RTI with car this morning - any advice?

cyclingvigilante

I was commuting into work this morning and got hit by a car (landed on the bonnet) but fortunately no injuries. My bike's a bit of a state though. I have the details of the driver, the numberplate and a witness who saw everything, his office looks out onto the junction and he said he saw the whole thing unfold. He agrees it was the driver's fault (not giving way).

There was no other traffic at the time and it's a clear sunny day so this is a case of the driver not looking/in a rush. As there was no sign of slowing down when she hit me.

I just wanted to enqure about claiming for repair's to my bike through the driver's insurance, what steps should I undertake? Is it necessary to involve a solicitor, I'm hoping not since I'm not interested in prosecuting the driver as fortunately I sustained no injuries.

Marco Panettone

cyclingvigilante wrote:

I was commuting into work this morning and got hit by a car (landed on the bonnet) but fortunately no injuries. My bike's a bit of a state though. I have the details of the driver, the numberplate and a witness who saw everything, his office looks out onto the junction and he said he saw the whole thing unfold. He agrees it was the driver's fault (not giving way).

There was no other traffic at the time and it's a clear sunny day so this is a case of the driver not looking/in a rush. As there was no sign of slowing down when she hit me.

I just wanted to enqure about claiming for repair's to my bike through the driver's insurance, what steps should I undertake? Is it necessary to involve a solicitor, I'm hoping not since I'm not interested in prosecuting the driver as fortunately I sustained no injuries.

WTF?! It's an RTC - it has to be reported to the police. The CPS will decide whether to prosecute or not. Anyway, the driver's actions could've killed you (or someone else) under only very slightly different circumstances. Maybe next time they will.

slowbike

viewtopic.php?f=40052&t=12722930

that's the static page on what to do ...

It's an accident - report to the Police?

If a road traffic accident/collision happened on a road or a public place and the other driver failed to stop or there are injuries then you have to report the accident to the police.

On the basis that there are no injuries (really?!) and the driver stopped then technically you don't need to report it to the Police ...

mattv

You won't know if you are injured til tomorrow, when the adrenaline goes and the aches start. Report to the Police, even just to get yourself an incident number which the insurer will almost certainly want to process a claim. Take pictures if you get any bruises come out. Also lots of the damage to your bike. I hope you got one of her car too before she left, and also called the mobile number she gave, to make sure it's hers!

Colinthecop

You don't need to report it to the Police. Not all accidents are reportable, the circumstances you have described fall into the non reportable catagory.

Contact the driver, ask for their insurance company details and forward them any bills/estimates. The majority of insurance companies will be more than happy to deal with you direct as they wont have to pay third party fees.

cyclingvigilante

Thanks for the advice all, I've reported the incident to the Met using one of their 'Self Reporting' forms:
http://content.met.police.uk/Article/Collision-forms-and-reports/1400005513174/1400005513174

They have an option for reporting a 'damage only collision' and they encourage incidents to be reported within 24 hours. I think the insurance companies usually ask for a police incident number in these circumstances.

I had taken pictures of the scene just to record the reg number, I'll look into getting insurance details later.

The Rookie

Insurance companies don't ask for in incident number if it wasn't reportable, the Police don't want all accidents reported to them needlessly.

On the face of it you didn't need to report.

As long as you have no injuries insurers will usually deal with you direct now as the value of the claim is relatively small (compared to hitting a car when they will usually start at £2K) and dealing direct and paying promptly is cheaper than making a meal out of it for them.

damocles10

Should have called the Police and Ambulance at the time of the accident, no exceptions. To get the police on your side will have a heavier weight in a claim and potential prosecution if the driver is proved to be at fault.

Andydaw

There will always be conflicting advice. But you have to think worse case scenarios.

As already mentioned, you will probably not feel the aches and pains till later in the day or 24 hrs after the crash. Adrenaline is a great painkiller.

Report to the police (which I see you have now) every time. They most probably won't follow it up if there is no injury, but at least a record exists - especially if the driver denies it later.

Also, you don't know at the roadside if the driver is insured, disqualified from driving or has a terrible driving history with impending prosecutions. However nice & apologetic they may be at the roadside, people can get nasty when their no claims discount is at risk! These checks can only be done by the old bill - and no they may not tell you the results but if you make an insurance claim the insurance companies will ask for a copy of any report from the police.

If you aren't a member of British Cycling, consider joining. It doesn't cost much for a year and you get legal advice and support for this kind of crash.

Good luck getting your bike sorted.

The Rookie

Andydaw wrote:

if you make an insurance claim the insurance companies will ask for a copy of any report from the police.

Please don't spout rubbish, think about it for a minute and it is obvious it is rubbish isn't it!

Colinthecop

damocles10 wrote:

Should have called the Police and Ambulance at the time of the accident, no exceptions. To get the police on your side

As opposed to labeling you a timewaster for calling out the emergency services when there is no need. :roll:

notnot

I came off my bike on a cycle path recently (no-one else to blame, just me not paying enough attention). I didn't call an ambulance because I wasn't badly hurt, luckily. Even if someone else had been to blame, there would still have been no reason to call an ambulance unless I had a worse injury - they're there to treat people/take them to hospital, not help with a compensation claim.

Of course, if you're hit by a fast-moving lump of metal you may well have a worse injury and want to call an ambulance (or be cautious about getting your injuries checked out in case they are bad). If you're definitely not injured, though (I know this can be hard to be sure about) calling an ambulance seems daft.

The Rookie

If I called an ambulance every time I fell off my MTB.......

Clearly Damocles is more a premiership footballer than a rugby player when it comes to taking a few knocks..... ;-)