It has been reported in our local press that a member of the PSNI is to sue the owner of a stolen car in the civil courts for injuries he received while trying to recover his vehicle. The man had his house burgaled and his car keys stolen. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse!
Thoughts.
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Link?
I suspect however the owner's insurance will cover the damage and that suing the owner is simply a means of accessing the cash.
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Key phrase might be:
Despite the fact that such injuries happened while on duty, the PSNI has insisted that they are a "private matter" for officers.
So, injured in course of duty, their employer resiles from it's obligation and officers look or another avenue.
Or is it a leg lifter?
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Had this been posted on 1st April I'd had laughed...
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Usual load of misinformation and half truths to make a story I suspect.
1 If you are injured by a vehicle you are entitled to seek redress against the driver of the vehicle whether you are a police officer of a member of the public.
2 If the driver was uninsured the MIB will meet the claim (they have redress against the driver but the chances of recovery are normally slim).
3 To make a claim you would write to the Insurers of the vehicle holding the driver liable.
4 The Insurers would check with the policy holder to see if the driver was authorised to drive said vehicle.
5 If not they would decline the claim and refer you to the MIB
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I think it will work out as GCN says but why was it necessary for the police officer's solicitor to write to the victim saying that he was being sued personally rather than his insurance company.
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I think it is because the civil claim by the Police Officer (Plaintiff) has to be made against the car owner (Defendant). The insurance company underwrites the losses of the Defendant so all documents are passed to them to deal with. In reality the injured party will normally deal directly with the Defendants insurers who will acknowledge the claim provided they are informed by the Defendant.
Historically in damage only RTCs you did not have to provide insurance details, so if the party causing the loss refused to play ball then you would have to instigate a civil claim against that person.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Sun 24 Mar 13 at 01:18
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>> I think it will work out as GCN says but why was it necessary for
>> the police officer's solicitor to write to the victim saying that he was being sued
>> personally rather than his insurance company.
>>
You read of something similar sometimes when a child sues a parent, sometimes also badly injured in a crash.
It just seems to be the way the legal system works - adversarial. And they wonder why we have a blame culture.
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>>Historically in damage only RTCs you did not have to provide insurance details, so
>>if the party causing the loss refused to play ball then you would have to instigate
>>a civil claim against that person.
Yup, I was run into the back in about 1982. At a red light by a motor cyclist. His head dented my tailgate, but he was fine. He refused to tell his insurance company and moved house.
I played private detective, located his new address and got him checked out. Legally speaking, a man of straw and not worth suing. So I lost my no-claims. I believe from what I was told he'd have a very hard job renewing the insurance for a sensible price as I did find out what company he was with, and although they basically believed me, but would do nothing unless they were told by the policyholder.
Law is now different and you can't escape liability by not telling your insurance company.
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Learnt something new at CAB the other day. Had a chap ask me on getting details of insurance of another driver after an accident where approaches to the driver concerned had drawn a blank. In fact took two similar questions in an hour. There are three routes to sort this.
1. MIB will give you the details for a tenner
2. The Police will provide for a cost of around £30.00
and very surprisingly
3. The DVLA for £2.50 !
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>> Learnt something new at CAB the other day. Had a chap ask me on getting
>> details of insurance of another driver after an accident where approaches to the driver concerned
>> had drawn a blank. In fact took two similar questions in an hour. There are
>> three routes to sort this.
>>
>> 1. MIB will give you the details for a tenner
>>
>> 2. The Police will provide for a cost of around £30.00
>>
>> and very surprisingly
>>
>> 3. The DVLA for £2.50 !
Yup, you just need to be able to provide a valid reason. The DVLA list of valid reasons is very long.
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>>
>> 3. The DVLA for £2.50 !
The DVLA will supply keeper details with reason but insurance?
I thought they just had access to a Y/N flag for purpose of checking at MVL renewal time.
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So how can the car owner be negligent, unless he actually gave the keys to the thief? What can the case for suing him be based on?
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He isn't and they won't be suing him once he advises that the car was stolen and the drivers was in no ay authorised by him.
That has to be established before it becomes a matter for the MIB
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Police officer sues stolen car victim. - Bromptonaut
