Bike accident, insurance advice please ?

Leesykoi

Hi,

Had an accident yesterday when a car came far too close to me forcing me into the gutter and I ended up on the tarmac after hitting a drain cover. The car never stopped leaving me to pick myself up and dust myself down. Feeling a bit sore today but ever so grateful I never ended up under the wheels of the car.

I was shook up yesterday so never checked my bike till today. Upon inspection it has a fair few surface scratches to the forks and rear end but worryingly a damaged scuffed that has a small pinprick where it looks to have penetrated the carbon. This was where the bike hit the kerb when I went down.

My bike shop has the bike now for a full check over and at the moment cannot say if the damaged area will get worse or remain the same.

Due to this my dilemma is do I contact my insurers (M&S) now or just hope the damage doesn't get worse. To be honest I'd prefer not to claim as touch wood I've never had to make a claim in my life but deep down I am worried if the damage gets worse further down the line that I'll not be able to make a claim after the event.

Any advice appreciated, thks.

Lee

dayone

Should have reported the matter to the police and then your insurance. Contact M&S Because when the problem does get worse, you can't say the problem happend months or years ago due to a incident with a car (it just sounds dodgey)

Colinthecop

Did you have time to get the reg number of the vehicle...?

Leesykoi

Thk you for your response, I'm thinking I need to ring M&S tomorrow to log the incident with them and talk to them about it. I never contacted the police as the vehicle never physically struck me so I don't think an offence happened. The bike shop has said if the problem gets worse maybe get it repaired but I think I'd always be worried about the integrity of a carbon repair. Let's hope M&S are helpful when I ring them.

Leesykoi

Sorry Colin, no I didn't get the reg as I went down like a sack of potatoes and was pretty shaken up...

Colinthecop

Leesykoi wrote:

Sorry Colin, no I didn't get the reg as I went down like a sack of potatoes and was pretty shaken up...

That's to be expected, getting the reg was the last thing on your mind i'd imagine. :shock:

It's still a reportable road accident as due to the presence of a motor vehicle on the road an accident has occured. It doesn't matter that it didn't hit you. Although in all honesty it''s not going anywhere without knowing who the driver was, and if he was traced the first thing he would say was, he was unaware you came off and he was nowhere near you. Without an independent witness you're struggling.

I'd still contact the Police just incase anyone witnessed it and phoned in their details when they got home, it does happen. Sometimes people cant stop at the time, for a variety of reasons, or don't want to phone in when they're driving.

Leesykoi

It's quite a quiet back road and there were no other cars about hence my surprise at how close he got to me. Supposed to be on a club ride tomorrow but my confidence is shot to pieces and my journey home after the accident was very slow to say the least !!

StillGoing

Leesykoi wrote:

Thk you for your response, I'm thinking I need to ring M&S tomorrow to log the incident with them and talk to them about it. I never contacted the police as the vehicle never physically struck me so I don't think an offence happened. The bike shop has said if the problem gets worse maybe get it repaired but I think I'd always be worried about the integrity of a carbon repair. Let's hope M&S are helpful when I ring them.

Doesn't matter that the vehicle never physically contacted you. The reportable road traffic collision is; "Owing to the presence of a mechanically propelled motor vehicle on a road or other public place, an accident occurs whereby....." and afterwards comes the relevant damage or injury insertion. You were forced to take avoiding action because of the movements of the car. That movement forced you into the kerb resulting in damage to your bike when you came off. Therefore a reportable RTC has occurred for which the driver and their insurers are liable for costs. Would you have gone into the kerb but for the presence of the car? No.

The driver should have stopped if they were aware they'd just caused a collision and in any case reported it within 24 hours or as soon as practicable, but in the case of collisions there is a get out for them if they can show they wouldn't have known they'd just caused one. As you're not in a MPV you don't have to report it, but in this case I would. Give as much detail as you can about the vehicle and hopefully an ANPR camera or highway cctv might have caught the vehicle in the area allowing you to make a claim against the driver.

blablablacksheep

Like others have said allways report it.
This includes near misses and incidents that took place not just physical crashes.

Report to police and get crime number, as most insurers allways ask for this .

Then I always take photos, and write down what happened while it's still fresh in memory.

slowbike

The integrity of the carbon repair will depend on who does it ...

But Carbon can be repaired and may end up stronger than the rest of the bike.
In sailing - look at the AC45s and AC70 - these are carbon composites and they have prangs, just repaired and on they go.
My brothers carbon bike had damage to the rear triangle resulting in the detachment of the dropouts - he rode it for years on a home bodge epoxy glue repair - it broke again so he took it to a carbon repairer who has returned the bike with the promise that the repair will outlast the rest of the bike.

There may be some repairs that are just not viable due to the location or extent of damage - but it's worth trying.

Brommers76

Are you referring to home insurance? I doubt it covers damage to the bike to be honest.

gabriel959

Mine does, even in case of an accident so get it checked.

littledove44

gabriel959 wrote:

Mine does, even in case of an accident so get it checked.

So does mine. It's called accidental damage. Most policies have it.

foggymike

I used to be with M&S before their prices went bonkers. I had to pay extra for cover away from home but that covered crashes (including racing - I checked) or accidental damage as well as theft. If you're covered away from home then no worries, you would get it sorted even if no car was involved at all. A few years ago I got knocked off by a van and got a new frameset and some replacement bits that were damaged too. Like yourself I was head first in a hedge so no chance of getting a number!

StillGoing

blablablacksheep wrote:

Like others have said allways report it.
This includes near misses and incidents that took place not just physical crashes.

Report to police and get crime number, as most insurers allways ask for this .

Then I always take photos, and write down what happened while it's still fresh in memory.

A waste of time. There is no reason to report all collisions or near misses. If the driver abides by the requirements to stop and exchange the relevant details, there is no need to report the collision. To do so wastes everyone's time. Insurers do not insist on a "crime number" (i'm sure you mean incident number?) either.