Hi STW forum,

Last night on my way to meet my regular Weds evening ride group is was involved in an accident with a car about 1/2 mile from home.

Classic case of vehicle turning right out of a side street straight across my path. My bike hit the bonnet and I was summersaulted into the road, landing heavily on my hip.

Fortunately a police car was close by and stopped to record all of the details, so I have an incident reference and the car driver’s insurance details.

My bike and clothing is wrecked.

Unfortunately last year due to lack of activity in that area, I did not renew my British Cycling membership which would have included legal assistance.

Any advice on how to commence dealing with this? Should I call the car’s insurers or should I engage a solicitor to deal with it for me? I am concerned that the insurance company’s remit will be to settle for as little cost to them as possible. The bike was a custom build on a steel frame that is no longer made, so a replacement like for like won’t be possible.

Many thanks

Check your house insurance for legal cover.

I got knocked off in similar circumstances a year or so ago – bike wan’t badly damaged & I only had a few scrapes & bruises so I decided to go through the driver’s insurance myself. Turned into a massive pain in the tits to even get recompensed for the small repairs the bike needed & I wish I had involved a lawyer to handle it despite the low value of the claim – might be worth contacting BC to see if they would be able to help once you re-new your membership. There are a good few cycling specific legal firms around these days, you might be able to claim legal fees back from the other party but I don’t know – i’d certainly be contacting them in the first instance for advice, especially if you’re having to replace a non standard bike.

Also an idea to get to A&E and get checked out just in case – there could be some inflammation setting in that you won’t notice right away, if you go legal they’ll advise this too.

Best of luck!

Thanks Drac – sadly not covered on house insurance – it’s an optional extra.

Thanks mcj78, I will follow up with BC.

Rules have changed regarding who pays for legal costs. The no win no fee costs come out of what you win, so unless you are claiming personal injury the value of your claim ain’t worth their bother.

When I had this a few years ago, the drivers insurance paid out really fast once I was clear with them I was only claiming for the bike and clothing. I dealt with them direct.

Are you injured?

Also an idea to get to A&E and get checked out just in case – there could be some inflammation setting in that you won’t notice right away

I work in a&e, please don’t do this, unless you have a specific injury concern. We don’t tend to have a hidden inflammation scanner….

might be worth contacting BC to see if they would be able to help once you re-new your membership.

Extremely unlikely – you have to be a member at the time of the incident.
Otherwise you’d have people phoning up to take out a membership specifically because they’ve been involved in an accident.

If it was on a club ride, was it not insured with BC/CTC through the club?

why would one be insured through the club while on a club ride? I’m saying ‘no’.

Extremely unlikely – you have to be a member at the time of the incident.
Otherwise you’d have people phoning up to take out a membership specifically because they’ve been involved in an accident.

I would check that with BC, they are offering legal help not insurance.

My sister in law used BC once and told me they will help members even if they joined post accident (or it could have been CTC) but definitely call and ask.

Something similar happened to me a few years ago.

Although I’m a Cycling UK member I decided to deal with the insurer direct (Aviva). They did an over the phone ‘injury assessment’ and offered me an amount of money that I was happy with. I decided to accept the offer as it would provide a quick, simple resolution, which wouldn’t have been the case going via solicitors.

They also arranged for my bike to be fixed by the LBS and paid them direct. The only bad experience was the bike shop who were a bit useless and took ages to fix the bike…

For damage to property, check with your own insurer for cover before claiming from the driver. They will reclaim fro the driver’s insurance.
If you aren’t covered on your own policy, claim from the driver. The driver’s insurance will cover the current market value of the bike – so don’t expect new for old. You’ve got the necessary details from the police. (Also press for prosecution of the driver)
Claiming for personal injury, use one of the specialist firms (Slater Gordon or Leigh Day).

I had a very similar situation. Knocked off at a roundabout and taken to hospital. Police gave me a reference and the drivers insurance details.

But when i tried to contact the drivers insurance myself i was told by them (AXA) that they would not deal with me directly only another insurer or a solicitor. I wasn’t insured so i went to one of those “no win no fee” places (Bennets in Chester). The solicitor told me to get the bike repaired and keep the receipts and also put me in touch with a Dr who gave me the once over. The solicitor also encouraged me to make the most of my injuries (bruised ribs and a cracked elbow) which i refused to do as i wanted to play it straight. Took about a year in which i had very little to do but i ended up getting a £7k of which the solicitor deducted their 25%.

i was told by them (AXA) that they would not deal with me directly only another insurer or a solicitor

Surely they can’t legally require you to do that?

Surely they can’t legally require you to do that?

I don’t know how this all stands legally TBH. I was quite disappointed when they told me this as i do hate people who try and maximise claims etc. and see all these “no win no fee” types as being a bit parasitic. So i did challenge this and pointed it out to AXA that this would probably end up costing them more. They acknowledged it probably would but still said i needed to find a solicitor. This all took place in a phone call.

Having no deep pot of money to fund my own case i ended up going down the no win no fee route.

why would one be insured through the club while on a club ride? I’m saying ‘no’.

Club rides with BC affiliated clubs are insured by BC, that’s why.

BC’s club insurance covers the club’s officials/representatives acting on behalf of the club. It is nothing to do with club members, including members who get run over while cycling on a club ride or not on a club ride

As I understood it jamiep is correct.

bikeline
when I was hit I went here. got checked out by their recommended docs and went to lbs for repair damage. worked out really well. no hassle at all.

I was involved in a hit and run, police got the driver and past me the details, emailed Admiral with receipts, they called back made an offer and done.From the email to payout was a week. Maybe I could have pushed harder but why bother, it covered my damages plus a bit? Car insurance is as expensive as it is because people try and play for more.

i was told by them (AXA) that they would not deal with me directly only another insurer or a solicitor

It’s an unusual position to take in my experience. They are probably trying to protect themselves against allegations that they were not being fair to the third party.

When I was hit by a car, the driver’s insurance company contacted me directly and suggested that it was probably best for me to deal with them directly, and not involve any solicitors! Utter bastards!

I was a CTC member though and was in no rush for the cash (since I was in hospital with a broken spine), so I let their solicitors handle it for me.

jamiep

Subscriber
BC’s club insurance covers the club’s officials/representatives acting on behalf of the club. It is nothing to do with club members, including members who get run over while cycling on a club ride or not on a club ride

Cycling UK (CTC) provide 3rd party insurance for non members on club rides. This is limited to 3 rides before a membership decision is required but the administration of this is down to local ride leaders.

BC also provide this insurance to non club members, but it is limited to those individuals specifically being invited by the club on rides with a view of him/her trying it out before joining

Thanks for all of the replies. I decided to engage Leigh Day solicitors who do all of the BC legal work. We’ll see what that brings.

Leigh Day are excellent. You seem to have a cut and dried case. So fees will come from the other party anyway.

As for BC Club affiliated rides, sorry but when riding, you are on your own and do so as an individual. It is why we recommend all our members to join BC and is a metric monitored by all affiliated clubs. That is made clear to members.