Bull hit car - insurance?

LavaLamp

Last night an escaped bull hit our car on the dual carriageway by Shannon airport :eek: Does anyone know whose insurance will be liable for the damage?

Thanks!

daveharnett

LavaLamp wrote: »

Last night an escaped bull hit our car on the dual carriageway by Shannon airport :eek: Does anyone know whose insurance will be liable for the damage?

Thanks!

Were you stationary at the time? Are you perhaps being a little fuzzy about who exactly hit what?

EPM

LavaLamp wrote: »

Last night an escaped bull hit our car on the dual carriageway by Shannon airport :eek: Does anyone know whose insurance will be liable for the damage?

Thanks!

Farmer.

Steak tonight I take it?

Henry Ford III

If the animal was loose on the road I'd imagine it's owner may be liable. Hope you called the cops. Was the animal killed?

Mitch Connor

daveharnett wrote: »

Were you stationary at the time? Are you perhaps being a little fuzzy about who exactly hit what?

i thought that farmers were liable regardless of whether the bull hit the car or the car hit the bull.

That is what they said on RTE a month or so back on Nationwide or something like that.

Henry Ford III

Mitch Connor wrote: »

i thought that farmers were liable regardless of whether the bull hit the car or the car hit the bull.

Not if it happened in a field they're not

whippet

my auld boy hit a bull a few years back and it was covered by the farmer's insurance.

The bull actually wrote of the car but shook it's own arse and wandered off after the accident !

LavaLamp

daveharnett wrote: »

Were you stationary at the time? Are you perhaps being a little fuzzy about who exactly hit what?

LOL, definitely stationery - had pulled onto hard shoulder behind Gards who were trying to deal with it. It then ran straight at our car - thankfully at the last minute it decided to jump over the edge of the bonnet rather than attempt the whole car, so damage is only to the wing/edge of bonnet.

EPM

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Not if it happened in a field they're not

Shoot...thought I had a plan there:mad:

LavaLamp

Henry Ford III wrote: »

If the animal was loose on the road I'd imagine it's owner may be liable. Hope you called the cops. Was the animal killed?

They were already there, not much they could do though, it had totally lost the plot. It ran off into the night having slobbered and squashed our car.....

daveharnett

LavaLamp wrote: »

LOL, definitely stationery - had pulled onto hard shoulder behind Gards who were trying to deal with it. It then ran straight at our car - thankfully at the last minute it decided to jump over the edge of the bonnet rather than attempt the whole car, so damage is only to the wing/edge of bonnet.

Fair enough. Cattle are pretty stupid, but rarely THAT stupid. I presume the gardai got his reg no?

smash

This thread is a load of bullhit...

I'll get my coat!

Hal1

Was the bull alright after?

LavaLamp

Hal1 wrote: »

Was the bull alright after?

I think so, it went running off on it's deranged way so I would assume so

Fizman

whippet wrote: »

my auld boy hit a bull a few years back and it was covered by the farmer's insurance.

The bull actually wrote of the car but shook it's own arse and wandered off after the accident !

So the bull technically performed a hit and run, since he fled the scene.

No wonder the farmer had to pay up!

Little Miss Cutie

Do you have idea who wons the bull? If you can't locate the farmer, I imagine you will have to claim on your own insurance.

testicle

The farmer. Good luck finding any farmer that will claim the bull is theirs by the way.

I hope it wasn't this one.

Absurdum

daveharnett wrote: »

Fair enough. Cattle are pretty stupid, but rarely THAT stupid.

outrageous slur

slimjimmc

daveharnett wrote: »

Fair enough. Cattle are pretty stupid, but rarely THAT stupid. I presume the gardai got his reg no?

As it was an Irish bull it should have Irish tags not UK ones

testicle wrote: »

The farmer. Good luck finding any farmer that will claim the bull is theirs by the way.

The farmer would have little defence if someone managed to note the tag number which is likely. Anyway even without it there's a good chance the bull came from the vicinity so it shouldn't be too hard to trace the owner. €€€€€.

kazul

AFAIK the law depends on whether it's a bull or a cow/heifer that's involved. Reason being that a bull in search of a cow/heifer in heat is not in full control of his senses. That's most likely what happened with OP, the bull got a sniff of poonani and the blood was up.
Kinda like the rule that gives ducks the right of way because they generally have ducklings following in line.

PaulKK

The farmers insurance pays.

A couple of years ago a heard of cows broke loose and ran into my last car, needed a new bonnet and nearside headlight. I called the gards because I didnt know who owned them at the time, so I called them just to have it on record.

They said there is a law in place for the control of animals so the farmer was completely liable, end of.

kazul wrote: »

AFAIK the law depends on whether it's a bull or a cow/heifer that's involved. Reason being that a bull in search of a cow/heifer in heat is not in full control of his senses.

The law still states that the farmer has to have control of animals so dont know about that. TBH sounds like one of those made up ones that a farmer passed around to try and get out of paying up... like the other "laws" that people say exist, like a cop needs to have his hat on to arrest you.

roosterman71

The control of animals law refers to when the farmer is actually with the animals, i.e., moving them from a to b. Lets say letting them cross a road from 1 field to another. It doesn't cover animals that get a sniff of some other animal in heat and they go off looking for loving.

However, its most likely the farmer will have public liability insurance. This should cover the damage.

LavaLamp

well, spoke to the Gards yesterday and they were more interested in taking all my insurance details and stuff than anything else. Turns out no-one got the tag number, so it is now a case of "trying to get the farmer to admit liability". Was told it would be best to claim on my own insurance for now (and loose over 5 years no claims bonus - I think not!) Seems like it took a few cars out on it's merry way though.

Fortunately the damage isn't bad, for all my complaining about Fiats I have to admit that they can withstand deranged cattle well

seamus

roosterman71 wrote: »

It doesn't cover animals that get a sniff of some other animal in heat and they go off looking for loving.

It sure does. The animals are required to be kept under proper control, regardless of whether the farmer is present. The same rules apply to dogs (because they're farm animals technically).
If the animals get loose, then by definition it is not under proper control and its owner is liable for all damage resulting. So if someone runs over your dog, not only do you have the pain of losing your beloved pet, but you're also liable for any damage to the car.

reilig

Most Farmers will have insurance against this type of accident. I know I have. If he doesn't have insurance, he will have to pay up out of his own pocket.

LavaLamp

At the end of the day, the damage is minimal and tbh it isn't worth pursuing. The farmer no doubt has plenty of other people with damaged cars to deal with, so I'm not gonna add to his woe's by wanting a dink in me bonnet sorted.

Will just take it as a sign that we need to get a lovely 4x4 that will bounce bulls off it in future

Thanks for all the replies though peeps - if it decides to take another run at the car at least I know to get it's reg number!

delos

LavaLamp wrote: »

Turns out no-one got the tag number, so it is now a case of "trying to get the farmer to admit liability".

Now, I would be the first to admit being a complete towny and ignorant of the way of farmers and rural life but when a bull is running around smashing up cars its not very likely that someone is going to grab the thing by the ear to get a tag number, is it? The farmer isn't likely to come forward and I doubt the bull will sign a confession either.

Seriuosly though would this not be treated like being hit by an uninsured driver? Claim off your insurance but no damage done to you no claims bonus sort of thing?

Robbo

slimjimmc wrote: »

As it was an Irish bull it should have Irish tags not UK ones

Is there not a load of VRT to pay to put it on Irish plates?

Max_Damage

Is the bull ok?

jimmycrackcorm

finally a justification to get bull bars installed.