Bike-Hits-Car Club - Advice For Claiming

IDK

Hi,

Yesterday on my ride home I joined the bike-hits-car club. Usual thing, oncoming SMIDSY makes a right-turn across the front of me without stopping. I hit the car's left wing, go over the bonnet, smash the windscreen, lay on the ground for a while, police and medics turn-up, a few hours in A+E, and then back home by ten.

Damage to me is bruising and abrasions. Should be back in work by Monday.

Obvious damage to bike is pringled front wheel etc. I know I need to get an LBS to properly assess the damage to get the cost of repair.

Two witnesses so I assume driver liability won’t be an issue. Should be seeing police later today to take my statement (they took other details at the scene).

So the question is what’s the best way to proceed with the claim against the driver? I have no cycle specific insurance or membership of any organisations. I’ve read elsewhere that some people have used the CTC associated Russell Jones & Walker solicitors. Any recommendations for these guys or is it just easier to contact the insurer of the driver directly? I’m also wondering about claim for injury and how this works (is assessed)? Any advice on what paper work etc I should collect to help with the claim?

Thanks for your help.

Cheers, idk

Bruised, battered, but not beaten.

ChrisLS

...I have experience of the CTC's solicitors, Russell Jones and Walker and they were excellent...

...sorry to hear of your prang, hope you mend quickly...

cee

I had a driver pull a u-turn right into me.....then drive away!

I spoke to a chap from RJW, who was very helpful and gave me load of advice on how to make a claim through the motor insurers bureau.

I was not charged anything for the advice, and they said if I need further assistance, they could raise the case for me (which would have incurred a cost), but fortunately, the MIB paid my claim very promptly.

So. I would also recommend RJW.

Jon8a

My home insurance includes legal help, check yours.

When the same thing happened to me the police were very helpful, I got a big pile of information on who I could contact. Did they not give you anything?

If you've pringled the front wheel I'd get them to look ver carefully at the headtube as unless it is a tough steal mountainbike you may have damaged it. Remember your helmet? I added that on even though I couldn't remember hitting my head hard but I wasn't going to take a risk.

Hope you mend quickly. I felt fine after my accident and was a bit stiff the next day, the day after though I was properly sore and going a bit purple on my legs back and side.

Disappointingly I didn't have witnesses so despite me trying they would not pursue him with any charges for being a tw@ behind the wheel (legal term ). I dealt direct with the insurance company in the end to replace damaged clothing. The bike was an old heavy tough mountain bike so didn't suffer. Legal people weren't much help. I didn't suffer any broken bones or serious enough injury to warrant a claim.

downfader

IDK, no advice i can offer but I hope you recover soon!

Oh wait, there is one bit of advice - take photos of your injuries

spen666

The person who represents himself has a fool for a client


Get onto lawyer- RJW or someone else

downfader

spen666 wrote:

The person who represents himself has a fool for a client


Get onto lawyer- RJW or someone else

Didnt Max Mosley represent himself? If you have the legal knowhow i see no problems, sadly most of us arent that way inclined

SpinyBike

May be worth having a bike shop check over the damage & give you a formal list.

redvee

When I suffered at the hands of a lady driver I found a solicitor in the back of C+. Alison France was the name of the practice and £2k in total, approx £1500 for injuries and £500. theclaim from start to finish took 11 months due to the other party denying liability, claiming I was in the wrong, the usual cr@p.

downfader

redvee wrote:

When I suffered at the hands of a lady driver I found a solicitor in the back of C+. Alison France was the name of the practice and £2k in total, approx £1500 for injuries and £500. theclaim from start to finish took 11 months due to the other party denying liability, claiming I was in the wrong, the usual cr@p.

Sounds like she was no lady then. :?

spen666

downfader wrote:

spen666 wrote:

The person who represents himself has a fool for a client


Get onto lawyer- RJW or someone else

Didnt Max Mosley represent himself? If you have the legal knowhow i see no problems, sadly most of us arent that way inclined

a) Max Mosely did NOT represent himself
b) Even if you have the legal knowledge, it is still not adviseable to represent yourself in litigation as you are not able to take a sufficiently detatched view of decisions to ensure good judgement

redvee

downfader wrote:

redvee wrote:

When I suffered at the hands of a lady driver I found a solicitor in the back of C+. Alison France was the name of the practice and £2k in total, approx £1500 for injuries and £500. theclaim from start to finish took 11 months due to the other party denying liability, claiming I was in the wrong, the usual cr@p.

