Stolen Car Injury Claims

If you have been hit and injured by a stolen car, who is liable for any damages caused? To answer this, we need to understand what a stolen car accident is.

In a nutshell, a stolen vehicle accident is a road traffic accident that can affect anyone:

• The driver of a car
• A motorcyclist
• A pedestrian on a public or private land
• A passenger in a private vehicle
• Passengers on public transport
• Cyclists or horse riders

Find out more about making a criminal compensation claim.

Now, logic would say that the driver of the stolen car should be the person responsible for causing your injuries, however, that’s not always the case. To be eligible to submit a personal injury claim, you have to be able to prove that you weren’t at fault, and the other person was.

Stolen car accident examples include:

• A stolen car jumps the red traffic signals and hits a crossing car. While the airbag deployed, the driver of the oncoming car suffered whiplash or a back injury.
• A cyclist is forced off the road by a stolen vehicle overtaking them and driving too close to them. The cyclist falls in the verge and breaks their arm or suffers a hand injury.
• A pedestrian is crossing the road and is struck by a car being driven by an untraced driver. The cyclists breaks their leg.

If you’ve been injured as a result of a stolen car and reckless driving, and it wasn’t your fault, you could entitled to make an accident compensation claim, as long as you can establish liability with the other party.

To find out more about how to make a claim, get in touch with a trained legal advisor on 0333 251 4864. If they believe you have a valid claim, they’ll partner you with specialist solicitors on a no win no fee basis.

It’s usually obvious, in a road traffic accident, who is at fault, and therefore who the claim should be against, but in the case of a stolen car, things aren’t always quite so straightforward.

What if the driver wasn’t actually at fault? What if the vehicle’s brakes had been faulty? Yes, the driver will have committed a criminal offence, but just because the vehicle is faulty, doesn’t make them automatically liable as the driver.

Also, in a normal road traffic accident, the insurance company of the driver who is at fault would normally pay out. However, in the case of a stolen or uninsured vehicle, the driver won’t have insurance.

While the Road Traffic Act 1988 section 151 says that the insurance company of a stolen vehicle has to cover the cost of a personal injury claim, if the stolen vehicle has been declared off road under a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN), or the insurance company simply refuses to pay, you may think that it’s impossible to claim compensation in this case, but actually, you still can. That’s because the organisation, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), provides compensation in the case of stolen car accidents, or untraced drivers.

To find out more about how make a personal injury claim, call 0800 234 6438 today and speak with trained legal professionals about the whole incident. If they feel you have a claim, they’ll pass you onto specialist solicitors who will work with you on a no win no fee basis.

If you’ve been involved in an accident with a stolen car and you’ve sustained injuries, you can still claim compensation. Established in 1946, the Motor Insurer’s Bureau has been helping claimants who have been injured in an accident with a stolen car, or an uninsured driver, get compensation ever since.

This means that if you have suffered injuries due to another driver’s negligence, but you can’t trace the other driver, you could potentially still claim compensation.

Even if the owners of the stolen car are fully insured, their car insurance provider could refuse to pay you personal injury compensation. And if the driver of the other car is uninsured, there is no insurance company to pay any compensation, period.

In cases like this, where it has been proven the driver of the stolen car, or the uninsured driver was at fault, the Motor Insurance Bureau will award compensation for injuries sustained.

If you’ve been the victim of a violent crime e.g. you’ve sustained serious injuries in a road traffic accident with a stolen car, you could pursue compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.

This is funded by the government and aims to compensate people who’ve suffered injuries as a result of violent crimes. You may be able to make a claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority if:

• You suffered an injury as a result of a criminal offence
• A loved one passed away as a result of a violent crime
• You witnessed a love one be a victim of a violent crime
• You paid for the funeral costs of a loved one who was a victim of a violent crime and died as a result

Just because a vehicle was stolen, doesn’t automatically mean that the driver is liable for any injuries you may have sustained. Like any personal injury claim, the onus is on you to prove that someone else is at fault, and as a result of their negligence, you sustained an injury.

According to the Road Traffic Act 1988, all road users have a duty of care to one another, to follow the rules of the road. Just because someone is driving without insurance, doesn’t mean they’re necessarily at fault for the accident.

