The day before New Year’s Eve I was out for a bimble – reasonably bright clothing, yellow lid, lights on the bike (despite it being sunny).

Anyway- I’m cycling along a main road and there’s a junction to my left. A woman in a car slows for the junction, looking right to ensure nothing is coming but not somehow noticing me (am already directly in front of the car). Bang, puts me and the cotic over her bonnet.

Paramedic happened to be passing and stopped and a driver coming the other way witnessed it. The driver was in tears.

Probably wrongly, I refused hospital and managed to limp home on the bike (which now has skipping gears). I had a mountain of stuff to do that day, was still walking and was fuelled by adrenaline.

I did report the incident to the police (they didn’t attend the scene). I also went to an emergency doctor later in just to get an official record of the injuries. A couple of days on, I feel like I’ve been hit by a car. My hip and shoulder are causing significant discomfort. But I’m out of the country for some while.

Am wondering whether to follow this legally. I hate the idea of “no win no fee” companies and what they represent (at least in my mind they do) but don’t want to shell out for legal advice if potentially I could end up out of pocket.

At the very least I think I’m going to need some physio on the shoulder and am pretty worried that the back end of the cotic taking the brunt of the hit is going to need replacing.

How does one follow this up? I’m not for claiming ridiculous amounts – but don’t feel that I should be out of pocket for being flattened in an accident that’s not at all my fault.

Member of BC or CTC? Have Legal cover on your home insurance?
Good places to start, take the bike to a good LBS and get them to look over it, be honest about condition but also see if anything is out of line etc.

but don’t feel that I should be out of pocket for being flattened in an accident that’s not at all my fault.

I’d also be adding in a new helmet to the list, where are you out of the country in? Pay for physio could be an option anywhere really. get something started soon though. Sounds like a simple case where the driver is 100% in the wrong so probably won’t need a lot of legal.

how’s the bike?
make the driver suffer as much as you can. stupid cow should have been watching where she was going

I’m in Austria til march.

Didn’t think to check the home insurance before I left for legal cover. Not a member of bc or ctc

There’s no visible signs on the paint that it’s been hit- but the gears are all over the place. The car hit me from the left so non drive side. Am wondering whether the stays are bent or it could be as simple as a bent mech hanger/ mech

Quick call to your home insurance should tell you, most email docs anyway or will have a web login for the details.
Are you in Austria now? Probably want the bike looking at and write off the lid anyway.

I’m away now. Hence the hurry to get home the other day as needed to prepare.

Well top of my list would be getting a mate to take the bike to a shop for a look over, speak to your insurance and work out what your medical options are – in reality a longer lasting injury isn’t worth it over getting proper treatment now.

Why are people saying new helmet when it doesn’t even sound like a helmet was involved !

Why, because it’s normally hard to remember if you actually hit your head, managing to hit his shoulder without hitting your head is a good effort. If I didn’t have the helmet to examine then I would be erring on the side of caution.

Presumably you have her contact details? When I was hit last year I was pretty well unscathed but the bike was written off, as my lbs confirmed. I dealt directly with the driver’s insurer so no claim was made on my policy.

I have contact details yes.

You shouldn’t be out of pocket in the slightest (let alone the inconvenience) and she needs to learn a lesson. “Being in tears” just means she was a bit shocked/frightened at the time, nothing a stiff drink won’t have washed away in short order. In your position I’d be pushing for significant compensation.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/131099/ <—Read that.

I’ve been hit by drivers twice. Both times I was given the new value of my helmet even though I don’t think it hit anything.

Speak to her insurance, you don’t need to use lawyers, I didn’t the first time, I did the second time (BC member so I used Leigh Day). The outcome was pretty much the same but I had less paperwork to do the second time. The insurance company sent me for private physio starting a week or two after the crash. I received a cheque for property damage within a month of the crash and injuries were settled separately once I was happy that they were healed.

Get photos of everything. Keep a diary of aches and pains each day. Get the bike assessed by a shop. They will charge for this so add that to the amount to be repaid.

Don’t feel bad for the driver, it’s her insurance footing the bill, not her. Let this be a lesson of “don’t run people over” to her!

The term “no win, no fee” doesn’t need to put you off, it is just a term used to describe the CFA Agreement used to simplify it for people.

You can approach any solicitors that deals with personal injury to act for you, they will decide whether their is a case (not whether you are at fault, more that the claim is worth more than £1000.00 so they get costs for acting) and will take it on.

There are some good firms out there, I think BC use Irwin Mitchell from memory and there are companies like Cycle Aid that aren’t bad.

Make sure you document everything and try and provide receipts for anything that places you out of pocket, medical treatment, bike parts, etc.

Any problems email me (ex-ambulance chaser)

I was hit a few years ago, driver just didn’t see me and I hit them at 20+ mph. After that experience I’d definitely go down the no win no fee route.

I suffered from injuries that only showed their duration after the drivers insurers had hurriedly paid off the bike damages.

I was able to have physio for both a shoulder and ankle injury that 2 months on were still not healing, I didn’t take the piss although I’m sure the possibility was there.

Mrs sog, an innocent vistim, tried approaching the insurance company herself. They were not going to co-operate. She then went to an ambulance chaser. The insurance company then dealt with the case. One may dislike the idea, but there’s a reason they exist.