Had an off last night. Two lanes traffic to turn right at junction with red light on, first lane had couple stationary cars, right had lane was clear. I come up right hand lane, but car suddenly pulls out into my lane, i’m already on brakes for red light, swerve, lock front wheel, and drop it.
I’m fine, bike has few cracks, scuffs, bashed belly pan, bobbins bent. Seems just cosmetic, bike is rideable. No damage to other car, just a rub in the dirt in the door, no paint scratches or anything.
Chap, wasn’t keen to give me insurance details, but did relent when I threatend to call police. Just wondering how this will play out insurance wise, in my favour or not. He did eventually admit he pulled out, didn’t indicate or see me. Just worried he say there was no collision, to no blame or some such line.
Sorry to hear of your off, but glad you’re ok. Bikes can be fixed easier !
Might of been worth to call the plod out if he was reluctant to give over details. Did you get photos of him and the car and where everything ended up?
Didn’t get photo of bike on floor in relation to car. Big pile of traffic behind, he just drove road corner where we talked it over. Did get photos of his car, showing no damage and scuffs in dirt. In case he claims I damaged his car and it doesn’t go totally in my favour. Wish I had got photos of car positions and him in mylane. In the moment just to preoccupied with getting bike back up and started again…
When I started to ring police he did dig our his policy doc, have all his details now.
Insurers are in process of talking his insurance and set off firm to access bike damage and get it fixed. Just worried, if it doesn’t turn out clear cur I’ll have to pay big dollop of these repairs at top whack prices. Alreadytold them I don’t want courtesy bike unless claim is 100% in my favour.
Insurance wise I would think that as long as he admits that he pulled out without indicating or looking, that you can claim against his insurance.
Now whether it is worth doing that is another matter. You have no injuries, bike is only slightly damaged as far as you can tell.
Take it to a bike shop, a reputable one, ask them to give you a written quote for the work.
Ring, visit, send a letter, to the person involved, show him the written quote from a reputable dealer, state that this is how much it will cost to rectify the bike.
Tell him if he wants to do this in cash, rather than taking a hit on the insurance, that you are willing to do that. If not it will be a straight up claim.
Two advantages:
1, insurance claims are a pain, even when not your fault, it can take ages to resolve, and in the meantime insurance costs can be higher.
2, it will save you having to fight the insurance claim, you don’t seem to have any witnesses and it would very easy for him to claim you simply fell for no reason, or cause it was cold and wet, and want to blame someone and he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Of course you will have to legally tell your insurance company about the accident, whether you make a claim or not.
I had a van drive into the side of me once on a roundabount (I just happened to be in a Rolls Royce that wasn’t mine - don’t ask!). Anyway, he admitted it at the scene, but I didn’t take any pictures or get him to sign a statement.
In the end he told his insurance company different and I didn’t get anything.
So, I learned that if possible:
Get a photo
Get the other party to sign a statement of what happened
Get a witness if possible to provide contact details
I know it was at a busy junction, it was the same reason for me not to get a photo, but next time screw the traffic!
Well the insurer has been informed, their company (Plantec) want to assess bikes roadworthyness and damage etc. I’ll see what they say, hopefully get a better idea how other party is reacting.
The drivers/riders full name, current home address, insurance details (if known amazing how many don’t know), reg of vehicle and if the
driver is not the registered keeper of the vehicle then the owners name and address is also required (e.g a company vehicle)
You do NOT have to provide a tel no unless you wish to do so.
Get as many photos as possible from all angles before vehicles are moved IF IT IS SAFE TO DO SO. If you are in lane 3 of a busy road, then move to
a safe location to exchange details, and where you can take photos of damage etc. If there are witnesses then all the better if they are happy
to give their details, as they are not obliged to do so but you could take down the reg of their vehicle.
The above is the assumption that nobody is injured, as if they are call the POLICE.
You also do NOT have to sign anything, admit anything.
If the other party is happy to admit guilt and sign something to that effect, then more fool them and get them signed up.
The majority of CCTV cameras in and around London do not record, however if you do see any make a note of where they are
as some do. However they may only be kept for 28 day’s so you will have remember that.
This is just a quick list, as making it too long folks won’t remember.
I had a similar sort of accident, guy pulled out in front, I swerved to avoid lost the bike and broke me collarbone. Decided it was not worth the claim as the bike only had £100 or so worth of damage and was covered from work for being off sick with full pay so didn’t lose any money to recoup. My lid and jacket were damaged but I had separate leather policy which will cover the helmet at least…
I just couldn’t be arsed going through insurance hassle especially as trying to prove something beyond any doubt would have been difficult plus having claim on my history could raise premiums… So I will fix the bike up myself but not interested in making it pristine as it was anything but before the accident…
Would be very surprised if the driver tells the full truth to his insurer… sad, but unfortunately seems to be how it works for many these days.
Defo going to buy that Contour Drift when I have a few £’s spare - the best witness of all!
Mentioned on here 3-4 weeks ago about the dash-camera I bought for my car. The battery was useless, never charged, but the camera can be run off the cigarette-lighter lead. Instructions in Chingrish and don’t relate to the product, and the menus are in Russian, however a bit of faffing around to get English menus and suss its little quirks and now have it working fine. Camera now proced at £14.62 so it’s hard to go wrong really. Pop in a class 10 SD card to record to - it’s definitely not HD quality, but good enough to capture any ‘incidents’. Parked up at work last Saturday, looked at the car next to me and it’s got a dash-cam fitted inside the windscreen. Looked at the car across from me and it’s got one to. Probably comes with the territory when working in a job where all the works vehicles are fitted with 9+ CCTV cameras… once you’re used to the spy in the cab, it’s quite reassuring to have it for your personal vehicle as well. Funny when you’re sitting at traffic lights with the little screen popped down and someone in a car next to you spots it. You can see them pointing it out to their passengers wondering what the hell it’s all about
