[Closed] got knocked off my bike I need some legal advise

These guys do the legal stuff for the CTC scheme: http://www.rjw.co.uk/

Relevant page: http://www.rjw.co.uk/our-expertise/accidents-and-injury/cycling-accidents

They have an office in Manchester too.

Try the BCF website. Go to doctors immediately. Doesn't sound like injuries would be worth much though if it's as superficial as you say.

Second line of the post: [b]I've been to hospital[/b]

BCF solicitors were excellent when I had a bike/car incident! They used Leigh Day & Co, very efficient.

Have you contacted the taxi's insurers, zempy?

That would be the logical first step rather than going through a 'blames direct' co initially?

Aye there may be no need for solicitor.

send a letter over saying you intend to pursue a damages claim and see if they want to make an offer before you get into it, might save you the trouble or at least give you a starting point with their stance on it.

Check you house insurance for legal aid rather blood suckers out for cash where ever they can get it.

I would look at a non legal route first if I was in that position.

Have you contacted the taxi's insurers, zempy?

That would be the logical first step rather than going through a 'blames direct' co initially?

Price up buckled wheel and replacement jacket.

Phone up taxi co and ask them if they would like you to contact their insurers or would they like to deal with it themselves.

Chances are they will offer the cost of the broken bits and i would cheekily mention that you expect free taxi trips for the next 12mths 😉

You got a luky escape and no real damage to yourself. I would be sitting thanking my lucky stars rather than who the nearest ambulance chaser to call

I dont really like the whole blames direct thing. Ideally I'd like to sort it out with him.

But, im pretty sore this morning and am a bit peed off that im on leave from work and can't go cycling.

Also my neck proper hurts! It seemed fine yesterday. Im thinking what if everythings ok, I settle with him and then i have cronic neck pane for the next 10 years.

I ride alot of DH and have hurt myself loads worse than this. But the fact is that was my fault, this isn't!

I've been in touch with my union (unison) and they said they'd get a solicitor to phone me in the next few hours.

I really dont know what to do???

As Drac says, many household contents policies have legal cover included. Mine came in handy when some dumb driver piled into my front wheel at 25mph on a bend and totalled everything bar the front mech!

Not at all - they're likely to fob you off with far less than you should get.

FFS, for the sake of one phone call?

"Your insured has just knocked me off my bike, this is what is damaged, what are you going to do?"

They then make an offer which zempy will know whether it covers the damage or not, and then he can go to a third party if necessary.

Very simple, not much hard work and a possible pay out in a few weeks, rather than waiting the months that it will take once solicitors etc get involved, and incidentally pushing up everyone's insurance rates.

I've heard good things about bikeline before as well.
Might be worth a phone call to the CTC or maybe even British Cycling. You need to be a member to be covered by their (very good) insurance but they may be able to give you some pointers.

I'd not deal with the taxi company insurance direct unless you're a trained solicitor otherwise they'll probably fob you off with the absolute bare minimum. A solicitor on the other hand will know what kind of figures they're looking at.

Keep a record of all that the doctor/hospital has told you and also of any injuries (including photos!). Get your friendly LBS to look over the bike too. I've seen cases of what looks like a fairly minor collision (buckled wheel etc) which has actually on closer examination totalled the frame. Should be able to get the cost of a full service/frame check refunded from the taxi insurance co. And get them to make out a fully itemised list of replacement/repairs.

I'm a Lawyer and use to work in personal injury and would definitely recommend that you use a firm of solicitors to look into it for you as if you go direct to the insurance company you are likely to get offered an amount lower than it is worth and once you receive settlement it is in full and final settlement! Depending on the advice given by your solicitor you may have to get a medical experts opinion who will prepare a report which is what your compensation will be based on. A solicitor will be able to give you advice as to how much it is worth based on the medical report.

If you can get a good firm of solicitors through your union thats good if not try and have a look and see if you have legal expense insurance through your household insurance as they will be able to sort out a firm of solicitors for you.

