O.K then, my stepson had an accident on Friday.
He was pulling into his works carpark and braked so he was stationary, all of a sudden the car started sliding sideways on black ice, straight into a brand new Merc,C-class. This Merc was in the carpark waiting for a service and had been there overnight so no-one was in it.
When the manager of his work came out to see what had happened he said not to worry he will claim on works insurance.........later on in the day after informing the customer of the accident the manager now says my stepson will have to pay £700 for repairs to the Merc.
Now, as it was in a privately owned carpark and they hadn`t seen fit to salt the carpark, who is liable to pay for this?
I`m not sticking up for my stepson or his work but this has been hanging over him all weekend and wondered what anyone else thinks.......

Ta very much
Joan.

 

Thanks Brett,
The car in question was a Merc parked in a Mercedes garage waiting for a service that day.

Joan.

 

I would have thought, that with it all being on private property, that insurance do not necessarily have to get involved.
I do know for a fact, that after a friend had an accident in a shopping centre car park, that the police said it was nothing to do with them, as it was on private property? Either that, or they just couldnt be bothered dealing with it.
They just left it for the 2 involved to sort it out themselves.
So, I guess you could tell the people wanting money from you that you do not have insurance, and to get stuffed????
Is this possible ???

 

If it's on private land then it should be down to the company to pay for.
This is why you don't need insurance/licience to drive on private land.
They may deem the car park as public land because it is open to the public and therefore a road.
Definition of a road :
"Any road or highway to which the public have access, including bridges over which a road passes"
This means uif its open to the public it may be deemed as a road, therefore your sons insurance pay up!
Hope this helps
Milly

 

Probably not what you want to hear but it seems like it was your stepsons fault and he would be liable.If he were in a company vehicle then it would obviously be different.Technically you could say if he had taken more care in entering the carpark and assessed the conditions better,it wouldn't have happened.
Maybe work will pay it but I doubt it.

 

Very tricky. The garage could be liable for the accident by not taking sufficient precautions to prevent the accident - no gritting, etc. The driver could be considered to have been careless by not taking proper regard of the driving conditions. There are at least 3 insurance policies that could be involved.

Has the potential for costing a fortune in legal fees. I'd try for the garage insurance coughing up to start.

Colin.

 

can i ask did he stop to a halt and then all of a suden start to slide or did he break on the ice and slide sideways into the car id probably say hes at falt here
steve

 

your step son hit a stationary vehicle, ice or not thats his fault. Also if a car park has public right of way ie it can be driven into and used by the public ie for shops etc then the road laws apply.

 

Steve, yes he had STOPPED, then a second later the car was sliding into the Merc, the thing is the manager, at first, said not to worry as works insurance would pay, then later on in the day, after telling the customer(whose car it was), he said that my stepson would have to pay after all.......surely he shouldn`t have committed himself to any statement until he had checked with the big boss!

I`m only asking really because we want to know if we should go through my stepsons insurance or pay cash. He has already had a claim against him and this is pushing the premiums up even further!!

Thanks to everyone.....more info if you have it, please.

Joan.

 

joan if i was you id pay the cash cause in the long run getin the lad insured next year will be a pain just my thoughts all the best good luck
steve

 

The fact that is undeniable is that it was stepson whose car slid into the Merc, irrelevant of movement, position or location. It is down to him or his insurers to compensate the Merc owner. There do not seem to be any extenuating or unforseeable (from stepson) circumstances that would have suggested that the Merc was badly or illegally parked or in a position that might've mitigated the blame.

Sorry

 

Regarding the car park/public road thing, in Scotland there is no such thing as private ground, any car park type thing had the law extended a few years ago to cover such places hence the reason the car clubs had to stop using Asda car parks and school car parks for autotests and the like as they could be charged for dangerous driving, obviously this might/must be different in English law, another one for the Jocks to put up with till we work out if it works like the poll tax!!

 

Finally got it sorted, he (stepson) has to pay half of the costs as the garage owner admits that the Merc, which was in for repairs, should NOT have been parked in the staff carpark.

He seems happy with that so it`s all done and dusted now!!!!!

Thanks Guys...

Joan.

 

just being fussy....but if the car had STOPPED how did it start moving? was it on a hill? gravity? or was it windy? ice or no ice there must have been something acting on the car to make it move.

T

 

Yep, the car came to a stop but then slid on ice but it`s all sorted now.....done and dusted!!!

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but you were lucky only having to pay half.
As stated in an earlier posting, part of the definition of a road is "any road where the public have access", This includes carparks. As the Merc was stationary, parked and unattended and then your stepson drove into the carpark and was in control of the car at the time of the collision, it unfortuneately was your stepsons fault.It is irrelevant that the Merc was parked in a staff space rather than a service bay. The company is not at fault for not gritting the carpark as they do not have to by law.
When the owner of the Merc leaves his car with the garage,the GARAGE then assume responsibility for that vehicle as if they were the owner. It sounds as though the garage has come to an aggreement with the Merc owner as an act of good faith, and also shouldered half of the cost with your stepson, I'd say he was very lucky.
(It also sounds as if your stepson may have been a little economical with his explanation of the incident, stranger things have happened , but it sounds unlikely that he drove in very gingerly and then all of a sudden slid sideways).
If the above sounds a little rude then I apologise.

 

Isnt a car left in any car park at the owners risk , therefore i think work doesnt have to do anything.

Also there is no legal requirement to salt/grit a road if its icy etc.. just like the council dont "have" to salt/grit public roads , they have limited money to do some roads being main ones etc.. , so i dont think that argument will stand.

At best i think it can be claimed on works insurance "if" the boss decides to do that.

What about the other vehicle that slid into your sons car ? surely they can be held liable in some way even though black ice / ice was involved. If reported to the insurance company they do ask what conditions were of the day dont they.

hope this helps. dont take my word as gospel though ... maybe someone with more experience will help.

Also, you say the car was waiting there for a service ? was the car at a garage ? if so , i think the garage insurance will cover any damage that is done on the garage premises.

brett

[Edited by brett555 - 1/12/2003 11:42:34 AM]

 

Difficult one to answer really, but I think Skiddus may well be right. If it was all reversed and it was your son's car parked being hit by the Merc how would you look at it then?

I do feel sorry for your son though.

[Edited by Leslie - 1/12/2003 2:23:01 PM]