Hit by ininsured driver on minibike, driver swerved into lamppost injuring himself and girlfriend. Do they have an injury claim?

My son was driving along a street in Cardiff at night adjacent to a recently demolished block of former buildings when a minibike without lights crossed the road striking my son's car and killing the rider. My son braked hard to avoid the crash and both him and his girlfriend suffered whiplash in the collision. My son's car hit a lamppost and his girlfriend passenger suffered a broken leg and arm in an attempt to avoid colliding with the bike. The minibike did not have number plates and it seems the driver was not insured. I have read that the Motor Insurers' Bureau deal with uninsured drivers' claims but while I have sympathy with the relative of the dead man, will my son be able to recover the losses for which we could not be deemed to be responsible?

Certainly your son can bring a claim to the MIB and I assume the police will have been fully involved so a report will be forthcoming in due course. The fact that the minibike had no number plate is irrelevant as being motorised it should have been taxed and insured and the identity of the driver is not in doubt.

However, the bureau is an "office of last resort", which in real terms means that if your son was negligent even in the slightest degree, his girlfriend's claim will have to be settled in full by your son's insurers - the argument here being that your son might have avoided the lamppost thus avoiding the injuries.

By the same token, your son's claim may be a reduced through an allegation if there was any contributory negligence on his part.

Roadside lawyer would be willing to take on your son's case and arrange separate legal advice for his girlfriend as there may be deemed to be a conflict of interest. Please come back to us by email or call us free on 0800 066 99 07 for more information.

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