Advice needed following accident with a cyclist
Discussion
I was hit by a cyclist yesterday morning. I called my insurance company and unless this chap (25 odd) is willing to play ball i appear to be on the hook to cough up the lot for repairs or claim against my policy!
I need a:
- New bonnet from Lexus
- Front bumper to be repaired
- Front left and right panels to be repaired
I have been quoted just over £1700 for the work to be carried out.
Thankfully the young chap seems to be ok (which is the most important thing) although, he took a big knock to his knee. Once i established he was ok i was just totting up the repercussions in my head!!!!!
Cyclist was at fault, travelling on the wrong side of the road at speed around a blind corner with headphones in. FAIL! I was stationary at the time of impact.
I have an independent witness which is good in case he trys to screw me for personal injury.
Questions:
1. Do i need to report this to the police?
2. Who can I call for free legal advice to try to persuade the cyclist to cough up either some of the repair bill or some of my excess?
I have never been in this position before so any help is gratefully received.
Stu
I need a:
- New bonnet from Lexus
- Front bumper to be repaired
- Front left and right panels to be repaired
I have been quoted just over £1700 for the work to be carried out.
Thankfully the young chap seems to be ok (which is the most important thing) although, he took a big knock to his knee. Once i established he was ok i was just totting up the repercussions in my head!!!!!
Cyclist was at fault, travelling on the wrong side of the road at speed around a blind corner with headphones in. FAIL! I was stationary at the time of impact.
I have an independent witness which is good in case he trys to screw me for personal injury.
Questions:
1. Do i need to report this to the police?
2. Who can I call for free legal advice to try to persuade the cyclist to cough up either some of the repair bill or some of my excess?
I have never been in this position before so any help is gratefully received.
Stu
Absolutely call the police.
Get it recorded before he calls them and reports a lunatic driver crashed into him.
Then, my suggestion would be contact him and ask if he'd like to pay for the damages directly or if he'd prefer you passed his details to your insurance company.
It's a bit passive aggressive but it cuts to the point.
Get it recorded before he calls them and reports a lunatic driver crashed into him.
Then, my suggestion would be contact him and ask if he'd like to pay for the damages directly or if he'd prefer you passed his details to your insurance company.
It's a bit passive aggressive but it cuts to the point.
I love cycling and driving. I hate idiots on bicycles and I also hate idiots behind the wheel of a vehicle.
OP - I hope you get it sorted ok. Could potentially be a minefield, but could go ok if the cyclist is genuine.
Will be refreshing to see if this thread could progress without any cyclist bashing. I know a cyclist has already been bashed, but you know what I mean.
Could be a useful thread to refer to if others find themselves in this situation.
OP - I hope you get it sorted ok. Could potentially be a minefield, but could go ok if the cyclist is genuine.
Will be refreshing to see if this thread could progress without any cyclist bashing. I know a cyclist has already been bashed, but you know what I mean.
Could be a useful thread to refer to if others find themselves in this situation.
My experience of this is 2 instances.
1) cyclist rode into the door of my grandads car - he payed for the work to be done and the cyclist moved house (he was renting) with no trace, so no recompense was achieved.
2) cyclist rode into the rear 1/4 of my car on a roundabout, mullered the rear quarter, then rode off. No luck with that one!!
Not the most optimistic but I wish you luck.
1) cyclist rode into the door of my grandads car - he payed for the work to be done and the cyclist moved house (he was renting) with no trace, so no recompense was achieved.
2) cyclist rode into the rear 1/4 of my car on a roundabout, mullered the rear quarter, then rode off. No luck with that one!!
Not the most optimistic but I wish you luck.
Ok, thanks for the replies, ill report it to the police now. My insurance company has the details of the witness and the cyclist and will be calling them but has advised it is VERY unlikely any funds will be recovered. All they are really looking to do it determine who is at fault.
VERY frustrating as this must happen all the time and there are no laws protecting motorists in these circumstances.
ill keep this thread updated with progress.
Can anyone recommend any legal firms i can call for free advice?
Stu
VERY frustrating as this must happen all the time and there are no laws protecting motorists in these circumstances.
ill keep this thread updated with progress.
Can anyone recommend any legal firms i can call for free advice?
Stu
Yeah, I'd definitely call 101 and get a full version of events logged with the police.
Can you not use MCOL (https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome)?
Write to him with proper evidence of the cost of repair, give him 28 days to pay. If he doesn't pay, send him a further letter giving him 7 days before you start legal action.
Can you not use MCOL (https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome)?
