Whilst her and her partner were driving at snails pace through an estate, from nowhere some 12 year old punk came hurtling out on his bicycle and luckily, sis-in-laws partner came to a full stop but that didn't prevent the kid from smashing into the side of the car taking the wing mirror off and denting the door etc.
Luckily (and thankfully) , the kid was ok and his mother came running out initially implying sis-in-laws partner had run into the kid. When they corrected her and swiftly showed her the damage, her tune soon changed and attitude towards her son by shouting at him something along the lines of "told you that bloody bike was a death trap" and moving it to the rear of their house.
Police were called and arrived at the scene and after one officer went to inspect the bicycle, clearly stated that the kids bike had no brakes (what a f'king idiot... goes for the parent too!!!). The police left the scene providing an incident number and leaving sis-in-law with the names and address of the mother and child.
Unfortunately, my sis-in-law seems to be with a poor insurer/ broker (but that's another story) who don't seem to be providing viable options or advice. She also has a ridiculous excess of, wait for it.... £3000
The initial quote for repairs is £1500 and it's not the sort of cash that can be spent unnoticed or without worry!
So to sum up, driving at snails pace, perfectly legal through an estate. 12 year old comes from nowhere on a brake-less bicycle and slams into the side of the car which has successfully managed to stop prior to collision. Third party acknowledges incident and police statement could (hopefully) confirm that the bicycle can be deemed dangerous due to lack of brakes PLUS it's likely the 12 year old has no prior highway code/ cycling proficiency tutoring/ training (very common when I was a young boy, don't hear of it so much now!).
I feel my sis-in-law has more than enough evidence to be successful in a small claims court if the scenario evolves to that point and unfortunately, it very likely will (not usually one to stereotype but I am stereotyping on this occasion, shamefully
). Just hoping that here there is someone who has far more experience in this sort of thing than I.
In my eyes, significant damage has happened to her car which is not the fault of her own and the person at fault is known. She should not be liable for the costs?! I have read that there are possibilities of claiming through the third parties home insurance through the public liability cover? But I doubt they have home insurance (Sorry, stereotyping again...)!
Thanks in advance for any help/ advice.
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