,it is really depend on the judgement of yourself,provide a great resource here for reference though.http://car-insurance.easyideas4u.info/ca...

Answer 24

she could but why should she pay for what your son did to her car really why to the right thing and pay her

Answer 25

Yes.  She would have to pay her deductible.  Her insurance co. would go after you to recoup their loss and her deductible.

Your homeowners policy will probably pay for the damages.

Answer 26

As stated previously, yes she could but why should she when you have stated that your son caused the damage.  Even if she did the insurance company could chase you for payment.  and she could still claim her uninsured losses (Excess) from you.  His only defence would be if the car was parked in such a way that he couldn't avoid it or it was causing an obstruction.

I would suggest that you try to come to some agreement with the owner to pay for the damage.

The alternative is that the owner could issue a county court judgment against your son (small claims court) or yourself and the arbiter would make a decision based on the facts (that your son caused the damage). If you lose your case, which is likely, you will have to pay the cost of the damage plus the court costs and do you really need a CCJ lodged against your address for future credit applications?

Answer 27

not necessarily.

She may be 3rd party and she will undoubtably have a policy excess.