Doored by Dozy Driver – Advice Required

evil_breakfast

In need of some advice from the hive mind regarding a dooring incident, and the stance of the drivers insurance company.
It happened on Dec 13th and all the boxes were 'ticked'. Police/Ambulance called, on site witnesses corroborated dooring with Police, who talked to driver, visit to A&E, etc. etc.
Bike dropped into LBS the day after for a formal repair quote, and this was was issued on the 16th.
Police e-mailed incident ref/ drivers contact details and I spoke to the driver, who re-confirmed liability, again the on the 16th and insurance details were obtained.
Spoke to Axa on the 16th, and e-mailed them the repair quote (£560.00) and helmet receipt (£80.00), also making a personal injury claim which I hadn't really pursued or considered, as the injuries were nothing too serious - banged up right shoulder, bruising to the throat/windpipe & frontal lacerations to the L & R shoulder blade areas. This was accepted and a payment of £500 issued (and since received).
Because of the time of year, I left it until until the 29th to make a courtesy call to check up on things, and I was informed that Axa now wanted to see the original bike purchase receipt (Nov 2011 @ £1249-00) as the claim assessor needs to make some kind of decision about the cost of the repairs vs the value of the bike!?!
I responded that depreciation might be relevant if the LBS advised that the CF frame was now viewed as unsafe and a write-off, but seeming as this was for replacing (like for like) the damaged parts (CF forks -which took the brunt and visibly cracked, brifters, front mech, bar tape ) & labour, and that the driver accepted liability, then i'm surprised for the need for the original receipt.
Didn't get into a slanging match (too shocked) and e-mailed the receipt.
I'm getting quite panicky about this now. I'm currently jobless and can't afford to meet the repairs myself, or make up any shortfall/deficit/excess.
Any advice on next steps/stance I should take? After all, the LBS isn't recommending a write off and liability isn't an issue.

bendertherobot

To be honest, with carbon, (mind, I might do this for other materials), if a smash was bad enough to kill the fork, I'd be worried about the frame generally.

You may find that they'll simply authorise a new bike.

How come the front wheel is ok?

StillGoing

The insurers have to make a decision as to whether it is more economical to pay out the value of the bike, or to pay for it to be repaired. How it usually works, is they give you the option of retaining the bike to salvage value and give you the difference in value from the bikes current worth. As it is a push bike, i'd argue it is unsalvageable even as scrap and you want the full current worth paying to you, plus your injury compensation and any expenses incurred by having to pay for alternative travel if applicable. Keep things like bus receipts, train tickets, taxi fares etc. They may pay you out and tell you to throw the bike in a skip instead of asking for it. That is relinquishing any ownership claim by them, so you then have a choice to rebuild it with your compensation money.

You won't get a payout for the cost of buying a new bike unless the insurer is stupid.

evil_breakfast

bendertherobot wrote:

To be honest, with carbon, (mind, I might do this for other materials), if a smash was bad enough to kill the fork, I'd be worried about the frame generally.

You may find that they'll simply authorise a new bike.

How come the front wheel is ok?

It isn't, I was trying to be succinct and concise with the narrative (for the benefit of the reader!)

bendertherobot

Is it possible to source a fork from Canyon separately? That might be a sticking point (as well as being oh so slow).

I'm actually surprised the cost is coming out as so low. Is the quote for a pair of wheels? (Rather than one which is vaguely similar)?

chris_bass

I dont think it is anything to worry about, i had a claim that went through the drivers insurance and it took a long time to get sorted, had to send proof of purchase, photo's and get a quote from my LBS. I think its all mainly for their records, they won't get funny about paying out £560, they are used to dealing with car write offs and so its small stuff in comparison.

zak3737

If I'd have been you, I might have been expecting the LBS to be confirming that after such a knock, the Carbon Frame was unsafe to rely on, and claiming for a replacement frame/forks/ or bike !

just a thought......