Bike damaged in car accident, anyone with experience/advise?

jamski

Hi all.

Last Saturday I had someone crash into the back of me, at some speed. Car will be written off, although not confirmed yet, but it will be. Unfortunately my bike was on the back. Front wheel is totally screwed, forks slightly bent as the axle doesn't screw through nicely any more and the frame has a lot of chips/scratches. Headset doesn't seem quite as smooth as before either.

I've started a claim through my car insurance solicitors and they're in the process of recovering the losses. Trying to claim for the total cost of the bike plus upgrades as I'm always going to be wary of thrashing it down a hill at 30mph after a hit like that.

I'm really bummed about it, especially the bike. The car will sort easily enough and I've gone through the process for that before, so know what to expect. Insurance have been great so far, but said they would contact me again in 'a few weeks' about the bike. Anyone been through something similar and can tell me it'll get sorted this side of Christmas?!!

Cheers,

James.

cougie

I'd think the bike should be written off. If that was on the back and your car is totalled...

No way am I riding that. Seriously- you think bent forks are OK ? Get on the phone to them pronto.

jamski

cougie wrote:

I'd think the bike should be written off. If that was on the back and your car is totalled...

No way am I riding that. Seriously- you think bent forks are OK ? Get on the phone to them pronto.

Not sure if you misread my post or something doesn't make sense, but no, I don't think the forks are ok, and as I said, the claim has been started, it just sounds like it's going to take some time.

I don't want to ride it, but they could replace the front wheel, frame and forks, which would be a pain in the arse as I'd probably have to get quotes and then have the work done.

cougie

I can't imagine them replacing the forks frame and front wheel and making you transfer everything else over. What about the bars ? Seatpost ? Stem ? All vital to your safety. Any of those break due to the damage that a car crash might have caused and you're going down.

If the Frame is scratched all over it should be scrapped. Your cranks are probably bent too. It's a write off job.

Kick up a fuss.

tomb57

Don't forgot to ask for bike hire for when you would use your bike you should be using
It at least three or four times a week current hire rate appear to be approx £17.50 per
Day this will soon add up and you should not be out of pocket for someone else's failure
To stop . This might make them pay up quicker.

The Rookie

With the above really, make sure the bike is on the claim, non Personal Injury claims are usually settled quite quickly, chances are they won't ask for the bike and you can cannibalise it for bits that are OK, a reasonable profit could be in the offing!

DuD3

Just out of curiosity did you get any further with your claim? Just had somebody reverse into my bike on the bike rack (side on) which has dented my boot and taken a huge chunk out of the carbon on one of my bikes frames.

Just wondering what your experience has been so far as im claiming for car and bike damage.

FishFish

My unhelpful contribution is that I put a towbar on the car to use for my bike rack. Tesco refused to insure me because it was a modification. Direct line were ok about it but interestingly said that if I had not declared the towbar and the rack and the bike then any claim would have been invalidated! :shock:

I suppose that a towbar is a bit more permanent than a clip on rack but do please be aware of this risk.

JGTR

FishFish wrote:

My unhelpful contribution is that I put a towbar on the car to use for my bike rack. Tesco refused to insure me because it was a modification. Direct line were ok about it but interestingly said that if I had not declared the towbar and the rack and the bike then any claim would have been invalidated! :shock:

I suppose that a towbar is a bit more permanent than a clip on rack but do please be aware of this risk.

But if someone hits you the claim will be against their insurance and would be covered.

FishFish

I think she was suggesting that my insurance would be void. Breach of contract. Anyway is it worth the risk to save the cost of a phone call - after all the bike rack/ towbar / bike addition to the policy did not add to the premium.