Accident – car driver wants to take my bike for analysis?

If you are not going to claim for injury you can do it yourself. Contact the insurer yourself. They will handle most things but you might need your valuation for the bike. I’ve done this before and they sent an assessor to verify my bike shop valuation.

I would also stop all contact with the driver. They are trying it on.

All done via email, so there’s a paper trail at least. Initially she said she would pay and to just send her the bill. When I did that, she emailed back saying she wanted to pick up the bike. In her email she talks about needing to know the ‘market value of the bike prior to the incident’ which is clearly wrong. My understanding is that all that matters is the cost of a suitable replacement, which I’ve given her. Anyway, I’ve emailed her back asking her to either nominate another shop to take it to, or to give me her insurance details / get the insurer to contact me.

Seems a funny way to ‘try it on’ though. I don’t really see to what ends she thinks she can help herself by having my bike.

She wants to give you £200 and not inform her insurance company. Just tell her you want to go through her insurance.

Someone on a forum somewhere has advised her not to accept your valuation and to get her own valuation 😉 She obviously believes she actually has to have the bike to do this.

Your latest email to her should hopefully clarify the situation.

Seems fair to me.

Of course she’ll be leaving her car with you while she’s doing it so you can get it checked for roadworthiness etc….

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned it, but i probably wouldn’t hand your bike over.

check her reg number on MIB, the motor insurers bureau to see if she is actually insured.

Bit of a bump, and an update:

She’s still insisting that she needs my bike. As advised by you lot (thanks!) I’ve again told her in no uncertain terms that it’s not going to happen!

Previously, she told me it was her insurer who needed her to collect the bike. Now she’s saying that she wants to settle outside of insurance (but now she needs the bike to value personally). As many people have intoned, I very much doubt she’s even spoken to her insurer. She’s told me that ‘failure to comply’ with her instructions will result in my claim being void. This was from her ‘legal representative’. If it wasn’t massively frustrating it’d be laughable.

Has anyone had any dealings with cycling lawyers? Evans cycles recommend ‘CyClaim’ who will act as ‘no win no fee’ advocates for me, and pursue the claim on my behalf – Presumably reclaiming legal costs from the driver. This seems rather heavy handed and unnecessary, if she does intend to settle outside of her insurer then it’s going to substantially add to the final bill.

On the one hand, I want to be reasonable, but I’m becoming increasingly frustrated with it all. Any tips for ensuring this gets sorted ASAP?

check her reg number on MIB, the motor insurers bureau to see if she is actually insured.

The police are going to follow this up for me – check she’s insured etc. Once they’ve done this they can give me her insurer’s details. I’m not sure why they haven’t done this yet, but I’m assured it’ll be done by tomorrow.

Once you have her insurers details just phone them direct and explain the situation. Insist that all correspondence is with them direct and not via her.

If she’s not informed them they’ll be cross with her but you’ll get a pay out from them (assuming they find her at fault).

Above all, stop talking to her. If you continue to negotiate tell her it has to be in writing and recorded delivery for both parties.

To me, it seems completely reasonable to go with CyClaim. She hit you with her car, and is now trying to weasel out of paying, or just muck you around spouting legal bollox. Time to let the pro’s sort it out I’d have thought. Good luck

This seems rather heavy handed and unnecessary, if she does intend to settle outside of her insurer then it’s going to substantially add to the final bill.

It’s her choice: she can either pay what you’ve asked for, or leave it to the insurers. Why not tell her you’re going to contact them directly?

Every time I read a thread like this I think ‘I’ll join the CTC’ and then inertia takes over and I don;t.

This seems rather heavy handed and unnecessary, if she does intend to settle outside of her insurer then it’s going to substantially add to the final bill.

I would suggest that the time has come to look after your own interests, not worry about hers.

I’ve been a member of the CTC for years now purely for the insurance and legal cover. The CTC website says you might be able to get advice off them even if you’re not a member.

Have a look here.[/url]

I’d say you are getting good advice on here. She’s trying it on, no mistake. I’d send one letter recorded delivery asking her to settle the amount asked by return, or pass it onto her insurers, no third option. Of course her insures will then try it on as well, but at least you are starting from knowing they are scammers and can be treated as such.

http://www.bikeline.co.uk Like i said earlier try , have a look at their website for further info and its free.

If you dont do it legally and correct then she may well go down that road and turn the tables on you.

and stop talking to her, unless you wannt a date.

I’d agree that some of the advice on here has been good but it’s time to get the professionals acting on your behalf now otherwise you and she will just be bunging emails to each other without getting anywhere. At best she is scared of being scammed and is getting poor advice off friends/internet; at worst she is trying to weasle her way out of it. If neither of you hand it to insurance co/solicitor then nothing will get resolved. Time to be pro-active and take proper advice.

what a female dog! (b…)

I keep thinking of joining CTC. I think it would be a really good idea if they offered a theft insurance scheme (obviously for a lot more than membership alone). They could then negotiate really good deals with suppliers. I’d be quite happy to have a cost reduction option of accepting a last years model bike so they can get better discounts from the manufacturers and the manufacturers get to shift last years stock.

You could spend an hour or so listing each part thats borked with a price from CRC / Wiggle / Merlin.
Then when it adds up to the sum of a new bike list maybe 5 or 6 with the same spec.
She obviously is not a cyclist and sees bikes in Tesco for £149 that look identical to yours…
Do not give her your bike, and infer you will consider going to go small claims court if she doesnt want to go through her insurance.

