car vs bike - next steps?

rubberbullet

Morning all

I was hit by a car on Sunday - it was a lovely vintage car, pulling out from the left onto the main road where I was cruising slightly downhill at about 25mph. I saw the car pulling out, assumed it would stop, but it kept rolling and rolling so I kept drifting further and further to my right and into the centre of the road, slowing down, but still assuming the driver had seen me as he was rolling so slowly. In any case, the worst happened and he didn't stop, just hitting me on the left-hand side back triangle of the bike. Luckily for me, I managed to stay on the bike and was unhurt.

Sadly my shoe took a small rip along the left hand side where he had bumped me, the rear wheel had a spoke snapped, and chain came off and became bent. I thought that was where it ended, but the mechanic who I took it to yesterday noticed that the carbon frame had three fractures around the rear triangle.

The man was entirely gentlemanly, apologetic, and immediately accepted responsibility on the spot with the usual SMIDSY reasons. Drove me to the train station, etc etc. We have had some text correspondence since in which he accepts responsibility. I have his name, phone number, and car registration.

The cost of repairs is looking to be north of £700 based on a quote from a carbon fibre repair company - I sent a polite text to the chap letting him know this, and asking hwether we should involve insurers bearing in mind costs are more than we had expected on the roadside.

I haven't heard from him in the last 24hrs. Not necessarily running away, he may be busy. That said, I am obviously keen to press on with delivering the bike for repairs.

I have insurance for both home contents - M&S - and the standard cover that comes from membership of British Triathlon and (hopefully not expired) British Cycling.

What would you do next? Inform my insurers? Inform the police? What would you do?

Thanks everyone!

bowdy1987

Well I wouldn't go down the 'repair' route. At the end if the day, dozy bollocks hasn't seen you. I'd want a new frame Inform the police and get them to press on with finding his insurers.

I was knocked off my bike on my commute home in December, cruising down the road, and a car turned out of traffic from the right and sent me over his bonnet. Completely accepted responsibility and paid up over £900 within 36hrs , a week before Christmas. Something didn't add up though, I believe he was either un-insured or had a license that was nearly full. He was just too dodgy in his mannerism. I left it in the end as he had paid up and was apologetic etc.

littledove44

Your claim is with your insurers.

It's up to them if they want to claim from him.

Submit your claim, give your insurers the details and let them get on with it. It's not your problem.

Bozman

Just let the insurance deal with it and I doubt that they'll get the frame repaired, insurance generally write off anything carbon after a crash.
I had a couple of minor scratches on a Ritchey seat post and they wrote that off, to be honest I think that they were there before the crash but the assessor just wrote it off, the assessor explained that they can't guarantee the integrity of the carbon after a crash.

rubberbullet

Thanks guys. I'd better go check that the insurance covers accidents outside of home then!

slowbike

littledove44 wrote:

Your claim is with your insurers.

It's up to them if they want to claim from him.

Submit your claim, give your insurers the details and let them get on with it. It's not your problem.

Claim is only with the OPs insurers if he has crash insurance. Afaik most home insurance is for loss due to theft or fire etc.
the OPs claim is with the driver of the car. If he's insured (most likely) then he's probably covered and may chose to pass that liability on.

IMHO the op needs to give the driver a reasonable time to respond - if he's stopped replying to texts there may be a reason for that - lost/broken phone - so perhaps a letter stating the current status would be sensible. If he still doesn't respond then I guess it's onto police/solicitors for legal support.

rubberbullet

Just spoke to M&S - what absolute legends. Have logged the claim and they are happy to put it on hold for a reasonable period for the driver to get back in touch... Let's see where we get to. Perhaps send a gentle reminder to the chap at lunchtime...

Thanks everyone

turnerjohn

I've been hit twice and on both occasions the driver accepted responsibility - leave to the insurance companies to sort out (I'm with CTC as they give free legal cover and have been fab with it) few things tho they take forever...even with a clear cut case. Also I'd be careful how you word what happended.....you say you saw the car, and saw him moving out....but you yep going because you "thought" he'd seen you....don't assume anything on the road if any doubt stop yes its a b*ll ache but someday that may just save your life !

rpherts

Bl**dy cyclists, etc.

markhewitt1978

Your insurance has nothing to do with it. Your claim is against the drivers insurance. Although in my experience they get very confused when you've been involved in an accident and you're not also driving a car.

Indeed you shouldn't accept repairs to a carbon frame IMO, you had an undamaged frame before, you're entitled to have an undamaged frame now.

Sounds very similar to my accident, saw the car, saw it roll along and assumed they would stop.

slowbike

This is the sticky on what to do about accidents - from commuting general.
viewtopic.php?f=40052&t=12722930

crescent

If he is not responding to text then try phoning him and speaking to him instead. If he doesn't respond after a few calls then I would leave a message telling him that if you do not hear from him in 24hrs, for example, you will inform the police - not necessarily to cause the guy trouble but just to gee him up a bit and move things forward for you, you are the injured party after all. If possible I would not involve my own insurance to resolve this at all, otherwise your own no claims could be affected. It is his fault and he should reimburse either from his own pocket, if he doesn't want to make an insurance claim, or claim his insurance if it is more expensive than he is willing to fork out for himself. I would not compromise on the outcome just to save him a few quid and if it was my carbon frame I would want it replaced and not repaired.
I've been there myself, it's an unpleasant experience
Good Luck

rickeverett

why didn't you do what you would do whilst driving and approach with caution and slow down (even stop) seeing as he was still rolling out of a junction?
On a bike in particular you cant assume someone is going to see you or stop.

