Biker may be forced to pay thousands after banned new owner has fatal crash

A BIKER could be forced to pay tens of thousands of pounds after a man had a fatal crash on the motorcycle he had sold him just days before.

A loophole in insurance law could mean 48-year-old Paul Duffy is liable for all costs involved with the accident that killed banned driver James Bryson.

Bryson was riding uninsured when he crashed into a Toyota Yaris near Arbroath, Scotland, just seven days after buying the bike. But because Duffy forgot to cancel his insurance policy, MCE insurance brokers say they are liable for the accident and can claim the costs back from him in court.

Duffy, who is recovering from leukaemia and looks after his disabled wife, said: ‘Lawyers said that because Mr Bryson had died and had no insurance, they would be paying out on my policy.

'Because he chose to buy my motorcycle, I am, in the eyes of the law, giving him permission to ride the bike and I am in breach of my contract. So if I have any assets, MCE can take them from me to recover costs.

'I am effectively having to pay for an uninsured driver having a fatal accident.

'I have never broken the law. I don’t even have as much as a speeding ticket.

'But I have been told this is the law, and I have no protection or rights.

'I honestly thought that once the bike was sold, it was no longer my responsibility.

Bryson, 28, was serving a four-year driving ban and had only just been released from prison after attempting to evade three police vehicles in a friend’s car while nearly three times over the drink-drive limit.

The father-of-one was unable to be saved by paramedics after crashing the £3,500 Kawasaki ZX10R next to a stone wall on Seaton Road.

Paul, from Fife, is now warning all drivers to immediately cancel their insurance policies on any vehicles that they sell.