Take a photo of your injuries if possible. Especially when the bruises REALLy come up.

[i]"Your insured has just knocked me off my bike, this is what is damaged, what are you going to do?"[/i]

That's the point thoguh IdleJon, read the OP's post a couple above yours. No idea of further complications or if the bike is going to be wrecked or what.
Worth hanging on a bit for a complete list of damages then a payout based on that, not just asking for £200 now and all is well. It'll massively compromise any further claim.
I know that solicitors rank up among estate agents and car salesmen as general scum but they are pros who know how the system works.

Fortunately for all concerned, it doesn't work by phoning up and demanding cash now.

FFS, for the sake of one phone call?

incidentally pushing up everyone's insurance rates.

Why is it that people can't see the difference between the blame/claim culture of people trying to claim for things when they've had an accident themselves, and getting compensation for an incident where somebody else is very definitely at fault?

crazy-legs - Member
"Your insured has just knocked me off my bike, this is what is damaged, what are you going to do?"

That's the point thoguh IdleJon, read the OP's post a couple above yours. No idea of further complications or if the bike is going to be wrecked or what.
Worth hanging on a bit for a complete list of damages then a payout based on that, not just asking for £200 now and all is well. It'll massively compromise any further claim.
I know that solicitors rank up among estate agents and car salesmen as general scum but they are pros who know how the system works.

Fortunately for all concerned, it doesn't work by phoning up and demanding cash now.

Don't patronise me - I used to work for a company who supplied replacemnt bikes in these situations, and now work for a car insurance co.

In both cases we saw plenty of inflated claims, especially when solicitors fees are involved

At the end of the day, zempy has a buckled wheel, damaged clothing, probable whiplash. I'm sure he knows how much that will cost in replacement, he just needs to know if he can get any compo for the injuries.

Take that to an LBS, they'll say that they can't guarantee the integrity of the bike frame, so it needs to be written off (and probably sold off to an unsuspecting punter later on). Nice one - new bike!

As for the injuries, well zempy has already said that he's damaged himself more. He still needs compo, it wasn't has fault, but why pretend it's worse than it is?

Interestingly there's already one person on this thread who defrauded the company I used to work for (by inflating the size of his claim) and proudly announced it on the old forum. (I'm not going to say who in case user names have changed etc, but it's probably him.)

Though if you do that you might be persuaded to accept much less than you're entitled to. Better off not to make that phone call in the first place.

But what if, GASP, they make him a fair offer initially?

There is also an assumption that Zempy was free from blame, without any details of the crash apart from it involved a taxi...

But what if, GASP, they make him a fair offer initially?

I'm still curious how you think he's going to assess the extent of his injuries without professional help anyway.

now work for a car insurance co.

idlejon they GASP don't. i'm a solicitor with very little experience of PI claims.When i was in zempy's position i decided to do my own direct negotiations with an insurer that stressed their desire to be fair avoid costs and settle early.Their initial offers were 25% of what i eventually settled for. Even at the point of settlement the insurance company could not inteligently explian how the arrived at their figure. The point is the insurance company is what is technicaly known as a business it is in their commercial intrest to settle for as small a figure as possible in order to maximise profit.
Zempy the courts take the infliction of harm on others quite seriously and award compensation for pain and suffering generously. Neck injurys are often subject to complication.Get a lawyer go through the process including the proper medical assesment which the other side will usually pay for and then get the correct amount of cash. Agreed special damages ie the things you have lost bike coat etc can normally be recovered quickly ahead of full settlement.

Interestingly enough when I last claimed for my bike being damaged the [i]company how supplied replacement bikes in these situations[/i]did it over then phone and tried to encourage me to say there was more damage then I claimed for. He was a bit miffed when I refused, I have strong principles, probably meant the company wouldn't make as much.

I wasn't intending to be patronising at all.

