My son has crashed his friends bike, and as he was under 16 he is uninsured. Who is liable in Law?

Question

The owner of the bike did not give permission for his bike to be used and my son hit two parked/unoccupied vehicles and did not have a licence. No other parties were invovled in the accident.

Answer 1

Hi, sorry to hear about that. Ooops!!
Technically your son will be liable, however as he is uninsured the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) will pay for the damage to the other vehicles, providing they are insured and on the road legally. With regards to the taking of the vehicle, your son's friend is in a difficult position. If he says he gave permission for the use of the bike he has permitted no insurance and no driving licence, 2 offences under road traffic legislation and his insurance will not pay for damage to the bike. If he maintains that your son "stole" it he may get paid for damage to his own bike if the insurance covers it, otherwise he may have to claim off your son and your son will have taking and driving away on his record.
If your son has no criminal record and he makes full admission as to his involvement in the offences the Police may recommend a caution rather than go to court. A heartfelt plea from a parent/guardian along with a tearful son in tow, goes a long way to making the officer consider this. It would also be prudent to pay for the damage to all the vehicles involved and prove this to the officer in charge of the case. Police usually cannot proceed with a criminal investigation if no one has made a report to them. The victims in this must have made statements to Police as to damage to their vehicles. If the damage is paid for then they may retract these statements therefore reducing the level of blame on your errant son. Be careful as to how they are approached as any retraction must be voluntary and no level of pressure must be put on them either deliberately or perceived. There is less paperwork involved for Police when a caution is administered and the force will have a "clearance" for a crime. (everyones' a winner)
A caution does not mean that he is getting off with anything, rather it is a way for Police to "clear" a crime as Home Office statisticians require someone to be held responsible for an offence and be dealt with in order to say that Police have "solved" it. They do not care if the offender goes to court or not.
Really, he has to own up to his responsibilities and actions and show he will not repeat this. A good way of doing this is to get a part time job in order to pay for the damage if he hasn't one already.
Your son is a juvenile and will be treated in a different manor from an adult. Check how long a Police caution/conviction stays on his record. Depending on the offence it can be "spent" when he becomes an adult.
Furthermore, speak with citizens advice and remember that your first consultation with a solicitor should be free of charge.
I hope this will help you in some way and that you'll stick your toe in your son where the sun doesn't shine.
I am basing this on Northern Ireland legislation and Policing procedure, although I imagine there will not be a huge difference if you are on the mainland.

Answer 2

From a claim perspective, the adjuster will look first at insurance that covers the bike (assuming it's a moped or the like). Insurance follows the vehicle, not the operator. Had your son been given permission to operate the bike (even if by a minor friend, not necessarily the owner), then coverage would be afforded under the policy covering the bike (assuming there is one). This is called permissive use and is covered by most motor vehicle policies.

If your son had no reasonable belief to assume that he had permission to operate the bike (the standard applied by courts), then coverage will not be provided by the policy since there was no permissive use. The damage to the bike will most likely be covered by the owner's insurance since there was direct physical damage to it, but they will most likely deny all liability for the other vehicles and any injury sustained by your son.

The next step, the insurance company will likely come after you for the damages to the bike via subrogation (insurance term for getting their money back from the responsible party). In addition to that, the owners of the damaged unoccupied vehicles may choose to have their own insurance companies pay for the damages. In turn, those insurance companies will subrogate against you for the damages. Instead of using their insurance companies, they may choose to sue you in small claims court. Either way, since your son is a minor (I am assuming 15 years old), you are legally responsible for him, his actions and any damages he caused.

You would then look for possible insurance coverage to pay for the damages. Your homeowner's policy would deny coverage (most likely) because a motor vehicle that is licensed for road use was involved in the accident. There are other exclusions that would apply, but this is the first one they'll turn to. If you meant it was a bicycle he was riding, you have a better chance of getting some coverage here. Your auto policy will likely deny coverage because it was not an insured vehicle that did the damage, it was technically an illegal act, and there are a few other exclusions that would likely apply.