DiscoBoy

littledove44 wrote:

Your claim is with your insurers.

It's up to them if they want to claim from him.

Err, no. They have naff all to do with it. The OP's claim is with the driver's insurance.

OP just call his insurance company to lodge a claim, and tell them what was damaged and that you expect for it to be replaced.

littledove44

DiscoBoy wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

Your claim is with your insurers.

It's up to them if they want to claim from him.

Err, no. They have naff all to do with it. The OP's claim is with the driver's insurance.

OP just call his insurance company to lodge a claim, and tell them what was damaged and that you expect for it to be replaced.

Sorry, you are so wrong on this.
His claim is actually with the driver. He has no relationship with the drivers insurance company.
Yes, you can attempt to claim directly from the driver but that clearly is working out too well for him.

The OP is insured. He gets his insurance company to sort out the claim. They will try to get their money back from the driver, via his insurance company. If they are successful there should be no change to his future premiums. Most household type policies do not carry the same no claims bonus thing that we all put up with on car policies.

DiscoBoy

littledove44 wrote:

DiscoBoy wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

Your claim is with your insurers.

It's up to them if they want to claim from him.

Err, no. They have naff all to do with it. The OP's claim is with the driver's insurance.

OP just call his insurance company to lodge a claim, and tell them what was damaged and that you expect for it to be replaced.

Sorry, you are so wrong on this.
His claim is actually with the driver. He has no relationship with the drivers insurance company.
Yes, you can attempt to claim directly from the driver but that clearly is working out too well for him.

The OP is insured. He gets his insurance company to sort out the claim. They will try to get their money back from the driver, via his insurance company. If they are successful there should be no change to his future premiums. Most household type policies do not carry the same no claims bonus thing that we all put up with on car policies.

He can go through his insurance and get them to manage it if he wishes, but it isn't necessary. Given that the other person is clearly at fault, then claiming off his own insurance first only introduces ways for it all to go wrong.

Equally, he could get the CTC or British Cycling (whichever he is a member of) to help run his claim.

rubberbullet

So the driver eventually responded to say that he would need to get in touch with his insurers re: settling the issue in due course, so the idea of a private settlement between us was no longer apparent. I contacted my insurers, who are guiding towards a full replacement of the bike and frame through Wheelies because of the lack of a warranty with repair jobs (with its own problems, bearing in mind it was the 2013 model and the 2014 is significantly different, etc).

I have provided the insurers with the registration plate and other details, so hopefully they can then claim from the driver's insurance, and as they say, leave my no-claims untouched as long as the insurer on the other side coughs up.

Iamnot Wiggins

1. Report to he police, regardless.
2. Go to www.askmid.com and pay £3.50 or similar to get the guys insurance details based upon the reg number.
3. Call his insurers to report the claim to them (he probably hasn't) and advise that you are now looking to seek settlement for your damaged bike & kit.
4. Get the bike shop to make a full damage estimate which indicates all damage & the cost of repair/replacement
5. Send this to the insurers, who by now should have spoken to the guy in question.
6. Chase the insurance company weekly if they're taking their time. If the driver has admitted liability at the scene then there's not a lot they can do with regards to not settling.

You can ask M&S to settle if things aren't moving quickly enough for you and they will subrogate their costs from the drivers insurance. If they manage to recoup the monies then it shouldn't affect your renewal premium or go against you.

Having just got the best part of £6,000 out of Aviva after one of their insured drivers wrote off my Specialized, you just need to stand firm and not except any reductions for wear & tear that the insurance company will be sure to try and deduct. Remember, you shouldn't be out of pocket due to somebody else not paying due care and attention.

thescouselander

I'm currently dealing with a similar situation and have decided to go through my household insurance to get my bike fixed quickly and they will reclaim the money from the drivers insurance in due course. I got sorted out with the money within 24 hours of getting the quote for the repair by going this route.

wishitwasallflat

Iamnot Wiggins wrote:

1. Report to he police, regardless.
2. Go to http://www.askmid.com and pay £3.50 or similar to get the guys insurance details based upon the reg number.
3. Call his insurers to report the claim to them (he probably hasn't) and advise that you are now looking to seek settlement for your damaged bike & kit.
4. Get the bike shop to make a full damage estimate which indicates all damage & the cost of repair/replacement
5. Send this to the insurers, who by now should have spoken to the guy in question.
6. Chase the insurance company weekly if they're taking their time. If the driver has admitted liability at the scene then there's not a lot they can do with regards to not settling.

You can ask M&S to settle if things aren't moving quickly enough for you and they will subrogate their costs from the drivers insurance. If they manage to recoup the monies then it shouldn't affect your renewal premium or go against you.

Having just got the best part of £6,000 out of Aviva after one of their insured drivers wrote off my Specialized, you just need to stand firm and not except any reductions for wear & tear that the insurance company will be sure to try and deduct. Remember, you shouldn't be out of pocket due to somebody else not paying due care and attention.

This is pretty much exactly what I did in similar circumstances but I never involved my own insurers just dealt directly with the drivers insurers and they paid in full within 3 weeks of my first contacting them.