Personal Injury Claims

E-scooter Accident Claims

Whether you were injured whilst riding an e-scooter or you were injured by an e-scooter rider, our expert solicitors are best placed to advise you on how to access compensation for your injuries and associated losses.

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What happens if you have been injured whilst riding an e-scooter?

If you are injured whilst riding an e-scooter, you may be able to seek compensation.

There are various ways in which e-scooter riders might be injured, including:

vehicles failing to give way to e-scooters when those vehicles are emerging from junctions;
vehicles turning into junctions across an escooter path;
vehicles colliding with e-scooters whilst overtaking;
collisions involving heavy goods vehicles;
e-scooter riders being hit by opening vehicle doors; and
defective / dangerous road surfaces, including pot holes.

We appreciate that after being seriously injured it is not always possible to obtain the details of the person at fault or of potential witnesses. If you do not have these details, we will gather this information from the emergency services and notify the defendant and their insurer of your claim.

What happens if you have been injured by an e-scooter?

There are various ways in which people might be injured by negligent e-scooter riders, including:

e-scooters colliding with pedestrians crossing the road;
e-scooters being ridden on pavements or cycle lanes;
e-scooters that have been modified to unsafe speeds;
tripping over e-scooters left on pavements; and
hit-and-run incidents.

As e-scooters do not have registration plates, e-scooters and their riders can be difficult to track down. If you were able obtain the name and contact details of the rider at the scene this will be very useful. If not, we can investigate this for you.

If the e-scooter was part of a rental scheme, we will write to both the rider and the insurer notifying them of your potential claim. If the e-scooter was privately owned and not insured, your claim will likely be brought against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB).

At Bolt Burdon Kemp we are campaigning for the government to legislate to make the registration and insurance of e-scooters compulsory, so that injured people can access the damages that they deserve.

How we will prove your claim

Whether you were injured whilst riding an e-scooter or you were hit by an e-scooter, we will seek to establish that the defendant was negligent and caused the accident by relying on a variety of evidence. This might include:

CCTV footage;
statements taken from you and other witnesses;
a police report;
photographs of the accident scene; and
expert reconstruction evidence.

What compensation will you receive?

The amount of compensation that you receive will depend on the severity of your injuries and your losses. The aim of bringing a personal injury claim is to put you back in the financial position that you would have been in, as far as that is possible, had the accident not occurred.

Once we have obtained medical evidence in relation to your injuries and also evidence of your financial losses, we will be able to advise you on how much your claim could settle for or how much the court is likely to award you.

The past and future losses that we can look to recover for you include:

your pain and suffering caused by your injuries;
loss of earnings;
care and assistance (this could be from friends and family or from private carers);
treatment costs;
travel expenses; and
damaged possessions.

We appreciate that you may suffer financial hardship whilst the claim is ongoing, particularly if you are unable to work because of your injuries. We are experienced in obtaining interim compensation payments during the claim to help ease your money worries. We will also look to the defendant’s insurer to engage with us in funding rehabilitation for you to ensure that your recovery progresses as quickly as possible.

Our blogs on e-scooters:

For more information on e-scooter accidents, we have a number of blogs on our website:

Contact us

For further information or for free advice about bringing a claim following an incident involving an e-scooter, contact one of our expert solicitors on 020 3733 1044 or contact us online.

Car Accidents Claims

Cycling Accident

Motorcycle Accident

Passenger Road Traffic Accident

Meet our Personal Injury Claims Team

Ahmed Al-Nahhas

Head of Military Claims

Awel Roberts

Trainee Solicitor – Part of the Personal Injury Claims Team

Ben Pepper

Senior Associate – Part of the Personal Injury Claims Team

Charlotte Dowson

Associate – Part of the Personal Injury Claims Team

Meet the full team

FAQs

Are e-scooters illegal?

As a leading law firm, we pride ourselves in being able to tackle unique legal issues presented by accidents involving emerging modes of transport like e-scooters. They have a variety of benefits. They are environmentally friendly, they are affordable (in comparison to some other modes of transport), and they ease congestion on the roads. However, many people are not aware that privately owned e-scooters are illegal to ride on public roads and pavements.

As the law stands, privately owned e-scooters can only be ridden legally on private land, with the permission of the landowner. The reason for this is that the law in England and Wales classes e-scooters as motor vehicles. As such, they are required to have tax, MOT, lights, number plates and other certain characteristics, which all motor vehicles should have. As they don’t meet these requirements, e-scooters cannot be insured and are not allowed on public roads, pavements or cycle lanes.
What are the consequences of riding an e-scooter on public roads?

Whilst it may be possible to bring a personal injury claim if you are injured whilst riding a privately owned e-scooter on public roads, you should keep in mind the potential for self-incrimination.

Riding privately owned e-scooters on without insurance can result in a financial penalty, points on your driving license and result in your e-scooter being seized.
Are e-scooter rental trials legal?

There are ongoing rental e-scooter trial schemes in towns and cities throughout England and Wales. The start of the schemes was accelerated in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in order to reduce the use of trains and buses. Rental e-scooters must meet certain requirements including a maximum speed of 15mph. Riders must also have a full or provisional driving licence and be 16 or over. Helmets are not mandatory. The companies that operate the rental schemes must have third party insurance in place.
Who are the MIB?

The role of the MIB is to compensate victims of road traffic accidents caused by uninsured or untraced drivers. The MIB is liable to compensate injured people where the vehicle that caused the accident was used without insurance.

According to European case law, all motor vehicles are required to have insurance wherever they are used, not just on roads and in public places. As a result of this established case law, the MIB currently have a responsibility to compensate people injured by uninsured e-scooters. There are however plans for the government to depart from this case law, which would mean that the MIB would no longer need to pay out. If that were to happen, the only other route to compensation for people injured by e-scooters would be to sue the negligent rider personally.

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Bolt bourdon kamp acted for me. Thay came in at the last minute so the case was difficult. They took it on against all odds. I had solicitor Heather petrie who was excellent she had a great understanding of my problems from a brain injury she was professional and sympathetic. I would highly recommend her. Later Hoffman wong helped the case. He was good too. I will highly recommend. Bolt budon kemp especially the solicitors mentioned. Heather also contacted me in her own time to keep me informed. I can't thank her enough at a difficult time.

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