Settlement of €2.9m for boy (4) who sued mother

DonJose

:eek: Uninsured woman crashed her car, we pay for it. My sympathy is with the child but WTF!!!

---

THE High Court has approved a €2.9m settlement in the case of a baby boy who was blinded and severely brain damaged when the car his mother was driving hit a wall.

Ben McHale, who is now aged four, sued his parents, Disislave and Marcus McHale from Northview, Fethard Road, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, following an accident in April 2006. Ben was four months old at the time.

Suing through his uncle, William McHale, the action was also against the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland, as Mrs McHale was not insured to drive her husband's car. Liability was conceded.

The court heard the accident occurred on the Clonmel to Kilkenny Road, near Clonmel, when Mrs McHale suffered a blackout. The car glanced off a tree and crashed into a wall.

Ben suffered a severe head injury and was also blinded.
The court heard there was a possibility Ben's future brain development may benefit from stem-cell treatment being undertaken in Germany.
In papers submitted to the court, it was alleged that he was not properly restrained in the back seat of the car.

Following the accident, Marcus McHale had to give up his valeting business to help look after his son, along with his wife, the court was told by counsel for the boy.

The family had also got into difficulties with the mortgage on their home and an order for its repossession was made because they were €35,000 in arrears. Mr Justice John Quirke approved the settlement and extended his sympathy to the McHale family.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/settlement-of-836429m-for-boy-4-who-sued-mother-2061806.html

alex73

Was thinking the exact same thing today. I presume none of the money will go to the parents? Poor kid.

bad2dabone

madness. sympathy with the boy but this is madness.

Mr. Presentable

If she conceded liability, has she been prosecuted?

DonJose

I can only hope that this money is put into a trust and spent solely on this kids medical costs. It would sick to see the parents living the highlife on account of this. Further reading, this woman should have been charged with dangerous driving and driving without insurance. The poor kid wasn't properly restrained:mad:

"The child was being attended and nursed in the back of the car at the time of the crash and it seemed the driver had some form of blackout, counsel said. He said the car grazed off a tree and crashed into a wall."
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0213/1224264352693.html

"The court heard four-month-old Ben McHale was a back-seat passenger, that he was thrown forward on impact and was found by the ambulance crew lying unconscious outside the car."
http://www.examiner.ie/breakingnews/ireland/29m-settlement-for-tipperary-boy-hurt-in-crash-445930.html

LookBehindYou

Where is the logic ?
I do have sympathy for the child, BUT the parents are supposed to be responsible for caring for the child.
The mother drives without insurance.
The mother did not restrain the child properly in the car.
Was the mother locked up for this ?
What penalties for the parents ?

Kristopherus

A trajedy indeed, but I hope the parents get piddle-all benefit from this award. We are all going to have to pay for this through a hike in our premiums.

DonJose

Also being discussed at the following motor forum.

http://octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=35249

L1011

I do hope the state will now prosecute the mother for uninsured driving, and also ensure that not a cent of that 2.9M goes towards anything other than the childs care / trust fund.

Gary ITR

MYOB wrote: »

I do hope the state will now prosecute the mother for uninsured driving, and also ensure that not a cent of that 2.9M goes towards anything other than the childs care / trust fund.

I bloody hope so. Parents need locking up, according to reports the kid was thrown from the car so obviously wasn't properly restrained either

P.C.

This boils my blood.

The mother should be prosecuted.

Max Headroom

I tell ya...if my wife did this theres no way on earth i'd stay with her...I'd do everything in my power to see that she does'nt get away without being procecuted /jailed/ banned from ever seeing the kid.......:mad:

Gary ITR

Max Headroom wrote: »

I tell ya...if my wife did this theres no way on earth i'd stay with her...I'd do everything in my power to see that she does'nt get away without being procecuted /jailed/ banned from ever seeing the kid.......:mad:

I'd say the husband knew what she was at

Muckie

It makes you sick alrite, why wasnt she locked up. Whats wrong
with this countrys justice system.