Therefore, when proving liability in the case of an uninsured driver of a stolen car, you need evidence. This can include:

• The driver and vehicle details of all vehicles involved in the accident
• A police incident number
• Witness statements of people who saw the incident
• Pictures of injuries sustained
• CCTV footage, if any exists
• Pictures of the road and any marks or damage to it
• Pictures of your damaged car
• Pictures of the scene of the vehicle accident
• Medical records, even if you have minor injuries
• Records of any financial loss you have incurred

Your compensation award will consist of two parts:

• General damages
• Special damages

General damages can be difficult to prove and require expert help from solicitors. Special damages, however, are much easier for you to calculate yourself if you have receipts or other proof of out-of-pocket expenses related to your injuries.

General damages are an award made for your pain, suffering, loss of amenity, and psychological injury.

• Pain and suffering: This can include the physical discomfort you feel from being injured as well as mental anguish that is caused by your injury.
• Loss of amenity: This includes things like having to give up activities you enjoy or can no longer do because of your injuries, and being unable to perform day-to-day tasks without assistance.
• Psychological injury: Psychological injuries can include depression, anxiety, phobias or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Also known as special or consequential damages, this category includes any expenses you’ve had to pay out because of the crash. It includes:

• The cost of repairing or replacing your car. This can include the cost of repairs and replacement parts, hiring a mechanic and getting your car back on the road.
• The cost of hiring a replacement car while yours is being repaired, if necessary (which is often necessary).
• The cost of paying for taxis or public transport if you need to get around while waiting for your car’s repair work to be finished. If you’re unable to drive at all as a result of injuries suffered in an accident, then it’s likely that this will also apply even after your vehicle has been fixed up again – especially if those injuries mean that using public transport is difficult for you.
• Additional costs from having someone else driving you around instead; such as petrol mileage not covered by insurance (meaning that some passengers will commute with their own vehicles) plus wear-and-tear on these cars due to frequent usage over long distances.
• Any private medical care you may have received.
• Any special medical assistance you may require either now or in the future if you’ve been left with a permanent disability.

If you’ve been hit by a stolen vehicle and suffered injuries, either mild or severe injuries, you could be eligible to claim compensation. In general, in a case like this, the claim will go through the Motor Insurance Bureau, as the driver will either be an uninsured driver or they’ll be untraceable.

Claims made through the Motor Insurance Bureau are calculated the same way as a normal personal injury claim. That is, using the Judicial College Guidelines to provide a range of figures based on previous, similar, claims.

These figures are provided as a rough guide only. Compensation payouts are specific to each claim. To give you an idea of how much you could receive:

• Less severe injured arm – £19,200 to £39,170
• Very severe injured leg – £54,830 to £87,890

For a more accurate amount of how much you could be entitled to claim, call 0333 251 4864 today and speak to a trained legal advisor, alternatively, fill in the online form and they’ll call you back.

As with the majority of personal injury claims, there is a time limit within which you have to begin the claims process. For this sort of claim, you need to begin proceedings within three years of the accident, or three years of first becoming aware of injuries caused by the accident.

For passengers or people under the age of 18 who were injured, they have three years from their 18th birthday to begin a claim. For people who do not have the mental capacity to make a claim, there is no time limit.

The time limit to claim compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is two years. This means that you need to have begun a claim within the two years following the violent crime. Again, there are exceptions to the time limit rule, and you must have a police report to pursue a claim here.

If you’re injured by a stolen vehicle, and the driver of the stolen car is prosecuted, these criminal proceedings won’t impact your ability to make a personal injury claim, nor will it hinder an existing claim, if liability for the accident has already been proven.

If you’ve been hit by a stolen car, you have every right to pursue compensation. Call 0333 251 4864 and speak to a trained legal advisor who will put you in touch with specialist solicitors who will represent you on a no win no fee basis.

This arrangement means you won’t have to pay a penny upfront, and if your claim fails you’ll pay nothing at all. You will however be asked to make payment if your claim is successful. This success fee is agreed beforehand with your solicitor and there are legal limits on how much you will be charged. This fee will come out of your compensation settlement, so even if you win, you still won’t have to pay out of your own pocket.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.