I've been on the other end of that, the mechanic in the LBS looking at the damaged bike. In most cases it WAS just minor damage, in fact we'd often DISCOURAGE insurance claims by pointing out how easy it was to get them back on the road within a couple of hours rather than writing out claim forms, waiting weeks for payment, and having a basically OK bike cluttering up the workshop for ages. We'd usually offer some kind of sympathy discount.

On the other hand I've seen what looked relatively minor, guy a bit shaken but mostly OK, wheels out of true and a few scratches. Turned out one of the scratches was a fairly hefty crack.
New bike time, insurance claim.

I'm FAR too honest to suggest submitting false claims.

Just wondering what the taxi driver actually said at the time of the incident.

Personally if it were me i would be apologetic and offer to cover any damage to the bike (If it was my fault). As you havent mentioned it i presume the guy wasnt very forthcoming?

I think cyclists are the biggest hypocrits on the planet. I lose count of the threads on this site asking how much peeps are due after an accident. How to instruct solicitors etc.

Then you have the same people posting about how things cost so much and how we shouldnt have to pay to ride places blah blah blah. Try to bleed the system one minute and get something for nowt the next. It doesnt work

I'll repeat my previous comment just for you, TLH.

Why is it that people can't see the difference between the blame/claim culture of people trying to claim for things when they've had an accident themselves, and getting compensation for an incident where somebody else is very definitely at fault?

What do you suggest doing, accepting the ins. co's first derisory offer, and not employing professional help to get what you're entitled to, in order to keep premiums down? Last time I checked, how much things cost and having to pay to ride places didn't have anything to do with motor insurance.

Had the misfortune to get knocked off twice within 11 days and I got a solicitor to deal with the claims. We agreed a fixed cost from the outset and it did take a while to get the claims sorted. The ambulance chasers will take your case if the personal injury claim is expected to be £1000 (if I've remembered correctly) but less than that and they're not interested.
As regards the personal injuries I got about £300 for the 1st and about £400 from the second. To put this in perspective, I was off work the day following each accident as my hands were fairly shredded (1st) then my leg was really sore (2nd). I did have some spectacular bruising, including the top tube of my bike bruised the whole of my thigh (you could see the cabling in the bruise!).
Hope this helps a bit...I've stopped riding on roads now !

I went down the solicitor route because I didn't fancy dealing with 2 insurance companies and it turned out fine. He also got my money for the replacement gear (both bikes were knackered).

We agreed a fixed cost from the outset

But what if, GASP, they make him a fair offer initially?

If Carling did taxi insurance ................

For info

The taxi driver has admitted responsability " i didnt see you.."

(He made a right turn straight into me.)

He seemed very keen to try and keep it between us and get no insurance involved.

I was concerned about my finger being broken so went to A&E last night no breakage just lots of bruises.

However, worke up this morning (after a cack nights sleep) to have quite a bit of discomfort down my left hand side and in my neck.

Im off to the doctors in 10mins to get this documented as it didnt really hurt too much last night (pain killers and a couple of pints)

Thanks for all the responses, the info is all of use to help me make up my mind what to do.
Im no ambulance chaser, Im just peed off my bike and coat are a screwed im in discomfort and I cant go cycling even though Im on leave this week!

Oh, and the police look as if there are going to prosecute him.

He didnt see you, nd turned right into you, a few seconds sooner and he may have missed you, or a few seconds latter, and you would be on the front page of the local chip wrapper free paer as cyclist killed by taxi.

Make a claim, WWW.BIKELINE.CO.UK. ITS FREE.

Thats what insurance is for.

as long as you're being honest. i've been the victim of overblown claims before.a drunk girl fell over getting into my taxi and had a little graze on her ankle which i gave her a sterilized wipe for,she then carried on drinking till the early hours and i picked her up again to take her home. fast forward three weeks and a letter arrives from an ambulance chaser giving this list of injuries
severe lacerations to legs and feet
back and arm injuries
facial injuries
i told them she must have been hit by another car!