MagicMarker

Who exactly pays this 2.9m? Obviously not insurance because she wasn't insured?

DonJose

MagicMarker wrote: »

Who exactly pays this 2.9m? Obviously not insurance because she wasn't insured?

We pay :mad:

rbrt

How does the logic of this work, how could the state be liable for an uninsured mother crashing her car, whilst her 4 month old child isn't suitably restrained? And yet an uninsured boy racer crashes into a normal joe public and joe is claiming off his own insurance for the damage to their own car...
Sympathies indeed, however how this works defies me

Cookie_Monster

I completly fail to understand the logic behind this also.

Despite the lack of insurance, or any other factor, surely it is soley the mother at fault, failing to properly restrain the child, dangerous driving. And the state has to pay,

I sympathise with the child, being blinded is one of the worst things I can imagine, but can't help thinking if it was two adults it would have been a totally different outcome

Gary ITR

MagicMarker wrote: »

Who exactly pays this 2.9m? Obviously not insurance because she wasn't insured?

A portion of your insurance policy goes to the MIBI which pays out claims on behalf of uninsured drivers, stolen cars etc

Mr Benevolent

Someone was twisting the law to their advantage methinks. It's legal but fairly suspicious.

Cookie_Monster

Onkle wrote: »

A portion of your insurance policy goes to the MIBI which pays out claims on behalf of uninsured drivers, stolen cars etc

But why are they paying out in this case? Surely they will in turn be sueing the mother for costs?

Run_to_da_hills

The child should be taken into care by the HSE if a mother was so irresponsible to take a car out without a screed of insurance.

Barr

Hope they at least prosecute the mother !!

Eoin

rbrt wrote:

How does the logic of this work

It's easier if you think about it like this:

Someone was hurt because of the actions of an uninsured driver. That injured party has successfully sued the driver, and as the driver was not insured the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland has to fork out.

I don't know if sending the mother to jail would really serve any purpose to society, but I suppose that's a debate for another forum.

CharlieCroker

If the mother was prosecuted, it would have happened by now. A criminal prosecution always goes before a civil case, which is what this was. She may well have been prosecuted for an offence (i'd imagine she was, but i dont know), but they may not have mentioned it in the civil case so as not to compromise it.

as i said, the civil case against the MIBI is completely seperate to the criminal case for any driving offences so any driving conviction is irrelivant to the judge in the civil case. She admitted liability, thats all the judge needed to know.

rbrt

Thanks Eoin and Onkle for clearing that up. I guess in its inception this type of case whereby the recipient of the claim and the party which was partially responsible for same damages were biologically related were not the main intended beneficiaries - hence my struggling to grasp the logic

Don't necessarily think this should be allowed, sounds like a piece of legislation which may need further rework...

L1011

rbrt wrote: »

How does the logic of this work, how could the state be liable for an uninsured mother crashing her car, whilst her 4 month old child isn't suitably restrained? And yet an uninsured boy racer crashes into a normal joe public and joe is claiming off his own insurance for the damage to their own car...
Sympathies indeed, however how this works defies me

The state isn't paying, the MIBI is.

Similarly if an uninsured driver hits you, you claim off the MIBI not your own insurance.

argosy2006

2.9 m is drop in the ocean when it comes to insurance companies, thats why we have insurance, they should pay out in more cases like this,

Gary ITR

MYOB wrote: »

Similarly if an uninsured driver hits you, you claim off the MIBI not your own insurance.

Does the MIBI pay out all claims or is it just personal injuries?

Mr. Presentable

The problem lies in the fact that the mother is a benificiary of her own wrongdoing. There is no way in which she cannot benefit from the court's decision. The judgement even noted her mortgage deficit.

Cookie_Monster

MYOB wrote: »

The state isn't paying, the MIBI is.

