What the law requires
The law here is genuinely unsettled, and that is the single most important thing to understand about an e-scooter claim. Rental e-scooters operating in a government trial area are insured by the operator. Privately owned e-scooters are illegal to ride on a public road or pavement and are almost never insured.
That distinction decides who, if anyone, a claim is made against — so establishing which kind of scooter was involved is the first thing we do, before anything else.
What decides a claim like this
Liability is established on records far more often than on recollection. In this kind of claim the documents that matter most are:
- Whether the scooter was a rental in a trial scheme or privately owned.
- The operator, where it was a rental — each runs its own insurance and incident reporting.
- Whether a vehicle was also involved, which may bring motor insurance into play.
- For a pedestrian struck by an uninsured private scooter, whether any other route to compensation exists.
What to do now
The evidence that decides these claims has a short life. If the accident was recent:
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1
Report it Tell the police if anyone was hurt or a driver failed to stop, and report it to your insurer even if the other driver was at fault.
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2
Get the details Registration, name, address and insurer of every vehicle involved, plus contact details for anyone who saw it.
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3
Photograph everything Final positions, damage to both vehicles, skid marks, road layout and any signage or signals.
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4
See a doctor A record made close to the accident is the strongest evidence that the injury came from it.
How long you have to claim
The general limitation period for a personal injury claim is three years from the date of the accident, or from the date you first knew the injury was significant and attributable to someone else. If you were under 18 at the time, the three years runs from your eighteenth birthday. Where the injured person lacks mental capacity, time may not run at all.\n\nThe practical deadline is shorter than the legal one. CCTV is overwritten, defects are repaired and records are archived, so a claim started early is almost always a stronger claim.
How we work
We assess the claim, obtain the records that decide it, instruct an independent medical expert and deal with the insurer throughout. Personal injury claims of this kind are run on a No Win, No Fee agreement: there is nothing to pay upfront, and nothing to pay us for our work if the claim does not succeed. A success fee is deducted from the compensation if it does, and we set that out in writing before you commit to anything.