Motorbike accident - advice gratefully received
Discussion
Hi folks,
After years of riding defensively I got taken out by a car turning right in front of me yesterday evening.
I'm pretty much okay apart from some bruising and aches and pains in my hip and ankle but my bike is very much worse for wear with damage on both sides and a smashed front light/fairing plus possibly bent forks.
The driver was very apologetic, admitted that she hadn't seen me at all as she was looking into the road she was turning into. Police were called along with an ambulance by some bystanders so they took statements and the driver again readily admitted it was entirely her fault for not paying attention. A witness who was in the car behind her also gave me his details and offered to be a witness stating it was completely her fault and he couldn't believe she hadn't seen me riding towards her.
It was Sunday afternoon so I got the bike transported back to my house.
So the good thing is I survived a motorcycle accident and I'm grateful for that.
But I would like to go about the insurance claim in the best possible way to get a decent outcome. Ideally I would like to achieve the following:
1 - Bike repaired or replaced to original condition
2 - No blemish on my insurance record
3 - Possibly a replacement bike whilst mine is not available. It's not my main mode of transport but as I do quite a bit of biking at weekends and was planning some trips over coming weeks it seems a bit unfair but I don't have a bike.
4 - Possibly a replacement helmet - I have a fairly new Shoei GTAir and whilst it doesn't look to have sustained any damage I did fly over the bike handlebars and roll down the road and the paramedic claimed it should be replaced just in case.
Grateful for any tips on the best way to achieve these goals as quickly/painlessly as possible.
Should I contact my insurers and try working through them but expecting them to back off any claim against the other party or should I just deal directly with the insurers for the driver of the car that caused the crash (Admiral)?
Also, I know there are a number of claims management companies but I don't know enough about whether they are just a rip-off or really valuable in representing an injured party?
Can I call my local Honda dealer (who I already use and trust) and asked them to pick up the bike and assess the repair bill or do I have to let my insurance company make the assessment?
I remember when my wife had an accident in our family car, our insurance company got their own repair people to come and assess it and then do the repair and we were never happy with the work that they did - it became clear they were working down to a price following pressure from the insurance company rather than doing the best quality job and some of the paint stripped off the panels that they had repaired when I was pressure washing the car. Also the panel gaps were never as straight on the repair as the original panel gaps on the rest of the car.
Any thoughts gratefully received as I guess I need to crack on today sorting this out.
Actually that's a thought, do I get any compensation for having to deal with all this when I should be working or having fun?
Cheers
After years of riding defensively I got taken out by a car turning right in front of me yesterday evening.
I'm pretty much okay apart from some bruising and aches and pains in my hip and ankle but my bike is very much worse for wear with damage on both sides and a smashed front light/fairing plus possibly bent forks.
The driver was very apologetic, admitted that she hadn't seen me at all as she was looking into the road she was turning into. Police were called along with an ambulance by some bystanders so they took statements and the driver again readily admitted it was entirely her fault for not paying attention. A witness who was in the car behind her also gave me his details and offered to be a witness stating it was completely her fault and he couldn't believe she hadn't seen me riding towards her.
It was Sunday afternoon so I got the bike transported back to my house.
So the good thing is I survived a motorcycle accident and I'm grateful for that.
But I would like to go about the insurance claim in the best possible way to get a decent outcome. Ideally I would like to achieve the following:
1 - Bike repaired or replaced to original condition
2 - No blemish on my insurance record
3 - Possibly a replacement bike whilst mine is not available. It's not my main mode of transport but as I do quite a bit of biking at weekends and was planning some trips over coming weeks it seems a bit unfair but I don't have a bike.
4 - Possibly a replacement helmet - I have a fairly new Shoei GTAir and whilst it doesn't look to have sustained any damage I did fly over the bike handlebars and roll down the road and the paramedic claimed it should be replaced just in case.
Grateful for any tips on the best way to achieve these goals as quickly/painlessly as possible.
Should I contact my insurers and try working through them but expecting them to back off any claim against the other party or should I just deal directly with the insurers for the driver of the car that caused the crash (Admiral)?
Also, I know there are a number of claims management companies but I don't know enough about whether they are just a rip-off or really valuable in representing an injured party?
Can I call my local Honda dealer (who I already use and trust) and asked them to pick up the bike and assess the repair bill or do I have to let my insurance company make the assessment?
I remember when my wife had an accident in our family car, our insurance company got their own repair people to come and assess it and then do the repair and we were never happy with the work that they did - it became clear they were working down to a price following pressure from the insurance company rather than doing the best quality job and some of the paint stripped off the panels that they had repaired when I was pressure washing the car. Also the panel gaps were never as straight on the repair as the original panel gaps on the rest of the car.
Any thoughts gratefully received as I guess I need to crack on today sorting this out.
Actually that's a thought, do I get any compensation for having to deal with all this when I should be working or having fun?