Similarly if an uninsured driver hits you, you claim off the MIBI not your own insurance.

MIBI is an arm of the state, funded by a combination of Gov funds and motorists insurance %

P.C.

Onkle wrote: »

Does the MIBI pay out all claims or is it just personal injuries?

Personal injuries.

You can not claim for damage to your vehicle or property.

bladebrew

i dont understand how the mother could not benefit from this they obviously cant give €2.9m to a 4 year old,but he should have the money to pay for his care which would be given to his parents?!!?,
then the mother would surely spend it herself

i do feel sorry for the child but this is absolute madness,a mother is supposed to care for her child,if something happens to the child through her actions its her fault,

and what about the poor child killed yesterday on his way to school with his mother,can his father sue the mother for killing his child,i dont understand where they draw a line?

Eoin

bladebrew wrote: »

i do feel sorry for the child but this is absolute madness,a mother is supposed to care for her child,if something happens to the child through her actions its her fault,

Yes it is her fault - and she was sued for it.

bladebrew wrote: »

and what about the poor child killed yesterday on his way to school with his mother,can his father sue the mother for killing his child,i dont understand where they draw a line?

That's not comparable.

unkel

argosy2006 wrote: »

2.9 m is drop in the ocean when it comes to insurance companies, thats why we have insurance, they should pay out in more cases like this,

The insurance company isn't paying out. Because the driver had no insurance. In this situation, an institution called MIBI pays out. This institution is paid for by all motorists who pay for their insurance. You and me are paying for this

Del2005

argosy2006 wrote: »

2.9 m is drop in the ocean when it comes to insurance companies, thats why we have insurance, they should pay out in more cases like this,

I love the way people think that insurance companies are bottomless pits of money. Every cent that insurance companies pay out comes from our premiums. Then they have to pay their staff and rent. After all that they still need to make a profit to pay a dividend to their shareholders, who are the only people that insurance companies care about.

If they have to pay €2.9 million out to everyone who willfully(sp?) drove illegally with their unrestrained child in the back we'd all be paying thousands for our insurance.

unkel

Just a thought. There is no mention of having a driving license in any of the articles linked so far. Disislave is a Bulgarian name, is it? If so, she might have learned to drive here and as such have a full Irish license. She might have learned to drive in Bulgaria. At he time of the accident Bulgaria was not part of the EU and driving on a Bulgarian license would have equalled driving without a driving license in this country.

JHMEG

unkel wrote: »

Just a thought. There is no mention of having a driving license in any of the articles linked so far. Disislave is a Bulgarian name, is it? If so, she might have learned to drive here and as such have a full Irish license. She might have learned to drive in Bulgaria. At he time of the accident Bulgaria was not part of the EU and driving on a Bulgarian license would have equalled driving without a driving license in this country.

I'm sure the defence looked at all options.

I just hope it hasn't opened the door to the idea of everyone who is uninsured and involved in a car accident suing MIBI (through a 3rd party).

Cuddlesworth

I wonder if she is going to bother getting insurance now that she is 2.9m up? I wouldn't if I was her. Clearly no benefit in doing it.

I would like to know one thing. Why weren't they put into a council house, put onto the dole and given disability for the child. Plenty of other people in the country have had to do this and last I checked it wasn't them that crippled their child for life.

Eoin

We don't even know if either parent is responsible for administering the fund, so you can't assume she is "2.9m up".

unkel

JHMEG wrote: »

I just hope it hasn't opened the door to the idea of everyone who is uninsured and involved in a car accident suing MIBI (through a 3rd party).

There's nothing new in this case. This door has always been open. I have a vague recollection of a case involving an uninsured motorbike driver

Here - took me about 14s to google it. Have some popcorn and cream crackers while reading it

Paralysed uninsured biker seeks payout
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Sunday July 24 2005
LARA BRADLEY
HE WAS blatantly riding a motorcycle without any insurance and while on a provisional licence.

