Accident

squibnocket

Happily riding along this morning doing a leisurely 20mph when this old guy decides to do a u turn in front of us slammed the brakes on shouted so loud we smashed a few windows but still ended up side swiping the car. I got his details and a witnesses details, got home showered off went to report it to the police. The thing is when I was cleaning the bike later this afternoon, I realised that my saddle, pedals and bars had been damaged, I've gt hs address should I go round to his house and present him with a bill for the damaged stuff or go through a solicitor. And to rub salt into the wound after I'd taken his details he actually said thank you!! Not before saying the obvious

VTech

Go round but go with a witness. Did he seem ok at the scene?
Paying you for repairs will probably be cheaper than the increase premium.

Stevie_gee

I don't understand the problem, if there is conclusive proof (I.e. impartial witness statement) that he caused your bike to become damaged then its his responsibility to rectify it. Any reasonable person would attempt to resolve it Mano a Mano (obviously with a civil conversation, not simply presenting him with a bill), if that doesn't work then get solicitors involved.

And next time, assume that they haven't seen you and will perform a u turn in front of you. This will prevent an analogous situation from arising in the future, which may very well have more severe consequences.

Bobbinogs

VTech wrote:

Go round but go with a witness. [...] Paying you for repairs will probably be cheaper than the increase premium.

+1. Ensure the witness is totally unconnected with the event and try to stay constructive. The only problem I foresee is that 'normal' folks think that bike kit costs tuppence ha'penny so when you say "£80 for a new saddle" he will probably think you are taking the piff. So, to avoid that, take a few print outs from Wiggle. If he gets all arsey then just walk away and contact someone like the CTC or BC for solicitor contact details.

TheHound

How did you only notice the damage after getting home? Sure after an accident you'd inspect your bike pretty closely there and then and make the driver aware of damages. If that's not the case then expect him to think you're just after a new saddle and pedals.

sev112

Weird, was he driving towards you on the other side of the road and just did a u turn at speed - amazing ? I wouldn't have thought it possible, but there you go, I have given up thinking it is impossible what some drivers have done over the last few months

I made a mistake yesterday, which with hindsight I should have done differently
Was going along two way but narrow quiet country lane, up ahead a car was reversing into a driveway on my right hand side It was substantially into the driveway so I just carried on on my side of the road. Except as I got level it then did the remainder of its 5 point turn and nearly pulled into me

I just presumed it had been reversing, mind you he should have looked before he pulled forward again without doubt.

danlikesbikes

TheHound wrote:

How did you only notice the damage after getting home? Sure after an accident you'd inspect your bike pretty closely there and then and make the driver aware of damages. If that's not the case then expect him to think you're just after a new saddle and pedals.

Agree that it would be my first point of call after making sure I could stand thereby pretty much self checking that most of my body works. However the OP could have been in shock & got caught up with ensuring he had the drivers and witness details first with the intention of checking the bike for damage later.

Mad_Malx

Stevie_gee wrote:

Any reasonable person would attempt to resolve it Mano a Mano (obviously with a civil conversation, not simply presenting him with a bill), if that doesn't work then get solicitors involved.
.

Do you know what mano a mano means?

Edit: :oops:
just read that the spanish do use this figuratively, in the manner you suggest. Bit ambiguous though, you don't want to suggest combat.

Beckers62

Some good advice here. I like the comment about taking some Wiggle / Chainreaction print out to substantiate prices. How old was the driver? This could be relevant

Short story of what happened to me (not on a bike tho)

Was in a pub beer garden with about 8 mates, having a shandy. They had been riding, I couldn't, so just met to be sociable. Old fella (prob mid 70's) manoeuvring in the car park, and revving the tits off his little car.

My mate then says "Beckers, that bloke has just reversed into your car"

So I wander over and sure enough he has broken the headlight and the indicator, and scrapped the bumper

I knock the old boys window, he winds it down, and we have a "chat"

Me "you've just hit my car chum"
Him "no I haven't"
Me "yes you did mate, here take a look... oh and by the way, those 8 blokes over there all saw you do it"

He gets out, has a look, and goes "oh, I don't think that was me" So I remind the old giffer that I have 8 witnesses who were 10 yards away.

So he gets out his wallet and offers me £20 with a "that should cover it"

My car at the time was a brand new Saab 93 convertible, so after I've finished laughing I tell him to put his £20 away and give me his details, pointing out that I now have his reg.

Long story cut short. The Saab main dealer quote is £720. His son then comes round and says his uncle has a fully accredited repair shop, and can he do the work off the books, no insurance involvement.

For the gain of getting the fog light on the other side repair included (I'd hit a pheasant a week earlier) I agreed.

dodgy

Squibnocket wrote:

after I'd taken his details

I assume by 'his details' you mean insurance and address? You only need his insurance details, just ring them up and start a claim. It's simple. That's the path I would go down if he gets arsey about paying up when you call him.

danlikesbikes

dodgy wrote:

Squibnocket wrote:

after I'd taken his details

I assume by 'his details' you mean insurance and address? You only need his insurance details, just ring them up and start a claim. It's simple. That's the path I would go down if he gets arsey about paying up when you call him.

Would also add possibly calling your local police station to report. That will generate a incident report number which you can give to his insurers if your going down that route.

Pross

dodgy wrote:

Squibnocket wrote:

after I'd taken his details

I assume by 'his details' you mean insurance and address? You only need his insurance details, just ring them up and start a claim. It's simple. That's the path I would go down if he gets arsey about paying up when you call him.

