I was cyclying into work this morning and a car pulled out of the junction I was passing and crashed into me. I was thrown in the air, bounced off his windscreen and landed in the road. The driver has admited full responsibility.

The bike was taken to a local bike shop and they reckon it is a write off.

The bike, a Specialized FSR XC Pro is now discontinued but cost £1200 when I bought it four years ago. Since then I have added a custom built set and replaced worn out gears/brakes with top-of-the-range sram kit.

My worry is that I will only get the current day value of the bike, rather than the cost it will take to get back to having a great bike – well it was to me anyway. I have it insured for £2000 against theft.

Has anybody got experience of a similar situation and could they let me know what happened? Or any advise would be gratefully received.

– sorry for the long post

Make a list of all the components on the bike with list price and receipts if possible.
Alternatively get a bike shop to do this for you.
The motorist’s insurer should make good this amount if you can back it up.

The bike shop shop be able to do you a quote for a like-for-like (or near as possible) replacement. That’s how much you should get.

A motorist has killed my bike – advise sought

I advise that you get some proper advice 😉

I dealt direct with their (the motorist who took me out) insurance company when it happened to me. They were more than accommodating.

Thanks NewRetroTom and miketually for the advice.

Thanks bruneep for the correction – oops

http://www.bikeline.co.uk

Hope youre ok.Where the police called,did you go to a and e, GP etc.

bruneep – Member

I advise that you get some proper advice 😉

Helpful…

Thanks Autoelec – That’s made me feel a lot better. Hopefully I won’t get any hassle.

When I claimed for stuff (£500) they wrote me a cheque no questions asked, I just sent them a list of the RRP for the bits damaged. They were surprised/relieved when I said I had no injuries that I think they thought they got off lightly.

Hi project, I was taken to A+E by ambulance and checked out. Nothing broken just lots of brusing and just feeling sore.

The Police attended the accident and took all details.

The driver was shaken up and just kept repeating that he was all his fault. All the witnesses said it was the driver’s fault aswell.

Sorry to hear this. Good that you’ve had no serious harm done. It’s also good to hear that people have had good responses from insurance companies regarding this, as I was just about to post about a friends’ accident in which he was knocked off and entire bike was written off, many months ago. He’s still engaged in a fight with the insurance company to pay him the correct amount; they are trying to get away with paying him much less but hopefully most are better than this.

Flyn, you have a very good case then,also dont forget to claim for bike hire, and other transport costs, just like if you where in a car, you still need to get around.

As said, get the shop to give you an accurate quote, also include any clothing that has been damaged in the fall as it may cost you a fair bit to replace that too

Also had a positive experience claiming against a diver. Got a repair quote from an lbs and they paid up no questions asked.

I’d only consider getting a lawyer involved if it got more complicated. Don’t know what the pitfalls are in terms of accidentally admitting liability or closing the door if you have any further complications with your recovery though.

O, and MAKE SURE you report it to the police (from memory I think you can fill in an accident reporting form)!!! Make things much easier!

Flynn, hope you are ok mate, i guess you’ll be sore in the morning. I think you’re LBS will be happy to do a quote for the insurance company on the basis that they get the sale. worth talking to them about what you would like there’s always a deal to be done.

@flynn – glad you’re ok. My email is in my profile, send me a message if you want, a few things to discuss

Very similar happened to me. Insurance company asked me to take bike to shop to a quote for a like for like replacement.

The driver … just kept repeating that he was all his fault

The drivers insurance co. wont like that!

You should get the same bike, but new, make sure you list the full retail of all indiviual components.

Hope you don’t feel too sore / unwell tomorrow…. etc… 😉

The drivers insurance co. wont like that!

Of course they won’t, they won’t want to pay out, but now they will have to now he’s admitted guilt

Thanks for replying everyone, I really appricate all your help.

I worked in a solicitors and a guy opened his door on me (well, kicked it open more like!) and my forks were bent and downtube too. I couldn’t get the same gear in my city, and a solicitor at work told me to go into an LBS and pay for a quote, that says something like, “we don’t sell that frame/parts but we can provide replacements of x, which we believe to be of a similar value.” It’s fairly easy to get advice like that, and the price of the quote should be put into the insurance system and they’ll cough up. Get advice though, particularly in case of medical bills, reports or lost time off work.

Additionally, unless they’ve changed the system, you’ll get a bill for the treatment at hospital after an RTA. Check into this and make sure that goes through the insurance too. I once had a road accident (on my own after my motorbike brakes failed) and turned up at A&E myself and they billed me.

This thread on the London Fixed Gear and SingleSpeed forum is very useful although it sounds like you won’t need the militant approach what with the driver admitting liability.

Just make sure that he doesn’t suddenly change his story or anything, make sure you’re in regular contact with the police and you’ve got the details of the witnesses.

If it does go to dispute, you might be in for a LONG wait – a friend of mine was knocked off over a year ago (broken collar bone, off work for ages with secondary injuries, bike written off) and still hasn’t seen a penny as, in spite of admitting liability at the time, the driver subsequently changed his story and it’s all got to go through court. 🙁

On the plus side, you’re basically OK. Good luck getting it all sorted.