So when Martin Woods from Co Louth crashed and was paralysed for life almost four years ago it was just fortunate that he did not maim or kill anyone else.

But the 23-year-old is now taking a test case to the European Commission to try and force a change in Irish law that would oblige the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland to give him a multimillion euro payout in compensation for his injuries.

If he succeeds, he will open the floodgates for other uninsured motorists to claim from a fund which was originally set up to recompense the innocent victims of uninsured road users.

The move would inevitably lead to a hike in insurance premiums for law-abiding motorists, a possibility that did not seem to overly concern Mr Woods last week.

He said: "Compensation has to come from somewhere and that is what insurance is for. I had every intention of getting insurance, but I wasn't able because I was working all the time.

"It was the day that was in it, having a day off work, that made me go out on the bike without insurance. I didn't re ally think I was doing any thing too wrong. Now I just have to try and make the best of my life."

Mr Woods was 19 years old and his brother Stephen was 18 when the two crashed at Clogher Head, Co Louth on September 14, 2001. The nation had been given the day off work to mourn the victims of the 9/11 attacks on New York. Neither brother had passed a test at the time.

Mr Woods claims that he was "just trying out" a new Honda 400cc motorbike, but it was not the first time the teenager had taken the powerful bike out on the public road uninsured.

He was just a few miles from home when his brother sped up behind him, overtook and did a U-turn causing the crash. Mr Woods was catapulted from his bike into a parked car. His brother escaped with a broken leg, but Mr Woods suffered serious injuries that mean he will never walk again.

During a three-month stay in the Mater Hospital, Dublin Mr Woods made the shocking discovery that his younger brother was also uninsured. He said: "I said to him, 'I'll have to get compo for this off your insurance'. He said, 'Sure, I've no insurance'. At the time it was the least ofmy worries."

Mr Woods suffered numerous broken bones and damage to his spinal cord that left him paralysed from the shoulders down. He has the use of his arms, but is now entirely dependent on his mother Mary. He said: "I can't describe the anguish and mental torture that these events have caused to me and my family. Imagine the pain I felt as it gradually dawned on me what my life now was and would become. I have suffered rage, denial and despair. The physical pain, though shocking, was not the worst."

Stephen Woods was fined for a number of serious offences, including dangerous driving and driving with neither licence nor insurance. Martin Woods has not faced charges for driving without insurance, an offence that carries the ultimate penalty of a six-month jail sentence.

Mr Woods applied for compensation from MIBI, but was turned down as the rules state that motorists who drive while uninsured are ineligible regardless of who is to blame for the collision.

Mr Woods said: "My brother didn't set out to do it, but he is to blame. I am not at fault here at all. My brother knows it was his fault."

Mr Woods has chosen not to sue his brother as "he has nothing". Instead he hopes a formal complaint to the European Commission will lead to a change in Irish law forcing the fund to pay him €2m.

Mr Woods said: "An award of financial compensation would not give me back my health and youth, but would go a long way to givingme back some level ofindependence and restoring my dignity."

Ironically, Mr Woods would have been entitled to compensation if the crash had happened anywhere northof the Border - just 25miles away.

Solicitor Alison McGrath said: "The purpose of the EU directive is to compensate blameless victims of uninsured drivers.

"The Irish government introduced a clause excluding blameless drivers who were also uninsured.

"The position is different in Britain, where someone in Martin's position would be entitled to compensation."

The MIBI fund is entirely paid for by law-abiding Irish drivers who pay a levy of six per cent on their motor insurance to sustain it. The most recent figures show the fund paid out an incredible €70m to victims of uninsured drivers in 2003.

Last week the European Commission issued a "reasoned opinion" formally asking the Irish State to "amend its legislation on insurance cover for blameless drivers of uninsured vehicles".

MIBI are seeking legal advice on how to respond to this. Chief executive John Casey said: "The cost of the mayhem caused by uninsured drivers comes directly from the premiums paid by the law abiding 95 per cent of the motoring population who pay their insurance regularly.