Write to him with proper evidence of the cost of repair, give him 28 days to pay. If he doesn't pay, send him a further letter giving him 7 days before you start legal action.
Edited by RBOnline on Thursday 12th June 09:19
Edited by RBOnline on Thursday 12th June 09:20
Until a basic claim letter is sent to the cyclist, not really possible to determine what will happen. In likelihood he won't have insurance, but he certainly could.
A member of the Cyclists Touring Club will have insurance as it is free with membership. I believe members of the London Cycling Campaign also get the same benefit.
A member of the Cyclists Touring Club will have insurance as it is free with membership. I believe members of the London Cycling Campaign also get the same benefit.
He has no home insurance so thats out, also not a member of any cycling clubs so has no insurance at all.
Am i better off getting this done outdide of the insurance company and stumping up the 1700 and trying to claim it back or going through insurance and trying to claim back excess, accepting NCB and premium hit?
Am i better off getting this done outdide of the insurance company and stumping up the 1700 and trying to claim it back or going through insurance and trying to claim back excess, accepting NCB and premium hit?
stuno1 said:
He has no home insurance so thats out, also not a member of any cycling clubs so has no insurance at all.
Am i better off getting this done outdide of the insurance company and stumping up the 1700 and trying to claim it back or going through insurance and trying to claim back excess, accepting NCB and premium hit?
You're probably better off going through your insurer and letting them worry about how to get the money back from the person responsible. His lack of insurance is not your problem - it's his.Am i better off getting this done outdide of the insurance company and stumping up the 1700 and trying to claim it back or going through insurance and trying to claim back excess, accepting NCB and premium hit?
marshalla said:
You're probably better off going through your insurer and letting them worry about how to get the money back from the person responsible. His lack of insurance is not your problem - it's his.
Issue is i dont think they will. They will just write it off i believe. Think going through my insurance is the way to go. Can I chase him for my excess? it is £600.
stuno1 said:
VERY frustrating as this must happen all the time and there are no laws protecting motorists in these circumstances.
I'm not sure why you say there are no laws protecting motorists - you are perfectly entitled to claim your losses from him; that's what the law of negligence is for. If he has no money you won't be able to get anything, but there isn't anything the law can do to magic up money out of nothing.stuno1 said:
He has no home insurance so thats out, also not a member of any cycling clubs so has no insurance at all.
Am i better off getting this done outdide of the insurance company and stumping up the 1700 and trying to claim it back or going through insurance and trying to claim back excess, accepting NCB and premium hit?
You've already told your insurance company?Am i better off getting this done outdide of the insurance company and stumping up the 1700 and trying to claim it back or going through insurance and trying to claim back excess, accepting NCB and premium hit?
If so use them, the claim will still be logged regardless of if they pay it so let them do their thing.
I think the thing to remember here is that by default nobody needed insurance. Then, when more and more cars took to the streets, there were more and more collisions where driver mistakes were causing huge amounts of damage due to their size and speed that people simply couldn't afford to pay for.
Thus it was introduced that cars must have insurance as in most cases people were left out of pocket if bad driving caused a 5 car pile up with injuries as nobody could afford to cover that cost.
As cyclists and pedestrians rarely cause much damage, and if they do it's most likely small, there's never been a need to have compulsory insurance. That doesn't mean the cyclist is not liable, just that no mechanism is in place to ensure they have insurance to cover it. This is because the overall cost from damage form cyclists is far lower than the cost to implement such a scheme. As is stands, the problems of uninsured crs is nearly £400m a year, far far more than uninsured cyclists. This is costing us all much more and should be the focus of any redress.
I wish you luck with claiming from the cyclist and would put all my efforts in the SCC and don;t just 'let it go'.
As a regular cyclist, I have insurance covered from my contents insurance at £60pa which covers me up to £2m liability.
Thus it was introduced that cars must have insurance as in most cases people were left out of pocket if bad driving caused a 5 car pile up with injuries as nobody could afford to cover that cost.
As cyclists and pedestrians rarely cause much damage, and if they do it's most likely small, there's never been a need to have compulsory insurance. That doesn't mean the cyclist is not liable, just that no mechanism is in place to ensure they have insurance to cover it. This is because the overall cost from damage form cyclists is far lower than the cost to implement such a scheme. As is stands, the problems of uninsured crs is nearly £400m a year, far far more than uninsured cyclists. This is costing us all much more and should be the focus of any redress.
I wish you luck with claiming from the cyclist and would put all my efforts in the SCC and don;t just 'let it go'.
As a regular cyclist, I have insurance covered from my contents insurance at £60pa which covers me up to £2m liability.
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