Cyclist hit my car, advise needed
Discussion
Today a cyclist hit the front of my car head on while my wife was driving. Caused quite a lot of damage to my car. The cyclist is quite badly injured. He was looking behind and shouting to his mate when it happened. My wife had stopped as she could see what was going to happen. The whole thing was caught on CCTV from the shop ( shop keeper is providing me with a copy). Police say that it's clearly his fault. When I spoke to my insurance company they told me that I would lose the £400 excess as the cyclist is unlikely to be insured. Surely this can not be right. I understand that he probably is not covered, but surely he is still liable. I would have thought that my insurance company would pursue him for the cost of the repair thought to be about £1500. I really hope the guy has a speedy recovery, but I don't want to be out of pocket for something that was not our fault.
Depends, your insurer may well do some sort of elementary credit check before even considering a recovery, but bear in mind, that if he was on a bike as he cant afford a car, he cant afford your repairs. Theres no point suing the guy, getting judgement, instructing baliffs to enforce the judgement, and increasing legal costs, if that is simply thowing good money after bad.
Its harsh, but theres also a potential that a court/judge might not see it entirely his fault, and even a 10% liability, on a seriously injured cylcist, outweighs your repairs. So your question is - is it worth pursuing someone with no cash, who might in turn counter claim for far more?
Your insurers are going to drop it most times.
Its tough, it happens.
Its harsh, but theres also a potential that a court/judge might not see it entirely his fault, and even a 10% liability, on a seriously injured cylcist, outweighs your repairs. So your question is - is it worth pursuing someone with no cash, who might in turn counter claim for far more?
Your insurers are going to drop it most times.
Its tough, it happens.
You are correct , the cyclist is liable regardless of whether he is insured or not .
You may have to claim from your insurance and take the hit just now . However , if your insurers will not pursue this matter on your behalf , you can raise an action in the small claims court and recover the money from the cyclist ( assuming he has assets ) . If you then pay back your insurer , your NCD and insurance record should be restored .
If you have legal assistance with your insurance policy then they jolly well should pursue the other guy - that is what you paid for !
Final option would be to hand the matter over to one of those claims management firms - they will arrange repair to your car without involving your insurance and recover ( with profits ) from the other party , charging him £1million per day for your hire car ........
You may have to claim from your insurance and take the hit just now . However , if your insurers will not pursue this matter on your behalf , you can raise an action in the small claims court and recover the money from the cyclist ( assuming he has assets ) . If you then pay back your insurer , your NCD and insurance record should be restored .
If you have legal assistance with your insurance policy then they jolly well should pursue the other guy - that is what you paid for !
Final option would be to hand the matter over to one of those claims management firms - they will arrange repair to your car without involving your insurance and recover ( with profits ) from the other party , charging him £1million per day for your hire car ........
Jujuuk68 said:
Depends, your insurer may well do some sort of elementary credit check before even considering a recovery, but bear in mind, that if he was on a bike as he cant afford a car, he cant afford your repairs. Theres no point suing the guy, getting judgement, instructing baliffs to enforce the judgement, and increasing legal costs, if that is simply thowing good money after bad.
Its harsh, but theres also a potential that a court/judge might not see it entirely his fault, and even a 10% liability, on a seriously injured cylcist, outweighs your repairs. So your question is - is it worth pursuing someone with no cash, who might in turn counter claim for far more?
Your insurers are going to drop it most times.
Its tough, it happens.
Hmmm - lots of cyclists are quite affluent , especially ones who cycle recreationally in groups ( this one was chatting to his pal and not looking where he was going ) , bikes costing £5K are not at all unusual .Its harsh, but theres also a potential that a court/judge might not see it entirely his fault, and even a 10% liability, on a seriously injured cylcist, outweighs your repairs. So your question is - is it worth pursuing someone with no cash, who might in turn counter claim for far more?
Your insurers are going to drop it most times.
Its tough, it happens.
According to OP , wife was completely stopped because she saw him coming , cyclist was not looking where he was going and rode into stationary car , incident captured on CCTV , police stated 'clearly his fault' . Beyond stopping , not much more the driver could do to avoid the collision , so it is hard to see how any blame could be apportioned - even if it was - driver at least is insured so ins company would pay out any damages .
I agree about cyclists financial status being central to success - but small claims action ( for a couple of grand claim ) will only cost OP something like £50 , and he can get that back if he wins .
Everything to gain and little to lose - worth a try IMHO .
Jujuuk68 said:
Depends, your insurer may well do some sort of elementary credit check before even considering a recovery, but bear in mind, that if he was on a bike as he cant afford a car, he cant afford your repairs. Theres no point suing the guy, getting judgement, instructing baliffs to enforce the judgement, and increasing legal costs, if that is simply thowing good money after bad.
Its harsh, but theres also a potential that a court/judge might not see it entirely his fault, and even a 10% liability, on a seriously injured cylcist, outweighs your repairs. So your question is - is it worth pursuing someone with no cash, who might in turn counter claim for far more?
Your insurers are going to drop it most times.
Its tough, it happens.
Oi, less of the he's on a bike because he cant afford a car, that's complete rubbish, have you seen the price of high end road bikes?Its harsh, but theres also a potential that a court/judge might not see it entirely his fault, and even a 10% liability, on a seriously injured cylcist, outweighs your repairs. So your question is - is it worth pursuing someone with no cash, who might in turn counter claim for far more?
Your insurers are going to drop it most times.
Its tough, it happens.
wetny said:
I have checked the address that the guys mate gave to the police, it's some sort of hostel for druggies so I suppose I can kiss my £400 goodbye. Lesson here, chuck your job, do what the F**k you like and let everybody else pick up the bill. I feel a bit sick.
