Bin lorry colliding with car, company refusing to take responsibility.

theoneill

Registered User
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365
Hi All,

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum.

A few days ago a bin lorry collided and damaged my father in laws car. The driver got out and accepted responsibility, he then contacted his manager who apparently did not want to know and threatened to sack the driver and crew if the went through the bin companies insurance.

The driver offered my father in law €100 for the damage which he accepted as (in his words) he didn't want to see the crew sacked.

I was shocked when I heard this, the bin company should have both public liability and motor insurance. They clearly took advantage of my father in laws good nature, using emotional blackmail and his age (he is a pensioner) to evade payment for damages.

I am keen to have this resolved properly and I need to know what steps we need to take to ensure the bin company take responsibility and pay in full for the damage they caused.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
Did your father in law get the lorries insurance detail? I had a similar situation a number of years ago with a delivery lorry but had got the details at the time. The firms manager was doing nothing about it and in the end was always "in a meeting" when I rang and would "call me back" which of course he never did. I reported it to his insurance company myself and in fairness, they sorted it pretty quickly.

It might also be an option to contact the council since the bin company will have a contract with them for waste services
 
No I don't think he got their details. I will tell him to contact the council and the bin company. I suppose there is always the small claims court, sometimes the threat of going to court is enough to jolt an apathetic manager into action.
 
he then contacted his manager who apparently did not want to know and threatened to sack the driver and crew if the went through the bin companies insurance.

Sounds very unlikely. I suspect that the driver had a bad record and did not want to report another accident.

Your father in law should simply notify the company of the damage and send in an estimate for the repairs. If the company denies liability, I am not sure where your FIL stands as accepting the €100 may be a full and final settlement.

How much will it cost to fix the damage?

Brendan
 
I agree, either the driver had a bad record or this was just a concocted sob story.
I viewed the damage to the car and I would guess the repairs would cost at least €800-€1000.

I will be pushing him to contact the company and return the €100, I'm hoping that in accepting the cash he has not scuppered his chances in getting the bin company to do the right thing.
 
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