Where there's blame, there's a claim...

Russ · 07-04-2010, 20:52

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/8607929.stm

Some people are utterly devoid of morals.

07-04-2010, 21:17

this seems to be a bad state of affairs for mrs Brown ,there doesn't seem to be any mention of the person using the Morrisons scooter and how blame they had .Reading the article it seems to me that Mrs Brown wasn't at fault .Either way i think Morrison should do a bit of soul searching

Tony. · 07-04-2010, 21:20

Seems like insurance is a must for these things

There are lots of firms providing cover (according to Google)

superbiatch · 07-04-2010, 21:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony.

Seems like insurance is a must for these things

There are lots of firms providing cover (according to Google)

Precisely!

I feel sorry for her but she's left herself wide open to being personally sued.

Welshchris · 07-04-2010, 21:35

I also to think Insurance must be introduced for these...

Theres a woman in my home town who has one of these and shes nutorously dangerous and has had many warnings from police and traffic wardens.

Xaccers · 07-04-2010, 21:35

That is so wrong and doesn't make legal sense.
GF works in insurance and the proximate cause is the user of the morrisons' scooter, not the 61 year old. If she was dealing with the claim she'd have gone after morrisons.
I would suspect the injured employee has gotten a no win no fee solicitor, and there's more chance of getting a win by taking the little old lady to court than morrisons.
The court should still not have found her liable, unless there is some genuine reason, which we can't think of and isn't reported, which would make her liable.
If only she'd persued scooter insurance fully, or taken out legal insurance with her home insurance, or public liability on her home insurance.
chances are she may have the last two but isn't aware of it.

**Damien** · 07-04-2010, 22:34

Are we getting the whole story? As Xaccers said on face value this doesn't make sense.

**Maggy** · 07-04-2010, 23:06

I think that these machines have the potential to be very dangerous and as such, insurance should be absolutely mandatory as it is for cars and other vehicles.

**Chris** · 07-04-2010, 23:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

The court should still not have found her liable, unless there is some genuine reason, which we can't think of and isn't reported, which would make her liable.

I think there may be a clue in this line:

Quote:

Ms Brown said she could not afford legal representation at the time.

My suspicion is that, lurking behind the complaint that she couldn't afford legal representation, we may find that she didn't go to court herself, effectively rendering the case uncontested. Those of us who have read the Davenport Lyons/ACS download3rz thread will be very well aware of what can happen if someone decides to ignore a summons and fails either to send a solicitor, or at the very least turn up to defend themselves, at the county court.

Xaccers · 07-04-2010, 23:26

Ah Chris, that is a likely possibility.

frogstamper · 08-04-2010, 00:58

I suppose she has left it to late to lodge an appeal now?

08-04-2010, 01:23

my experience of a good portion of the people who use these things is they seem to think they have right of way over pedestrians. Ive nearly been hit a few times by crazy pensioners who should know better. I do not believe for one minute this woman was stationary. I can however imagine the 2 going faster than they should and one having to avoid the other and hitting someone or something

Yes I think insurance should be mandatory and I also think they should realise that they should give way to those using their legs and not the other way around

Hom3r · 08-04-2010, 10:02

I soory but all electric scooters should be banned from all shops.

I've seen them been drive at stupid speeds around shops, and even if drive slow, it your fault if they hit you.

**Chris** · 08-04-2010, 10:15

I've seen cars driven at stupid speeds around housing estates. Shall we ban all cars from all housing estates?

Kymmy · 08-04-2010, 10:23

No but it is against the law to drive at stupid speeds round a housing estate and the driver can be banned by a court..

One thing that irks me about scooters is that you get a lot of type 2 scooters driven on pavements at high speeds (the higher speed is supposed to be for road only) and yet the driver seems to think that it's OK because it's a scooter..