Knocked off - bike replacement value
Pickle Lily
Posts: 45
Hi all,
Hoping for a bit of advice on a specific issue regarding an insurance claim.
I was knocked off my bike by a car and the bike is a write-off. I had right of way so driver is liable, although nobody stopped to offer to be a witness and I'm still waiting to hear if driver will accept liability.
I'm using BC legal representation and, whilst the solicitor is happy to send the insurers a replacement quote, she has warned me that the insurers are only required to pay for the pre-accident value of the bike, which would include depreciation.
My LBS feel that I should be able to claim for the full replacement value as I shouldn't have to sustain financial loss due to a third party's actions. An extra complication is that I bought the bike in the sale so my receipt shows a value that's 30% less than RRP. Naturally I agree with the LBS and I won't be very happy if I have to contribute to replacing the bike.
What are other people's experiences with this? I'm hoping for some examples / precedents that I can use to argue for full replacement value (if I have to). The insurance company is Aviva, so I would love to hear if anybody has direct experience of claiming against them.
Thanks in advance
Hoping for a bit of advice on a specific issue regarding an insurance claim.
I was knocked off my bike by a car and the bike is a write-off. I had right of way so driver is liable, although nobody stopped to offer to be a witness and I'm still waiting to hear if driver will accept liability.
I'm using BC legal representation and, whilst the solicitor is happy to send the insurers a replacement quote, she has warned me that the insurers are only required to pay for the pre-accident value of the bike, which would include depreciation.
My LBS feel that I should be able to claim for the full replacement value as I shouldn't have to sustain financial loss due to a third party's actions. An extra complication is that I bought the bike in the sale so my receipt shows a value that's 30% less than RRP. Naturally I agree with the LBS and I won't be very happy if I have to contribute to replacing the bike.
What are other people's experiences with this? I'm hoping for some examples / precedents that I can use to argue for full replacement value (if I have to). The insurance company is Aviva, so I would love to hear if anybody has direct experience of claiming against them.
Thanks in advance
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Comments
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I don't know the legal position ...
However ...
If my bike got written off and I was claiming for replacement - new for old? Tricky - the bike I'm on today is 4 years old - try selling it second hand and I'd be lucky to get a couple of hundred pounds for it - but to buy one second hand (quite a few about) I wouldn't know what the background is, so I couldn't be sure that it is what they say it is - ie no crash damage - and the wheels wouldn't be the same spec and I've done some upgrades too.
If my wifes bike got written off - it's carbon and relateively new - you can't buy them second hand atm so the only option is to get a new one.
The newer your bike the better chance you've got of RRP replacement - it's not £££ they're recompensing you with, it's the damaged bike they're replacing - shouldn't matter what the cost is ... a friend had this problem when his wifes car was written off by a 3rd party - they tried to give him book value of the car - but that wasn't enough to replace the car like for like - low mileage, paint in good condition, fully serviced etc etc - so he got several adverts off autotrader for a like for like replacement and challenged the insurance co - I think it was a fight, but he got the ££ he needed to replace the car like for like in the end. Don't see why bikes can't be the same?0 -
The other party has to put you back in the position you were before the event, so they should be paying out however much it would cost you to buy a replacement of a similar age, pretty much as the solicitor has stated.I'm using BC legal representation and, whilst the solicitor is happy to send the insurers a replacement quote, she has warned me that the insurers are only required to pay for the pre-accident value of the bike, which would include depreciation.
My LBS feel that I should be able to claim for the full replacement value as I shouldn't have to sustain financial loss due to a third party's actions.
Your LBS are plain wrong as you'd be financially better off from having a new bike and not a used one (obvious really).
Now for legal advice I'd go with the solicitor, for repairing the bike the LBS, not the other way round!Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
The other party has to put you back in the position you were before the event, so they should be paying out however much it would cost you to buy a replacement of a similar age, pretty much as the solicitor has stated.
I should have stated in my original post that I would probably struggle to source a like-for-like replacement second hand as the bike is a 47cm road frame with disc brakes. I've done a quick search already and not found anything similar.0 -
I was knocked off by a driver insured by Aviva a few years ago. They were a pain in the butt when I tried to play nice: they coughed up 100% of what I asked for bike, clothes etc, but the injuries - we're talking multiple broken bones - they offered a derisory £3500 for, when the going rate would have been more like £6000. I insisted on a medical, they sent me to their tame doctor who gave me such a clean bill of health you'd have thought it was a miracle. And reduced their offer to £3200.
At which point, properly narked, I called in legal firepower, who announced with relish their intention to take Aviva for every penny they could: Aviva delayed and quibbled as much as they could (including contesting liability, which they hadn't at first) but wound up settling - nearly 3 years after the incident - for £12,000.
Which might all be completely irrelevant to your case sorry just had to vent, even after all these years but what it does show is that a good solicitor will get you what you're due, one way or another. You might struggle to get more than the market value for the bike but if it's difficult to replace like-for-like, your solicitor will be able to push on that as well. And damaged clothes, any injuries at all, inconvenience, phone calls....0 -
You might struggle to get more than the market value for the bike but if it's difficult to replace like-for-like, your solicitor will be able to push on that as well. And damaged clothes, any injuries at all, inconvenience, phone calls....
Including any increase to travel costs due to lack of bike - just keep receipts for it all.0 -
As said before, it's "to put you back in the position as though the accident hadn't happened" .
Therefore, they owe you a bike in exactly the same state that the bike was in 2 seconds before you were hit. If it was knackered, they owe you another knackered bike. However, if you had just replaced all the parts, they owe you "a replacement old bike with similar new parts".
So, find a bike on pinkbike/ebay/gumtree etc, for the equivilant for your bike, and use that as a bargaining chip. However, there is nothing wrong with you asking your solicitor to ask for an advance on the settlement, and putting that towards a new bike.
That settlement would be against any personal injury, expenses, loss of income etc of the case.Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...0 -
I was knocked off by a driver insured by Aviva a few years ago. They were a pain in the butt when I tried to play nice: they coughed up 100% of what I asked for bike, clothes etc, but the injuries - we're talking multiple broken bones - they offered a derisory £3500 for, when the going rate would have been more like £6000. I insisted on a medical, they sent me to their tame doctor who gave me such a clean bill of health you'd have thought it was a miracle. And reduced their offer to £3200.
At which point, properly narked, I called in legal firepower, who announced with relish their intention to take Aviva for every penny they could: Aviva delayed and quibbled as much as they could (including contesting liability, which they hadn't at first) but wound up settling - nearly 3 years after the incident - for £12,000.
Which might all be completely irrelevant to your case sorry just had to vent, even after all these years but what it does show is that a good solicitor will get you what you're due, one way or another. You might struggle to get more than the market value for the bike but if it's difficult to replace like-for-like, your solicitor will be able to push on that as well. And damaged clothes, any injuries at all, inconvenience, phone calls....
Thanks for that nugget. I tried to play far with Aviva with my accident, but they didn't feel that they were playing fair (as required by law) to deal with me - in the end, I'm going through solicitors, and hope they get a better settlement
Intent on Cycling Commuting on a budget, but keep on breaking/crashing/finding nice stuff to buy.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...0 -
I'm amazed that you have to come to us for advice - surely the solicitor for BC should have plenty of experience in this matter ?0
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What bike was it? Maybe we can value it?0