If you have an umbrella policy, you may find some coverage there. I think exclusions would still likely exist for the illegal nature of the act (though there may be an age clause in there), but it's worth a try.

You're in an ugly situation here. Best of luck to you!

Answer 3

Unfortunately, If he did not receive permission to take the bike then it would be classed that he had stolen it.
As damage caused as part of the theft the insurers would pay up to the third parties so long as he admitted being the driver. The damage to the bike itself may also be covered under this circumstance. The insurers may file for damages against the parent of the minor. He would have a criminal record.
Bad luck!
If he did receive permission the chap who provided permission would also be prosecuted and the insurers would not pay up. However, the insurers of the other vehicle would look to the owner for damages. The youngster would probably end up with a driving ban applicable when his license came in force.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

I reckon it is you the parents, Your son steals his friends bike crashes it damages two other vehicles, Wirth friends like your son his mates dont need enemies.
My "Mates" stole my Honda 50 drove round town like loonies and returned it, they parked it in slightly the wrong place and I could not work out where the scratches on the carrier came from.... only found out several weeks later but if they had cashed it I would have had to reported it to the police otherwise I would be permitting the use of an uninsured motor vehickle so I reckon your son will be done for TWOCing Taking without consent, the bike and will be in danger of being sued for the damage.
You should settle the costs from your own funds because he is under age and you should have instilled the concept of right and wrong into him and ergo it is your fault.

Answer 5

There's two things here.

1] Son is liable to charges of Taking Without Owners Consent, Driving without a Licence (or more accurately Driving While Disqualified), Driving without Insurance, Driving Without Due Care/Criminal Damage.

2] I think the fiscal liability may well fall back on you as parents of a minor.

You need to take legal advice pdq, most solicitors will give you the first interview free.

Answer 6

It sounds like your son is in a whole lot of trouble. He can be prosecuted for driving under age, taking a vehicle without the owners permission, having no insurance, not having a drivers licence and damaging two other vehicles, this accident could cost him ( or you ) a fortune, plus he will have points on his licence, when or if he applies for one. I certainly wish you luck, I think you're going to need it !

Answer 7

I'd imagine your son is and if he is under-age, his legal guardian; you.

I have a feeling the Law will hold you responsible for "letting it happen" by not educating your son and explaining the full responsibilities of his actions, or being on his shoulder to stop him, bla, bla, etc.

Hopefully you have family insurance that covers you in some way and that your insurance company won't walk away laughing.

Its similar to the third party insurance we had on one of our company vehicles. Someone read the fineprint and we were shocked to read that the basic only covered anyone else outside the car. If the car were driven into a tree on the side of the road, neither the driver, passenger, vehicle nor damage to the tree would be covered...

Either way, I hope your son is Ok and that he understands why his alowance is going to be docked till he is 40.

Answer 8

So what your asking is who will have to pay for your son's Actions, the way I see it is you have 2 options.

1. Tell the owner of the bike to report / claim it was stolen, this would mean your wee lad would be in alot of Sh*t with the police, but as he is 16 he will still be treated as a minor. The Insurance company will pay the costs quicker if, your son pleads guilty to the charges.

2. Talk to owners of the Bike and cars damaged to get quotes to repair, and something in compensation, and hope they will agree to your offer, without involving the law.
( If your son damaged my car, you would need to have a hell of a good offer for me not to report him, that would be after the kicking of a life time he would get either from you or myself if you havn't done so already)

Answer 9

Effectively he has stolen the bike and driven without insurance or a licence. He (meaning you probably because of his age) is liable for a civil action to be raised against him by the owners of the cars to recover any losses. The insurers of the cars will no doubt begin proceedings soon.

Answer 10

@ phoenix - the dude is saying that it was his friends fault. Read the question. And if the question asker did have insurance he would be in a much better situation because generally speaking insurance follow a car not a driver. There's no way anybody can tell you what's gonna happen here because things can go any number of ways. The least that can happen is you get a ticket for not having insurance. The worst is that you get sued and get put into debt for the rest of your life and go to jail. Ooops you shoulda had insurance because now it would have been worth it.