Safe Speed Forums

last week, as I was approaching some roundabout [on my bike] on a dual-carriageway, my lane (the right one) was completely empty in front of me, while the left lane had a stationary queue of cars. once i reached that queue, i dropped my speed from 60mph to 40mph before approaching the roundabout which had traffic lights on it.

then, out of nowhere, some car pulled in front of me (with a distance of less than 20m). the first thing that comes to one mind is to break and so I did. with so little distance left, i was trying to avoid collision by all means, so the hard braking caused the bike to skid and me on the floor, etc. till the end of the story, ... (yes it was very painful and an ambulance and a police car were called)

so, i managed to avoid collision and prolly that had saved my life. in the aftermath of that accident, somebody from my insurance company hinted that the other driver might get away with what they did simply because no collision happened between the two vehicles

of course, hearing such comment made me feel miserable especially when i look at the damage that that accident left on my bike which i was so careful not to have a scratch on.

(i will not talk about the pain that i had and still having from that accident cause simply i can't put it into words).

i'm interested to know if anybody had a similar experience before and whether they managed to recover the cost of damages or not

any advice on how i can minimise my losses would be great.

thanks!

Do you have the details of the vehicle that pulled out in front of you? Do the police?

I suggest you call one of the legal firms who advertise in the motorcycle press offering an uninsured loss recovery service - they'll tell you if you have a chance or not.

_________________
Less Kodak, more Kojak.
In times of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

Yes



I shall do that. But it would be too shameful if the insurer of the other driver managed to get away with it. They're implicitly telling me that I should have collided

Hi,

First off, if you haven't already done so, make full notes of what happened. You will remember it all clealy now, but in 2 years time you will not! Using Word on your computer will date and time the file, so you can show it to be original.

Secondly, make notes on your injuries, the Doctors you see, the people you speak to from insurance companies (times and dates) and also the pain you are in. The latter point should be a daily record, so you can show the changes to a Doctor, Solicitor, Court, etc at a later date. This is essential if you want to have a chance of a full claim.

Thirdly, ask for the Police report. Your insurance company should do this, but get it anyway. You ringing up has more clout than them, showing an interest in your case is always good. Just be polite and good natured to the clerks that take your calls, they are the ones that will be dealing with your case!

Fourthly, keep pestering your insurance company, the rules above apply to them as well.

And lastly, before I run out of fingers (!), your success may well hinge on whether one of the other motorists went as a witness in your favour but Mrs Miggins is correct, contact a no win, no fee solicitor at the earliest opportunity, if your insurance did not incude legal protection.

Good luck

William.

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Less haste - more speed (in the right places!)

Some very good advice there from William.

The only thing I would say is that, regardless of whether or not your insurance includes legal protection, you should get a specialist solicitor to act on your behalf. They are much more likely to understand why the other vehicle caused you to crash when there was no actual impact and are IMO much more likely to act successfully on your behalf. That's why I specifically suggested someone who advertises in the motorcycle press.

_________________
Less Kodak, more Kojak.
In times of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

Thanks William and Miggins, yes i do have legal protection in my insurance policy, and I have made notes of everything. But sometimes you can't just describe to them the pain you've suffered.
I'll update the thread with any new findings I'd have.

Thanks again.

Which bit of the car would you have hit? My 68 yr old collegue had an old dear pull out in front of him and he went over the bonnet. His C90 put up a good fight and as recovered, he has too, for a 68 year old that did a sumasalt (sp) and landed on the road. Broken ankle and much bruises. It took bloody ages to get his money, 18 months or more, but it was 5 figures and the old dear has stopped driving.

It seems the out side of cars are softer than you might think and abosrbe some of the initial inpact. He had loads of witnesses, wrote everything down and got a good solicitor. Can you work? The loss of earnings might be used as a lever to get you to accept a lower payoff. You need the money now so here, have less. gits

Thanks Adam. I'm in the process of writing everything down and passing that to the solicitor.

Would be interesting to know what most people do in my case, would they repair the bike on their own cost or wait for the claim to be settled?
waiting for the insurance companies might mean waiting for ~12-18 months, and I don't think I can wait for that long without a bike [confused]

You do not have to "hit" the other vehicle to have a successful claim, the other vehicle only has to cause the accident.
As to repairs, note that if you do have it repaired you will have to have it done "professionally" and they will have to detail the damage. Even then, the "others" insurers and their assessors will query the damage.
Keep all details of damage, injury, lost-work-time and after effects. You should get witnesses to note their details for you, and get them to write details down as soon as possible. Memory fades after a year or two. The assessors will try to get away with as much as possible.
Treat it as a game, heads they win, tails you lose.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

thanks jomukuk!

In my original post, I forgot to mention that right after my crash, few people stopped and guess what? couple of bikers stopped and one of them was extremely helpful. Just too shame that he didn't leave any contact numbers. I feel very grateful for what he did.

Hi Ghost. Hope you make a full and speedy recovery.

Lot's of excellent advice there. Personally, I think this whole thing relies on you having at least one reliable witness.

Otherwise the numpty can simply argue that he gave you LOADS of space and that you probably hit a patch of deezil and are trying to pull a fast one, blah blah blah........

It then becomes your word against his and you insurer may then decide not to proceed against him on grounds of legal costs and poor likelihood of an outcome in your favour.

Sorry to play devils advocate.

just kidding!

phoned the solicitor couple of days ago to follow on progress, and they told me that the third-party insurer hasn't gone back to them yet, and legally insurers have up to 3 months before they can reply.

3 months to acknowledge what happened is a long time!
if i had missed a payment, would they give me 3 months to reply to them?

sorry if i'm boring anybody here, but i'll just post updates in regard to my accident cause somebody someday might find this useful.

had my bike inspection done last week by some "engineer" that was brought by my legal representation. he reckoned that the bike is "an economic write off" (i.e. it's still in a good condition, but the parts to get it repaired will cost a lot)

i still have to talk to the solicitor/insurance company to see what are they going to do in my case. cause from what i can see, it will cost me ~300 quid to get it fixed, but have to check if they're canceling my insurance contract? will they force me to MOT the bike again?

last thing, when i had the accident, i gave the alarm key fob to the policeman who attended the accident and he lost it if i'd ever go through a similar experience (hopefully not), i'd definitely give nobody anything

That sucks,

yes - your policy will likely get canceled. If you are 3rd party, then obviously you'll get the parts and fix it yourself. If its full comp, you have to buy it off your insurance company.

It costs roughly £40,000 to build an £8,000 bike from parts not including labour, so it doesn't take much before you exceed half the value of the bike (which is the rough going rate to take into account salvage value). On top of that you have environmental and recovery charges.

the insurance company also know that it can cost 3-4,000 in rental vehicles while your bike is being fixed, so they often look to write off.

Some good news!

I managed to do some necessary fixes and the bike is in working conditions now. I'm MOTing it tomorrow after my insurer have requested that. (it was written-off as a category-D (uneconomic to repair))
Also, last week, the third-party insurer offered sending me a cheque of an amount similar to the "market" value of the bike it's almost 25% less than the real market value.
I might accept the cheque for the time being and wait to see what the court case is going to settle on.

How are you feeling now? Are you fully recovered?

_________________
Less Kodak, more Kojak.
In times of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

thanks for asking, MrsMiggins.
apart from scars here and there, i'm functionally sound
with few bits and pieces still to recover (a shoulder and a knee basically)

Good to know. At the end of the day the bike can be fixed/replaced. Your bits are probably a bit more difficult to source.

_________________
Less Kodak, more Kojak.
In times of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.