Sounds like she was no lady then. :?

Immediately after the accident she did offer to look after the bike till I was able to collect it, luckily it was quite close to home so not far to walk it. Buckled front wheel, bent RH crank and KO'd On-One titanium frame, paid £50 claimed £450

Fonz

Our legal/insurance system might be a little bit different but I had a claim about six months ago. I had a car pull out into the lane from parked, I was doing 40+ so stopping wasn't an option. Unfortunately the only option was the back of a late model silver Mercedes, bike stopped, I didn't, went into orbit and came to rest in a pile of cones where roadworkers were sealing the road about 50meters past the impact. Jumped up and checked limbs were still attached, the road was wet so I didn't lose any skin (see, something to be said for shaved legs!!!!). Bike was a right mess, tri bars rooted, brake and shifter levers bent and scratched all to hell, seat and post broken, brakes broken, wheels a mess, fork cracked and frame in questionable state. Seeing as it was raining lightly everyone just drove off, only person who came to help was a fellow cyclist.

Had to wrestle with the insurance company for a while seeing as I was claiming under my own contents policy rather than that of the person whose fault it was. Lucky I had my bike as a declared item with the right value and a few good friends at the LBS to write up the damage report. They said they'd pay but after a few months of to and fro I had to write and threaten taking them to Insurance Ombudsman. This costs them $4k before they even start to represent themselves so they were pretty quick to pay up the $3,700 my ride was insured for. Few days later I had a nice new 08 Bianchi and could get back into training...

spen666

Fonz wrote:

Our legal/insurance system might be a little bit different but I had a claim about six months ago. I had a car pull out into the lane from parked, I was doing 40+ so stopping wasn't an option. Unfortunately the only option was the back of a late model silver Mercedes, bike stopped, I didn't, went into orbit and came to rest in a pile of cones where roadworkers were sealing the road about 50meters past the impact. Jumped up and checked limbs were still attached, the road was wet so I didn't lose any skin (see, something to be said for shaved legs!!!!). Bike was a right mess, tri bars rooted, brake and shifter levers bent and scratched all to hell, seat and post broken, brakes broken, wheels a mess, fork cracked and frame in questionable state. Seeing as it was raining lightly everyone just drove off, only person who came to help was a fellow cyclist.

Had to wrestle with the insurance company for a while seeing as I was claiming under my own contents policy rather than that of the person whose fault it was. Lucky I had my bike as a declared item with the right value and a few good friends at the LBS to write up the damage report. They said they'd pay but after a few months of to and fro I had to write and threaten taking them to Insurance Ombudsman. This costs them $4k before they even start to represent themselves so they were pretty quick to pay up the $3,700 my ride was insured for. Few days later I had a nice new 08 Bianchi and could get back into training...

Why claim on your own policy rather than against the person who was responsible (assuming you weren't the one responsible :twisted: )

Parsnip49

spen666 wrote:

Why claim on your own policy rather than against the person who was responsible (assuming you weren't the one responsible :twisted: )

Because it is often far easier to do???

My carbon steerer got cracked flying to Switzerland - claiming from BAA or the Swiss equivalent would have been a nightmare and taken ages.

I claimed with the AA (home insurance) and had £300 for a new fork sat in my bank account within a week.

Specialized Needs

Parsnip49 wrote:

spen666 wrote:

Why claim on your own policy rather than against the person who was responsible (assuming you weren't the one responsible :twisted: )

Because it is often far easier to do???

My carbon steerer got cracked flying to Switzerland - claiming from BAA or the Swiss equivalent would have been a nightmare and taken ages.

I claimed with the AA (home insurance) and had £300 for a new fork sat in my bank account within a week.

@spen666: it isn't clear from FONZ's post whether the person causing the accident stopped (or even knew of the accident if the "late model silver Mercedes" wasn't the vehicle which pulled out). FONZ will have to clarify. My gut assumption from the context was that the person causing the accident didn't stick around.

@Parsnip49: as I understand it (which may not be very well), as it was an international flight you would only have got a payment from a carrier that was based on the weight of the 'luggage' (something to do with the Warsaw and Montreal conventions). In this circumstance, your home insurance would be the correct course to pursue. However, as many like to say in these circumstances, IANAL.

Stuart