What is your insurer's policy for dealing with a claim when you are hit by an uninsured driver ? Some do not penalise - it could be argued this is no different .There is also an MIB fund ( Motor Insurers Bureau - not Men In Black ) to compensate victims of uninsured drivers ....... nothing to lose by checking it out .
Do check that he is genuinely penniless - this may be a smoke screen to avoid paying .
When a friend of mine was learning to drive with the same instructor I learned with they were stopped at the roadside when a cyclist hit the back of the car, went through the back window and landed on the back seat. He was hurtling down the hill with his head down against the rain and wasn't looking where he was going. The driving instructor ended up having his car repairs paid for through the cyclist's house insurance. If this guy lives in some sort of hostel he won't have house insurance but may have some sort of insurance for his property that could pay out seeing as he has damaged your property when using his property. Unlikely in this scenario unfortunately but I was interested to learn that cyclists can pay out through an insurer, at least if they are honest and accept responsibility for their accidents.
Had a manager at my old job who was in a slightly similar position as you are. Was riding his 3 week old motorbike and a girl of 15/16 walked out into the road without even looking and he ended up hitting her and causing about 3k worth of damage to the bike. Witness' all said that the girl was at fault and nothing my manager could have done to avoid it.
Ended up being the dad of the girl, as she was under 18, had to claim on his house insurance to cover the costs of the bike and leathers, helmet etc which got damaged in the accident.
Just because somebody has a cycle doesn't mean they are poor though, as said earlier, there is quite a lot of money in cycles and if he does live in a hostel and has no job then possibly the cycle could have been stolen?
Ended up being the dad of the girl, as she was under 18, had to claim on his house insurance to cover the costs of the bike and leathers, helmet etc which got damaged in the accident.
Just because somebody has a cycle doesn't mean they are poor though, as said earlier, there is quite a lot of money in cycles and if he does live in a hostel and has no job then possibly the cycle could have been stolen?
Pontoneer said:
What is your insurer's policy for dealing with a claim when you are hit by an uninsured driver ? Some do not penalise - it could be argued this is no different .
There is also an MIB fund ( Motor Insurers Bureau - not Men In Black ) to compensate victims of uninsured drivers ....... nothing to lose by checking it out .
Do check that he is genuinely penniless - this may be a smoke screen to avoid paying .
Hilarious There is also an MIB fund ( Motor Insurers Bureau - not Men In Black ) to compensate victims of uninsured drivers ....... nothing to lose by checking it out .
Do check that he is genuinely penniless - this may be a smoke screen to avoid paying .
But yes, courts are fairly lenient so even if you got 100% it may be at £10 a month, they won't make him sell his house. An insurer will take a pragmatic view with a "man of straw" but you never know, he may have insurance.
The reality is that you can burn through £1000 in costs of recovery with ease, court, award, pays first £10, then doesn't bother, back, chase etc. The margin on flogging to a DRA means they still won't get their money back.
So you could always claim it yourself via small claims.
Always worth a call to your friendly independent AMC, then let us know what they say
Noger said:
courts are fairly lenient so even if you got 100% it may be at £10 a month, they won't make him sell his house. ............ pays first £10, then doesn't bother, back, chase etc.
That is exactly what happened with the guy who hit me back in 1978 .He was uninsured and found guilty - ordered to pay at something like £2 a week , he paid a couple of installments - then disappeared .
At least my insurer were very decent about it , didn't even lose NCD , although they would have been entitled to do so . I think all I had to pay out was £50 excess from my own pocket .
Pontoneer said:
That is exactly what happened with the guy who hit me back in 1978 .
He was uninsured and found guilty - ordered to pay at something like £2 a week , he paid a couple of installments - then disappeared .
At least my insurer were very decent about it , didn't even lose NCD , although they would have been entitled to do so . I think all I had to pay out was £50 excess from my own pocket .
In 1978 insurance companies were probably decent in those days, they are no longer like that. Perhaps also because of the compensation culture that exists today where everyone wants a free ride at the expense of society.He was uninsured and found guilty - ordered to pay at something like £2 a week , he paid a couple of installments - then disappeared .
At least my insurer were very decent about it , didn't even lose NCD , although they would have been entitled to do so . I think all I had to pay out was £50 excess from my own pocket .
Jujuuk68 said:
bear in mind, that if he was on a bike as he cant afford a car, he cant afford your repairs.
I have a pal who is a keen cyclist and runs a successful garage business. He reckons his bike is worth more than most of the cars that come into his garage. OP, what's the situation with your NCB? You don't want to lose that and your excess.
It's true what someone has said though. If you've got f
k all you can get away with one heck of a lot. There are still plenty of businesses out there keen to lend these people credit too, knowing that someone else will foot the bill when they don't pay up. wetny said:
Is that a serious question???
At the risk of stating the obvious, the question was no doubt to understand why your wife didn't simply sound the car's horn to alert this cyclist of her presence, rather than just watch him cycle into her.The lack of a working horn would be one such reason.
wetny said:
The cyclist is quite badly injured.
If an ambulance was called then your missus will get a bill for it.Someone rode into the front of my wife's car and she got done for careless driving. The guy lied about what had happened and my wife wouldn't fight it.
We also got abusive 'phone calls during the night when enough of her details to look up the 'phone number appeared in the local paper.
s
t happens - it's why you have fully comp insurance. Probably your choice to have a £400 excess though. OK, it's going to cost you money, but then insurance costs you money every year for no reason - until you claim.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff