Claiming on Drivers Insurance

flamite

anyone had any experience with this?

How long does it itypically take to claim if you've been hit/run over by a car. Bike written off. Guess it depends if driver admits liability, but I was hit from behind and have one witness and police were on scene to take statements from me and driver...

Just spoke to lawyers and she said it'll take at least 4-6 months!!

all i want is my bike back!

not a happy bunny

UndercoverElephant

A mate of mine's been waiting over a year to get the settlement from when a SMIDSY knocked him off his motorbike. He got rear-ended in his car last night too, and the first one's still not settled.

downfader

Took over 6 months for me too. Would have been faster too if the driver had told his insurer and not hidden all the facts from them. :roll:

If the lawyers are involved be patient but dont be afraid to phone them up and ask questions. Lawyers tend to be able to get more out of the insurer, plus they can claim their legal fees on top.

benno68

Ask your solicitor to get an "interim payment" once the value of your bike is agreed.

Until you get payment for the bike, claim for all reasonable travel expenses (keeping receipts/tickets) and also claim for loss of use and enjoyment of your bike - that'll usually prompt the insurer into making an interim payment to get you back on the road - provided that they are not disputing the cause of the accident.

Claims which include compensation for injuries usually take longer. In this day and age solicitors will "suggest" that you claim for injuries (however minor) as this may have an implication on the costs they can recover :roll:

fossyant

It will take time - I got an interim payment for bike damage and physio after about two months, although have £1k physio outstanding, and have an independent consultant in December to assess long term problems - that's a year after my accident, and that's with a driver admitting liability from the start.

alfablue

If your car was written off by another driver you would get a hire car for the duration (possibly same day) at the expense of the third party - demand the same and get a replacement bike!

cjw

alfablue wrote:

If your car was written off by another driver you would get a hire car for the duration (possibly same day) at the expense of the third party - demand the same and get a replacement bike!

Depends on your insurance policy, not the other drivet's. Your company (if in the poicy) will provide hire car and then claim back from the third party if they are able to - depnding on liability. You can claim any reasonable expenses that you incurr back from the third party but you will need to pay for it first yourself unless you can negotiate something with them.

OH, and last time someone went in the back of my car at a junction, it took a year for my insurance company to recover all of their costs from the third party and re-instate my no claims bonus.

Mucco

Benno68 wrote:

Until you get payment for the bike, claim for all reasonable travel expenses (keeping receipts/tickets) and also claim for loss of use and enjoyment of your bike - that'll usually prompt the insurer into making an interim payment to get you back on the road - provided that they are not disputing the cause of the accident.

What would a reasonalbe expense be? I commute by bike - the only alternative taking anywhere near the same time would be a taxi: £40 a day. My bike's only worth £200.

benno68

Bear in mind that if you use taxi's you will have to stump up the cash first - so you could buy a bike for a weeks worth of taxi fares! I'd avoid incurring large expenses if I were you.

Hypothetically, a person may not have the ready cash to just go out and buy a new bike unexpectedly. They may then have to resort to public transport and suffer inconvenience and extra travel time which should be compensated.

But it's really best to get advice from your solicitor.

alfablue

cjw wrote:

alfablue wrote:

If your car was written off by another driver you would get a hire car for the duration (possibly same day) at the expense of the third party - demand the same and get a replacement bike!

Depends on your insurance policy, not the other drivet's. Your company (if in the poicy) will provide hire car and then claim back from the third party if they are able to - depnding on liability. You can claim any reasonable expenses that you incurr back from the third party but you will need to pay for it first yourself unless you can negotiate something with them.

OH, and last time someone went in the back of my car at a junction, it took a year for my insurance company to recover all of their costs from the third party and re-instate my no claims bonus.

Last time someone went into the back of me, the body shop offered to get me a hire car, same day for free, he said the company (the one providing the car, not the body shop) just reclaimed from the 3rd party. My insurance was not involved at all.

In this situation I would contact the 3rd party's insurers and tell them your claim will include the costs of alternative transport (car hire or taxi for example) and ask them if they would like to minimise their costs by paying out to hire or buy a bike instead.

TRADESIZE

you'll need to make sure the third party insuers admit liability fisrt, that being the case phione their innocent third party claims team, and discuss the cost of a new bike,

if they dont accpet liability you have a fight on your hands, if your not sure, simply call them and ask. follow my instructions, i've been in motor claims for the last 10 years