"Should this case succeed there will certainly be an implication for insurance premiums, though I imagine this may not be too severe as the chances of two uninsured drivers crashing into each other are relatively low."

But Mr Casey stressed there are moral as well as financial implications to Mr Woods' case as it is "wholly inequitable" that a person who "has not bothered to insure" should be entitled to compensation paid for by those who abide by the law.

linky

JHMEG

unkel wrote: »

There's nothing new in this case. This door has always been open. I have a vague recollection of a case involving an uninsured motorbike driver

Should have used the word precendent. That case with the motorbike is a bit different... he was the driver and is not eligible under MIBI rules.

JHMEG

eoin wrote: »

We don't even know if either parent is responsible for administering the fund, so you can't assume she is "2.9m up".

His uncle, William McHale, sued the child's parents. So we really don't know what the story is.

P.C.

unkel wrote: »

There's nothing new in this case. This door has always been open. I have a vague recollection of a case involving an uninsured motorbike driver

Here - took me about 14s to google it. Have some popcorn and cream crackers while reading it



linky

This:

But Mr Casey stressed there are moral as well as financial implications to Mr Woods' case as it is "wholly inequitable" that a person who "has not bothered to insure" should be entitled to compensation paid for by those who abide by the law.

is the important bit.

L1011

P.C. wrote: »

Personal injuries.

You can not claim for damage to your vehicle or property.

You can, if the uninsured vehicle causing the accident is identified; although the protocol is that if you have fully comp insurance, your insurer pays rather than MIBI, without affecting your NCB.

There's excesses, etc, all detailed in the actual MIBI agreement:
http://mibi.ie/fileadmin/documents/members_site/mibi_agreements/Signed_MIBI_Agreement_29_Jan_09.pdf

Gary ITR

Just as I asked that question last night I remembered my company making a claim against the MIBI when I was hit by a stolen car.

parsi

nipplenuts wrote: »

The problem lies in the fact that the mother is a benificiary of her own wrongdoing. There is no way in which she cannot benefit from the court's decision. The judgement even noted her mortgage deficit.

I don't think that the mother is a beneficiary of her wrongdoing. She now has a severely disabled child that will require constant care.

It is somewhat similar to cases where minors sue their own parents (who have insurance) in car crashes.

AugustusMinimus

parsi wrote: »

I don't think that the mother is a beneficiary of her wrongdoing. She now has a severely disabled child that will require constant care.

It is somewhat similar to cases where minors sue their own parents (who have insurance) in car crashes.

The mother is quite clearly a beneficiary of the court's ruling.

She should get jailtime IMO but this would not benefit the poor child.


That young fella who got injured on the bike deserves no payout at all. Its a bloody disgrace to the rest of us who pay insurance on time every year. How he can give the excuse that he was working is just a bloody joke. He had the time enough off work to ride his bike though.

Profiler

LookBehindYou wrote: »

Where is the logic ?
I do have sympathy for the child, BUT the parents are supposed to be responsible for caring for the child.
The mother drives without insurance.
The mother did not restrain the child properly in the car.
Was the mother locked up for this ?
What penalties for the parents ?

To not provide a fund which pays for the care the child clearly needs for the rest of it's life is to punish the child for the mothers actions.

Therefore punishing the child twice.

We can be sure that the €2.9m approved by the court will be structured in such a way that the money benefits the child the most and not the parents.

Profiler

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

The mother is quite clearly a beneficiary of the court's ruling.

It's not clear to me how she benefits?

Can you explain that one to me?

AugustusMinimus

Profiler wrote: »

It's not clear to me how she benefits?

Can you explain that one to me?

Isn't it obvious that if the child didn't win the court case, the costs of bringing up the injured child would fall on the parents ?

Due to the case win, prob not a penny of the cost of bringing up the injured child will fall on this woman.