insurance claim

[suemor7]

I recently hit an illegally and badly parked car while swerving to avoid an object.Will I be liable for a claim against me?

[Ethel]

Your insurance company will be, yes.

[Grunty]

You will be liable for a claim against you. Your insurance may well cover the claim, but not if you have the minimum insurance required by law.

[suemor7]

suprised by this-I thought that as the other car was in a prohibited parking zone, their claim might be invalid

[Buenchico]

Your liability (or lack of it) to pay for damage to someone else's property is based upon the concept of 'negligence'.

If a court was asked to rule on who should pay for the repairs, it would have to assess whether it occurred solely because of your negligence. If it was satisfied that this was so, you would be held liable for the full costs of repairs.

However, if the court decided that the damage occurred partially because of the negligence of the other driver (through parking badly) it could decide that he was responsible for paying a certain percentage of the total repair costs (including any repairs to your own vehicle).

I disagree with Grunty. The minimum insurance required by law is 'third party' which includes all claims for loss or damage suffered by a third party. Therefore, any claim against you can be referred to your insurers. It will be up to them to decide whether it's worth their while contest the degree of liability.

Chris

[jake-the-peg]

You should be in sufficient control of your car not to hit an obstacle in the road however badly parked it might be.

Suppose it had been a child and not a car!

It would probably be different if the object came off of a vehicle in front of you in which case it would probably be the fault of that person but in general you're expected to drive in such a way as to be able to cope with an unforeseen obstacle.

Although it must be said that in practice few of us do all the time.

[ianess]

Hard as it may seem it's a difficult position to be in if you're trying to say that a stationary vehicle, skip, or whatever was to blame for you not being in sufficient control to avoid it.
Certainly sounds as though you were the one to cause the damage, so yes, your insurance company will probably have to stump up.

[deadley]

Yes you would be liablie ( or your ins co would be) but there is a case law where a proprtion of the blame was passed against the person who's car was parked causing the obstruction, at the moment I am struggling to find the case law but I will try and locate it for you!

[suemor7]

sorry-should have been clearer-the object I was avoiding was a sudden movement in front of the bonnet of the parked car and when i instinctively braked, my car skidded slightly on the wet road and hit the car which as wellas being illegally parked was parked a good 18 inches out from the kerb. the movement turned out to be a pigeon yet it could as easily have been a child but my view of the kerb and pavement was blocked by the car.