Bike Crash Detector? For Free?!

Off-topic
1

Hello LB!

I know I have this habit of posting things, only to find its been done already on here… But after a search for BIPSOS I got no results.

Basically, when you get your bike serviced, MOT’d, Tyres, etc… or you buy a new one from a dealer…

You can get a bike crash detector for free!
Which gets recovery and an ambulance to your location if they detect it and can’t get you on the phone.

They seem to have some other things to help with insurance but I’m guessing you have to pay.

http://www.bipsosbikes.com Has the info…

Are there any dealers here who’ve fitted them?
Anyone got one?

Whats your experience with it?

Love you all!

GoF

2

How do they make money out of this? Free fitting, free registration, free legal cover…

I assume there’s a subscription fee but I can’t see it mentioned on their site

3

Looks like they get a kick back from the dealer that fits it in the event of the accident, otherwise you have to pay some sort of excess or they get you to use their services which then takes a cut of the insurance payout.

4

What I want to know is… Do they keep a log of your statistics, such as speed?

5

They would pay money for the lead for someone that has just been in an accident so whatever cost they have in this gadget is probably more than covered in potential fees. They stand to make money from the lawyers fees, repair work, rental bike and so on. It’s kinda like “legal cover” attached to an inurance policy - I can’t believe some people actually PAY for that added “cover” - they should pay you!!!

6

Wonder if you’re obliged to use their legal eagles if you get it installed, if not it looks like a pretty good deal.

They say not on the website

7

They don’t track your speed while riding.

I am guessing that the device is paid for by the fitter, since that is where your bike will go for repairs, it is a good way for a dealer to ensure that work comes there way.

I am sure that the legal cover is another source of income in referral type fees, as in they refer you to a law firm that will make money from your claim (not from you particularly).

To be honest, it seems like a really good idea well implemented.

8

I was contacted by the owner of BIPSOS who wanted us to sign up to the scheme and we declined. http://bipsosbike.com/index.html

BIPSOS put a law firm in touch with a bike dealer. The dealer fits the unit at no cost, but in the event that a crash occurs and the rider is injured, then the claim becomes the ownership (for want of a better word) of that law firm. It is done with the agreement of the rider and it means that once the unit is installed in the first instance, the rider cannot decide to take his/her claim elsewhere. However once the case is up and running if you are unhappy with the way your case is being handled, you can then transfer it to another law firm in te same way as you do now.

Cases still continue to be funded by way of a no win no fee or legal expenses insurance as they are now.

In return, the Law firm has to agree to use the medical experts provided by BIPSOS, a firm called Mobile Doctors who to be honest we have used in the past and provided such a poor service, it is the main reason why we chose not to go down this route with BIPSOS. If the law firm agree to using their medical experts, then they have to agree to instruct them in a minimum of 10 cases and if that is agreed, the units are supplied to the dealer and the rider free of charge.

If the rider chooses not to link up with a law firm or the law firm is not prepared to use the medical experts provided by BIPSOS then there is a cost of £110 per unit.

The way it works is that the unit senses when the bike has gone over and sends out a message to the call centre. It registers the location of where the bike has gone down, and if the call centre cannot get a reply on the registered mobile phone number then the emergency services are then called and asked to attend the last recorded location.

It does not record speed or anything like that, simply the fact that the bike has gone down and the location.

The principal is sound, it is the link up with their experts which put us off, and to make it worthwhile for us, we would have to invest in probably 200 units per year, and sods law would probably dictate that we would pick the 200 who never have a crash.

It is a bit more complicated but that is a general outline of how it works.

9

Thanks for the summary TC.

So from a riders point of view, I sign up and get a free box. In the event of a crash, I have to go to the designated law firm (and therefore the designated medical experts) in the first instance but if I’m not happy with them, I just ditch the pair of them and find my own law firm/medical experts.

They say they pay £250 towards your insurance excess if it’s not your fault but surely that’s down to the other insurer anyway?

There’s a ‘bike hire’ tab on their website so I guess they rake in a few quid through bike hire while the claim is settled as well.

10

Correct on all 3 points.

Like you say, they also get a kick back on the hire bike scheme which in itself can be fraught with problems.

11

Yeah, in reading the terms and conditions there were a few more things that were quite restrictive - the stuff about the accident being at least 50% the other sides fault. That is quite subjective and given that their process starts immediately (and INSISTS that they are the first call you make to report the accident) I got a slightly uncomfortable feeling about the T&Cs.

So - the freebie value may be worth it for a cool little gadget but the whole thing is based around the concept that you won’t be able to make a call after the accident. There is usually someone around in city conditions that will make the call, and if rural accidents are your fear it relies on communications ranges…

All in all, I wouldn’t take it…

12

That is a good point that I had forgotten about and is something I did raise with Chuck (forgotten the owners surname) when I spoke to him and is another of the reasons we decided not to sign up.

As you rightly say liability is all subjective and even solicitors cannot agree on liability so what chance have they got :wink:

13

It is a crash detector that becomes live after 7mph and only tracks you if you have an accident not before, so in short we don’t track your speed!

14

If they could just add a Tracker system to this (seems to be there anyway) if your bike was stolen it would be a winner for me.

15

I wouldn’t want one of these fitted as it means being put onto the conveyer belt of the ambulance chasers, you’re much better off with an independent solicitor who isn’t tied to any organization.

16

^^ exactly what JJon said.

17

Theres also the fct that they DO track your speed.

Speed = Distance/Time

They track your location and thus the distance travelled.
They know what time you were at each location.

From this information (which would probably be available to the solicitors of the opposing side) it is easy to work out your speed.

They dont track your speed, but they track the info needed to work out your speed.

18

Not according to what TC explained earlier. The unit only sends the position once it sense the bike has gone over…

19

In that case, they COULDNT track your speed if they wanted to…

20

From the T&C’s

18 BIPHELP LTD will not at any time monitor your speed or driving behaviour unless authorised by you by way of an email conformation

http://www.bipsosbikes.com/termsandconditions.html

It looks like that can record your speed…