Cheers
Hi folks,
A quick update on this for anybody who was interested.
I think I came out of it quite well all things considered.
It was a major inconvenience being without my bike for a few weeks when the weather was good but on the plus side my injuries were minimal and I guess that's what really counts.
As far as the insurance claims went it was all very easy, mainly because the car driver called her insurers first thing the next morning and admitted complete liability.
As a result I received an incoming call from Admiral insurance the day after the accident offering to be very helpful indeed in sorting things out.
They wanted to pick up the bike and take it to their preferred assessment/repair centre - 4th dimension innovation....
4th Dimension Innovation Ltd
www.4th-dimension.co.uk
Luckily I had been warned about these people by someone on pistonheads (if you check out their reviews on Google you wouldn't let your bike anywhere near them) so I declined the offer and said I wanted the bike assessed by my local Honda dealers.
Admiral had no problem with this and quickly contacted Honda to arrange for my bike to be collected and assessed. The estimate for repair was huge (£9k - although almost entirely cosmetic) so Admiral quickly wrote off the bike and we were haggling about the payment.
In short the option I went for was a payment of £7k plus letting me keep the bike. It is now classified as Category N so I can put it back on the road - which I have now done. Cat N will obviously reduce its resale value but I had no plans to sell it anyway.
They also paid up quickly for my bruised ankle as well as my helmet/jacket and boots.
So it was a bit of a ball ache but I was generously reimbursed for my losses.
I should also mention that I was very impressed with the solicitors White Dalton. I contacted them before I got the call from Admiral and they said they would be very happy to represent me, gave me a clear indication of the likely claim value and timeline. But they also said that as it was such a clear-cut case on liability it was likely that I would get a call from Admiral quite quickly making me an offer to avoid getting lawyers involved. They even said if they offer you £xx you might want to consider taking it as our costs will be 25% of any claim. As it turned out they were right, which meant they didn't get my business but I would certainly recommend them and they seemed like very decent people to deal with.
A quick update on this for anybody who was interested.
I think I came out of it quite well all things considered.
It was a major inconvenience being without my bike for a few weeks when the weather was good but on the plus side my injuries were minimal and I guess that's what really counts.
As far as the insurance claims went it was all very easy, mainly because the car driver called her insurers first thing the next morning and admitted complete liability.
As a result I received an incoming call from Admiral insurance the day after the accident offering to be very helpful indeed in sorting things out.
They wanted to pick up the bike and take it to their preferred assessment/repair centre - 4th dimension innovation....
4th Dimension Innovation Ltd
www.4th-dimension.co.uk
Luckily I had been warned about these people by someone on pistonheads (if you check out their reviews on Google you wouldn't let your bike anywhere near them) so I declined the offer and said I wanted the bike assessed by my local Honda dealers.
Admiral had no problem with this and quickly contacted Honda to arrange for my bike to be collected and assessed. The estimate for repair was huge (£9k - although almost entirely cosmetic) so Admiral quickly wrote off the bike and we were haggling about the payment.
In short the option I went for was a payment of £7k plus letting me keep the bike. It is now classified as Category N so I can put it back on the road - which I have now done. Cat N will obviously reduce its resale value but I had no plans to sell it anyway.
They also paid up quickly for my bruised ankle as well as my helmet/jacket and boots.
So it was a bit of a ball ache but I was generously reimbursed for my losses.
I should also mention that I was very impressed with the solicitors White Dalton. I contacted them before I got the call from Admiral and they said they would be very happy to represent me, gave me a clear indication of the likely claim value and timeline. But they also said that as it was such a clear-cut case on liability it was likely that I would get a call from Admiral quite quickly making me an offer to avoid getting lawyers involved. They even said if they offer you £xx you might want to consider taking it as our costs will be 25% of any claim. As it turned out they were right, which meant they didn't get my business but I would certainly recommend them and they seemed like very decent people to deal with.
It's a vfr 1200 F 2015 bike
Only cost me around £500 to get it back on the road mainly for plastic panels.
£9000 repair estimate was mostly official new parts. I think the parts total was £7000 plus VAT
Labour was only £400 in the quote
The headlight alone was £700 I think but I got one on eBay for under £200
The dealer was quoting to replace every single item even with only slight scratches which is what you'd expect if your bike was in repair under insurance. But obviously I'm not bothering to replace many of these items.
Only cost me around £500 to get it back on the road mainly for plastic panels.
£9000 repair estimate was mostly official new parts. I think the parts total was £7000 plus VAT
Labour was only £400 in the quote
The headlight alone was £700 I think but I got one on eBay for under £200
The dealer was quoting to replace every single item even with only slight scratches which is what you'd expect if your bike was in repair under insurance. But obviously I'm not bothering to replace many of these items.
Edited by A993LAD on Wednesday 5th June 15:29
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