A taxi pulled out of a junction in front of me today and I’ve crashed into him, was doing around 20mph before i hit the brakes so it really knocked the wind out of me and has cracked my carbon frame in a couple of places, another cyclist saw it happen and i took his number.
The driver took me home and isn’t denying he is to blame. Would i be best to deal directly with the taxi company or get a solicitor involved? The bike is a trek madone slr and is going to cost £7000 to replace which will probably come as a shock to them and I don’t want to have to argue over it
Any advice appreciated

BC membership and use their legal service.

Not a bc member, can i join and then use the legal service for this or would i need to be a current member?

At the very least you should get yourself checked out at A&E. Don’t forget that symptoms can appear some time after the accident so would hold off before taking action although obviously you will need a plan. Whilst the car driver has admitted to being at fault, it will unfortunately be a different matter when you make a claim especially with an expensive bike.

Try BC or find out their insurance company and try for a no win no fee. Also check out your household insurance.

Any cctv in the immediate area ?.
Not implying any slur against the driver, but the attitude might change if theres a lawyer involved.

Am implying a slur against lawyers 😆

I think this and other threads do say the need for a bike cam is paramount if out and about these days. I’ve been watching recently Bad Drivers UK on YT, and the number of accidents involving cyclists and horrifically poor bordering on dangerous driving seems to be extremely high. We’ve all had those near misses, but eventually luck might just well run out and its best to have evidence to show that you cannot be blamed and so lose out any compensation that would pay for replacement bike or injuries.

Glad you’re ok, 20mph into anything solid can result in life threatening injuries.

One thing I would make sure you do is take photos of any injuries as they develop, daily if you can. A&E is a really good thought covid is low so pretty safe. If anything just to document you felt you was injured enough to go. If you can get the other cyclists to be a witness that will help telling a random person they are about to have to pay 7k for a bike will be a HUGE shock. Also, take the bike to your local and get them to do an insure check so you can have someone officially write the frame off.

I think this and other threads do say the need for a bike cam is paramount if out and about these days.

This makes me sad, but I honestly think you’re right. A spin to the shops shouldn’t require a camera connected to me but it really does these days.

Im hoping im just bruised, got a patch of road rash and shoulder is sore, if it’s worse in the morning i will get checked out. It was on a country lane so no cctv but 2 people witnessed it. Will join BC and get there advice
Thanks

I was hit 2 weeks ago, intentional hit and run.
always ride with a fly6 and the footage means the driver (found and arrested) has zero wiggle room.
Also a BC member so my arse is well covered, but will probably take ages to get sorted and its a 6 grands replacement (if you can find a bike to actually buy) so expecting the insurance company to try it on.

Its shit out there, people can be arseholes.

Leigh Day (BC’s solicitors) will take you on as a no win no fee basis even without BC Membership.

Deffo solicitor. Taxi companies are sharks – me and a friend lost out to them (separate incidents) when we were hit by taxis in our cars.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/131099/

That’s an old archived thread from London Fixed Gear & SS Forum which got developed into a full on guide on what to do and they stripped out the anecdotal stuff and “best wishes” and stored it as a guide.

While it may be clear cut now, there’s a chance that the driver might suddenly change story when he finds out how much a new bike costs! A mate had this – driver offered to pay assuming I think that a bike was £200 at Halfords. When she discovered that the bike she’d just written off cost well over 20x that, she changed her story and it was only thanks to witnesses that it all worked out OK.

Joining BC now won’t help, you have to be a member at time of incident. However there are a number of decent cycling-specialist solicitors out there, check out Cycling UK or Cycling Weekly pages for links.

Get in touch with the witnesses and also report it to police. Go through insurance – that’s what they’re there for.

I found it much easier to recover the cost of a written off bike back as an associated expense on a personal injury claim rather than trying to chase directly for the cost of the bike. Got coverage for this in the legal cover provided with our home insurance once they had assessed the case to see if I was likely to win.

PM me my mrs is a PI solicitor and specialises in cycle accidents

+1 just contact Leigh Day externally

Edit or even better the above

Pretty sure BC allow claims retrospectively my sister in law did that.

I had to google the bike……..holy crap that’s a serious piece of kit

Yeah I’m gutted, it’s not available in the grey/ silver color anymore which i was lucky to get at the time. Just be happy to get a new one without loads of headache, still could have been much worse

Not implying any slur against the driver, but the attitude might change if theres a lawyer involved.

^This

and even not implying a slur against a solicitor… they are doing their job.

Sorry to read of your accident but slight thread hijack; this has got me thinking about membership of either BC or CyclingUK for the third party cover and legal assistance if needed. Is one better than the other or both much of a muchness?

As above keep a diary about your injuries, doctor’s appointments even your mood etc. There’s a good chance you’ll be interviewed by a doctor as part of a claim and it’s good not to have to rely on memory. Took over 2 years for my case to be settled after something similar

@r17anm
crap init…int looking to replace mine and whilst im confident its all covered its proving impossible to actually do. no matter how much money you have if there is a particular bike you want (mine is a Canyon) its just impossible to buy one.

sorry…that should say ‘was’ a Canyon

Contact Leigh Day…. I’ve got a claim going through currently and am pleased with service so far, I was worried about the cars insurance as I was filtering but their summary was “your client failed to give way and struck our client ” dead simple and no argument… I was covered by BC and its well worth the membership fee

I’ve nothing particularly helpful to add, but I wouldn’t entertain taking a seven grand car out on the road without fully comp insurance let alone the legal minimum. Maybe you’d think to look into insuring you and your bike once you’ve got this incident sorted?

Does your house insurance cover accidental damage away from the home maybe?

Good luck, anyway.

No win no fee = win and you see two thirds of it?

Genuine question, I’ve no idea but that’s been my experience with such offers to date.

No win no fee = win and you see two thirds of it?

That’s how it works these days, rules changed to stop  bad practice of ambulance chasers suing for trivial issues then piling huge costs on the loosing side.

This means lawyers are unlikely to take on someone who just wants the value of a bike and helmet back, their proportion of that won’t cover the fees. A 7k bike might change that opinion though.

Report it to the police for intelligence, a van drove into me in a car at a junction, guy just pulled out. The police were radaring the junction last week and 25% drivers passing were knicked for speeding. It’s a 20 as school area we were doing 20, the van just pulled out on us.

Glad you are ok, my shoulder hurt about 3 days later everyone said I should have claimed personal injury. Sadly we are now paying extra on our insurance through no fault of our own.

Don’t take the advice of going to A&E just for the sake of it, that’s really stupid advice COVID or not. Only go if you have something that needs medical attention

If a medical report is needed your solicitor will ask you to go and see a doctor who deals with such claims