This. Don't go around to his house, it could look like intimidation. Send him a detailed breakdown of costs in the post and ask him to contact you to let you know how he intends to rectify it (via insurance or not). I would also contact your witness and ask them to send a written statement. All this assumes you do not have insurance yourself, if you do just contact your insurers and leave it with them (you may be able to do it through your house insurance even).

ShutUpLegs

Beckers62 wrote:

My car at the time was a brand new Saab 93 convertible,

Was it your girlfriends car?

smoggysteve

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Beckers62 wrote:

My car at the time was a brand new Saab 93 convertible,

Was it your girlfriends car?

How did you know his GF is a hairdresser?

brucey72

I work in Personal Injury for an insurance company and agree with two of the comments made above in that if you have his details and he is unwilling to repay your costs directly then just go straight to his insurer and log a claim. They will be under an obligation to investigate so make sure that you keep evidence of the damage caused ie photos, witness details and any receipts for repairs you need to carry out before the matter is resolved. If you don't have his insurance details then the police will be able to run a MID search and provide you with these detials assuming you have the vehicle registration plate. The police will also provide you with an incident reference which the insurer will ask you for.

Better still, if you are member of British Cycling then contact them for details of their approved solicitors. We have had a number of dealings with them and they have always achieved results on behalf of their client's. They have also been extremely professional unlike some of the ambulance chasers I deal with for road traffic accidents.

ooermissus

brucey72 wrote:

Better still, if you are member of British Cycling then contact them for details of their approved solicitors. We have had a number of dealings with them and they have always achieved results on behalf of their client's.

The only weird thing about British Cycling's insurance is that if the guy happened also to be a member then they won't represent you (I think).

danlikesbikes

ooermissus wrote:

brucey72 wrote:

Better still, if you are member of British Cycling then contact them for details of their approved solicitors. We have had a number of dealings with them and they have always achieved results on behalf of their client's.

The only weird thing about British Cycling's insurance is that if the guy happened also to be a member then they won't represent you (I think).

Yep wording does exclude member to member cases - lets just hope the car driver wasn't a cyclist too as might make life harder for the OP in that case.

ooermissus

Bit of an annoying rule.

danlikesbikes

Think of the image of BC though if you could take another rider to court & the circumstances were not so clear cut. People might moan about BC having this as an extra of their membership but it was no good as they were claimed against or not able to claim.

Beckers62

SmoggySteve wrote:

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Beckers62 wrote:

My car at the time was a brand new Saab 93 convertible,

Was it your girlfriends car?

How did you know his GF is a hairdresser?

I was waiting for this

It was 10 years ago... I was having a mid life crisis :?

thefd

Pross wrote:

dodgy wrote:

Squibnocket wrote:

after I'd taken his details

I assume by 'his details' you mean insurance and address? You only need his insurance details, just ring them up and start a claim. It's simple. That's the path I would go down if he gets arsey about paying up when you call him.

This. Don't go around to his house, it could look like intimidation. Send him a detailed breakdown of costs in the post and ask him to contact you to let you know how he intends to rectify it (via insurance or not). I would also contact your witness and ask them to send a written statement. All this assumes you do not have insurance yourself, if you do just contact your insurers and leave it with them (you may be able to do it through your house insurance even).

^^^^This^^^^ is good advice. I wouldn't go round, but send the info to him and ask him to respond how he will sort out!

butcher of bakersfield

The police should be able to give out the details of his insurance company. That would seem the sensible route to me.

hstiles

Call him and explain that he has caused several hundred of pounds worth of damage to your bike. Ask for his insurance details and say that you are prepared to deal with them directly to minimise third party involvement.

If he is at all difficult, or upon contacting his insurance company, they are difficult, go straight to a specialist cycle claims firm and make sure you go for every medical appointment offered.

squibnocket

Thanks for the all the advice, I should have stated that the u turn he did was from a parked position on the left hand side of the road, he literally indicated and pulled out at the same time it was inside the hatch markings on a pedestrian crossing too, this is how i know he never looked, as i hit him the look of shock said it all, for his sake I suppose it's lucky I wasn't driving an articulated lorry he would have been brown bread for sure.

I did get his details and yes this was my first ever incident in 30 years of cycling. I did have to straigten up the bars at the scene but to phrase what a previous poster put yes we were in shock. Today I've had a banging headache all day and a very sore chest, collar bone and left arm.....the joys of cycling.

At least being a cyclist I got on the bike and rode home, had I been a footballer they would have had to bring a stretcher to get me home

Mikey23

Late to this discussion... Police report, expert medical assessment of damage to you, expert assessment of damage to your bike. Deal with it through his insurance. Can't really see what the prob would be with that..

Beckers62

Mikey23 wrote:

Can't really see what the prob would be with that..

The "potential" problem is if he changes his story, and denies responsibilty

I had exactly that happen to me. Woman pulling out at a T junction, me right in front of her on the main road indicating to turn right into her side road.

She's looking, oh yes... looking left.... looking right.... just not looking at me RIGHT IN FRONT of her.

She drives right in to me. Her front bumper into my rear quarter panel. I could "see" it happening before it did.

Anyway, we both get out, she is profusely apologetic, saying it's all her fault. I explain that we need to exchange details. Silly cow gives me all her details, but says she doesn't need mine :roll: I explain that she does, and give her a business card (my name & number, reg details, but office address)

I get to the office 5 mins later, within 10 mins she is on the phone, very sheepish, just been given a huge bollocking from hubby for not getting my address :roll:

Upshot is, she denies liability, when it comes to insurance, they go knock for knock :roll: