Liability for damage caused by helmet
Question
I was popping into my local supermarket to pick up a couple of things and parked my bike up. I put the foot rest down and was getting off when the rest collapsed and in trying to rescue the situation I fell into the car next to me and hit it with my head. Fortunately I was still wearing my helmet. I went into the shop and asked them to make an announcement as I had badly dented the car. I then gave my insurance details to the owner. The problem is that my insurer MCE will not pay for the damage saying it is not a matter for the insurance and say I must pay! Are they right?
Sally Williams, Luton
Answer
Section 145 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires that drivers of all vehicles ‘on a road or other public place’ must have compulsory motor insurance to cover death or personal injury ‘arising out of the use of the vehicle’. Insurance also covers property damage caused to others like in your case.
You need to tell your insurer that your case clearly falls into “arising out of the use of a motor vehicle” and it was at a public place. The accident was closely connected to using the bike even though you were not riding it at the time.
If your insurer doesn’t back down then I would complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) which resolves individual complaints between financial businesses and their customers
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