I think it might be a road traffic offence to leave the scene of an accident without giving the 3rd party your insurance details.

she does sound like a mardy cow though

Andyl – ordinary household insurers have been offering replacement bikes on theft claims with substantial reductions from suppliers since the 90s – I set schemes up for both insurers I worked for……

but this is going off tangent

All good advice from members there. I dont really have anything to say, it’s all been said but I am interested to see how this pans out for you.

Good luck!

Get CTC insurance.
Think you’re covered by your home insurance if you hit a car on your bike? Nope, you’re probably not. Check and see. Then get CTC.

Is there a corresponding thread on mumsnet?

Is there a corresponding thread on mumsnet?

Link? is it her getting clued up? 😆

Again, nothing to add, but I’m hoping to read about your positive out come.

Sounds like she hasn’t got a leg to stand on, tell her your seeking legal advise and will be passing the costs on (I did have something to say after all).

Good Luck mate.

Insurers know all about spendy bikes so just get her out of the picture and talk to them

if all else fails I’ve got a couple of sacks of lime left from a previous debate you can have

Stop all contact with her. You’ll need some sort of legal advice. Bikeline, CyClaim, even Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

If you contact her insurance company they’ll just start being difficult and trying to get you on legal loopholes. Leave it to the experts.

Bottom line is, as others have said, she’s trying not to lose her no claims, thinking it’ll cost her £100 or so, now she’s found out it’s lots of £££, she’s thinking you’re trying to scam her. I doubt she’s being deliberately obtuse, she’s probably thinking “it’s only a bike, it can’t be worth that much”.

Her insurance company will probably be pissed off that she hasn’t notified them immediately and the police might have something to say about that too.

Are you keeping track of the expenses incurred as you are unable to use your bike???

Is it your only means of transport?

If it was your car you’d charge your reasonable expenses for public transport or a hire car….

Ime you need to push to get this resolved….

Relying on being nice will not get this solved…

Why dont you try CTC hq and see if they can offer any guidance and while you are at it join up.

You could always consider a money claim online through the county court sydtem.

Bear in mind though no guarantee of new for old just because it is a bike. I cannot tell whether how that is how your value was assessed. If it was primarily your means of getting to work keep the bus receipts etc.

And on no account let the bike out of your possession. Potentially it is evidence of a crime (eg of driving without due care if the police wished to consider that – although from your description it seems unlikely) or civil liability. Why give that over to someone with an incentive to not look after it.

The CTC allowed me to join and use their legal services after I was knocked off- give them a call and they’ll see you right!

Cheers,
Jamie

Think you’re covered by your home insurance if you hit a car on your bike? Nope, you’re probably not. Check and see.

Yes, I do think I’m covered by my home insurance. I’ve checked. Last time this came up I also checked the policy details of a few other popular insurance companies and every single one of them also provided 3rd party cover for cycling. Also some of those people who initially claimed they weren’t covered under their home insurance went away and checked and found that actually they were. So I’d suggest quite the opposite – you probably are. Why don’t you check yours?

It is disappointing that this myth about most cyclists not having insurance gets perpetuated by cyclists on cycling forums – hence the derailing of the thread (apologies to the OP for that, but I have already given what I hope is a useful reply on your other thread).

Not that I’d want to discourage anybody from joining the CTC, as there are plenty of other good reasons for that, but you don’t need to do so for 3rd party or legal cover, as most of us have that under household insurance already. Even if you don’t then http://www.bikeline.co.uk will provide just as good a service as if you did (possibly better – I had a long winded claim which went on for several years and at one stage my legal cover wouldn’t pay for any more – I had to pay for a crucial report myself in order to carry on and eventually win a large payout; if I hadn’t had legal cover then bikeline would have happily covered it under no-win-no-fee).

I was knocked off my bike and the legal expenses element of my household insurance took care of everything.

Took well over 18 months to settle but they stuck with it even when she kept denying everything. Ended up with a reasonable settlement.

If you have legal expenses on your home insurance policy (its usually a small add on that not everyone takes) speak to them and they should help.

Cheers

Danny B

Why don’t you check yours?

I did and I wasn’t but it was too late. This is why I encourage people to check in instances like this, just trying to help. I haven’t told anyone they weren’t covered, just that they should check and make sure.

You should do something about that frothing at the mouth problem you’re experiencing, it could damage the keyboard.

Who’s your insurance company, samuri? Curious as it would be the first one I’ve come across which doesn’t provide such cover. I’m talking about 3rd party cover, which does include damage to property.

I haven’t told anyone they weren’t covered, just that they should check and make sure.

Get CTC insurance.
Think you’re covered by your home insurance if you hit a car on your bike? Nope, you’re probably not. Check and see. Then get CTC.

It was churchill.

No, that’s definitely Lionel Hutz. Churchills eyes are a little closer together. And clearly he would never wear a red tie.

Page 14 of http://www.churchill.com/pdf/home-policy-document.pdf – standard terms which appear almost word for word in every policy document I’ve looked at (I’m fairly sure I checked Churchill before). As always, it specfically excludes use of a motor vehicle, which by direct implication means you’re covered when using a bicycle. Have the terms improved, or were you fobbed off?

Actually I think you’re right, the couple I’ve just checked do cover damage to property. I’ll stop saying it.

Get CTC insurance anyway. If nothing more they’ll agree with your insurance company when they say they don’t cover you for damage to cars. 😉

edit: and in response to your last post, no idea. The policy stated insurance to individuals but not property. I sent it to the CTC who validated that.