crash - who pays

[matt-b]

i see a arriva 175 hit a hay lorry last week.... will the lorry drivers insurance have to pay for the train to be fixed? looking from pictures it needs a hole new cab, that wont be cheap!

matt

[brbluewill]

depends who's fault it is.if its the lorry drivers fault his insurance will foot the bill.

[michael]

i think the lorry drivers been charged with something so yes probabley!

[MJKERR]

Trains (assets) don't have insurance, so it becomes a commercial arrangement between the road vehicle insurance and the legal department of the RoSCo
As above, if the investigation confirm the road vehicle was at fault then the repair (of all third paties including the train and railway property) is at the cost of the relevant insurance company (third party cover within the policy)
However if the fault is the crossing then Network Rail are liable for both third parties

Equally, if the driver of the road vehicle was deemed to be commiting an offence (proven in court) at the time of the accident their insurance may be deemed to be invalidated
The insurance company pay out all costs, then pass these on to the policy holder (on confirmation of guilt in court)
This happened to the owner of a car which crossed and impacted a freight train

[poliss]

Everyone with an insurance policy pays, because they'll put it on your premiums.

[MJKERR]

Everyone with an insurance policy pays, because they'll put it on your premiums.

Those without insurance will be taken to court recovery of costs
As above, insurance may not be relevant in every case when it comes to impact damage and subsequent repair costs

[Newportnobby]

I just hope that no one was injured. There's not exactly a lot of protection in those cabs.

[michael]

no serious injuries apparently

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16246123

I thinkthe cabs on those 175s are better than trains of old but still not the best place to be in a head on crash

[edwin_m]

Railway companies today do have to have insurance that will cover for the very rare but potentially very expensive incidents that might happen.  Repairing the train in this incident will probably cost the best part of a million on its own.  I think British Rail had less or no insurance since the Government stood behind them - they certainly self-insured their road vehicle fleet - so you can call the present sitatuation a cost of privatisation if you want. 

I guess one of the most expensive motor insurance claims would have been the man who drove off the M62 and caused the Great Heck accident, ten fatailities IIRC and several million pounds worth of stock written off.  The driver had been up all night before driving in the morning, and served a prison sentence, so his insurer presumably had to pay up. 

[EtchedPixels]

Not just the train cost if the driver was at fault - potentially its all the repair costs for the line, claims from passengers (injury, delay, etc), delay costs to other trains on other rail companies.

I imagine the insurers were thinking "ouch!"