Road Traffic Collision On Private Land Where (Not Accessable To The Public)

[Perseus2017]

Hello,

I will try and be as concise as I can with this, a brief paragraph on the event and then a few questions.

I was working as a sub contractor on Restricted to the public, (gated) privately owned land, my vehicle was parked in a designated parking bay. An employee of the company that owns the land (he was off duty at the time) reversed his privately owned vehicle in to mine causing damage to the front bumper. I witnessed the incident, with CCTV footage.

I know any moral person who would of done this would offer to put this right, however if the person then becomes difficult and starts to quote laws and regulations, it can start to be rather troublesome.



The questions I would like to ask are:

1. From a legal perspective, does the driver of the vehicle need motor insurance.
2. Has his company got any duty of care with regards to the incident.
3. Has the company I am working for got any duty of care.


Any advice received is most welcomed, thank you in advance.

[Old_Geezer]

No legal eagle but whether they do or do not need insurance they caused damage to your car and I'd have thought legally would have to put it right. I'm wondering if there any signs around saying that you park at your own risk.

[Perseus2017]

Hi Old_Geezer,

No signage, nothing!

[Arrods]

It's unlikely that the insurance requirements of the Road Traffic Act would apply in this situation but one must assume that the liable driver had third party motor insurance to get to the site. As such, unless the driver had minimum RTA cover (unlikely) his insurance would cover this scenario. There are moves afoot from our EU friends to extend the scope of motor insurance but it's still in the consultative stage.

[New Judge]

Yes, Arrods is quite right. Assuming he drove to the private land on public roads he would need insurance to do that and his policy would almost certainly cover him for damage to Third Party property, even if the damage occurred on private land.

However, the matter of insurance is not really the issue. Whether he needed insurance or not (and whether he had any or not) he is still liable to make restitution for any damage he causes. Having insurance simply covers him for that eventuality but having none does not make his responsibility void.

A sign that OG suggests might exist (but it seems does not anyway) would not absolve individuals from liability. Those signs are usually to protect the site owner or landowner from responsibility.

You question whether either company has a “duty of care” in the matter. A duty of care only extends to a person’s health, safety and wellbeing. You’ll find it a bit of a stretch to get it to encompass damage to vehicles.

This is quite straightforward. Another vehicle collided with yours whilst it was parked. The driver of that other vehicle is liable to pay for the damage to yours. How he does so (whether out of his pocket, via an insurance policy or via his employer) is for him to determine.
One thing you should do is inform your own insurers of the incident. Most policies contain a condition that you should inform them when involved in any incident of this type. Apart from that, if you are unsuccessful in getting the other driver to shell out you may want to claim on your own policy. If you don’t tell your insurers promptly they may refuse cover. Whilst your digging out your policy you might have a look to see if you have legal cover. If so, that may be a way to start the ball rolling.