Fort Bill today, someone drove into my bike rack attached to my car while I was riding but commendably left their details.

Car dented, rack broken and bent. Neither in A1 condition to start with but that’s not the point surely.

Car dent I’m not fussed about (plenty of those already) and bent the rack back to shape myself to carry bikes home and gorilla taped the light board together so it’s kind of functional so no stress about the drive back.

Spoke to the chap briefly who was dead apologetic and happy we’ll work something out but what should that be? A new rack seems over the top as mine was battle scarred already and not the newest but can’t help feel most folk in my position would go mental. I use that rack all the time in normal times, like a couple of times a week. Now I’m a bit uncomfortable putting the good bikes on it as it’s clearly weakened.

So… WWSTD?

Where would his car insurance leave you? New rack and fully repaired car!

I think a new rack and forget the car would be a good compromise all round.

You’re both insured, right?

most folk in my position would go mental.

I wouldn’t go mental but I’d want my rack & car back in the condition they were before he drove in to them.

Piss on his bombers
Hoof him in the shoes

If you’re genuinely not bothered about the car, I’m sure the other chap would be most relieved about “only” having to pay for the rack and light board.

If he’s not, then insurance for the lot.

As the offender, I think I’d be over the moon to be asked to cough up for a £200 rack, he is probably expecting a hefty body shop quote to repair the dents!

If you can find a second hand one then fair enough, you save him some cash but I wouldn’t wait around for one to appear on eBay.

The standard response does seem to be everything repaired like new and a courtesy car and maybe a whiplash claim (even though you weren’t there). If the car is already a bit dented the one more won’t hurt. Personally I’d fix the rack if possible but I like fixing things. If it is beyond repair then the price of a replacement 2nd hand rack if you are feeling generous, but a new one wouldn’t be unreasonable if you wanted that.

Just get a new bike rack and lightboard if you go through the insurance for body panel damage if it’s not a valuable car it may get written off.

As others – a new rack as minimum. Yours wasn’t new but it is now broken.

If he doesn’t want to do that then insurance. I can’t see this one ending up as a 50/50 if your car was stationary without anyone in it but I am sure the insurers will try!

Or same rack off Ebay…

As above, if you really are not bothered about the car, then a new rack at least.

You use it more than most and as you say, before the crash you could trust it despite it not being in cosmetically good condition.

Now you can’t, and with the potential of bikes falling off and damaging them and others, why should you need to worry about that through no fault of your own.

Don’t go down the second hand rack route, ask for a new one and piece of mind is then secure.

Ultimately it’s up to you.

Personally I would want to replace the rack. Too much risk of dropping bikes in the carriageway.

Offer him either to go through insurance or to buy you a new rack.

Once he sees how much racks are he may want to go through insurance anyway.

I’m insured, he was driving a holiday rental van.

Car damage is pretty insignificant but my rack’s now held together with gorilla tape.

If the rack is still damaged to the point it affects it carrying bikes securely etc. or you’re concerned it’s been weakened from the stress of the damage/bending it back then def a replacement one is due + the lightboard. If the rack is now perfectly fine I’d probably just ask for cash to cover the lightboard

If I’d driven into your car and borked your rack the very least I’d be expecting to do is get you a new rack.

If it was my car that’d been driven into and it was already a dentfest then as long as I was comfortable that it was only cosmetic then I’d probably leave that, especially if the other chap was being good about getting it sorted.

I’d ask for a new rack, tell him you’re not worried about the car dent (which would probably cost more if you got fussy) and let him decide how to proceed from there.

A small thing but if you don’t report the incident to your insurers, even if you don’t claim, they can refuse future claims. A mate had a Fiesta XR2 back in the day and cracked his front bumper on one side being over enthusiastic.

A little while later he was being over enthusiastic again but this time properly knackered the other side of the bumper. Insurance followed and when the inspector asked why it was damaged both sides instead of just where it was hit it all went wrong. Failure to report previous incident invalidated insurance so he was left with no bumper payout and a big bill for the repair,

Not sure if things have changed since the late 80’s though

Personally I’d fix the rack if possible but I like fixing things.

I wouldn’t go trying to fix something that is responsible for holding an expensive bike onto a car at high speeds.

If he was driving a rented van and it was damaged on return. Its not quite the same as having damaged his own car. Ie it might be up to the rental van owner if they decide to make an insurance claim to repair any damage to the van?

If they are driving a holiday rental vehicle, he may well have a very high excess/security deposit on the line and would welcome a quick resolution (i know i would).

Just find out the new price for light bar/rack and sent them the link. Like you i’d take the car bump on the chin, no great loss.

New rack. And you don’t know how much the rental car was damaged. I’d also be concerned that panel repair to your vehicle would render it a write-off. You can purchase it back of course, but it’s a pain you don’t need.

How was the rack attached? If it was a towbar mounted one and enough damage was done to knacker the rack and dent the car I’d be worried about the subframe being twisted in the collision but it it’s a boot mounted one I’d just go for a new replacement rack

I’ve had quite a bitter experience of trying to sort thing out “without bothering the insurance company”. Lots of people can be quite happy initially to pay out of their own pocket in theory, but when it comes to parting with the money, they suddenly start thinking you’re taking the piss and it gets messy. Although the very fact they left details makes me think they may not be like that.

If you’re not fussed about the car, I’d send him a link to the bike rack online and give them the option to either buy it themselves or give you the money – so they know they do really cost that much. Really a new rack is peanuts given the circumstances. If he baulks at the cost, or in any way starts to mess you around, just call your insurance company.

I’d ask them to buy me a new rack (he has crashed into your car… can’t be expected to get away with that for ‘free’), or even a used one, and contribute toward stuff to fix the car yourself. e.g. buy a replacement boot lid then fit it yourself.

Lots of car insurances have high mandatory excess + the optional excess, so if you go through that it might well end up costing him more anyway.

happy we’ll work something out but what should that be? A new rack seems over the top

Before the incident you had a functional bike rack. You now do not. An obvious course of action presents itself.

You’re beating yourself up over it not being new but you’re doing him a massive favour by answering “yes” to him asking to sort out directly.

Depending where it is it might be worth getting your ‘just another dent’ checked out too. You can do structural damage that isn’t immediately obvious. Bumpers are designed to crush to absorb impact, once.

What WCA says, even if you don’t claim , you should inform the insurance scumbags.
Then just get some cash off the geezer

Insurance *might* not want to pay out for the rack as it is not permanently part of the car, I’m not a claims handler but I have known some and would normally be picked up under your legal cover as part of a motor policy which is sometimes called ‘uninsured loss recovery’ insurance.

To be on the safe side, if you’re not bothered about the dent I’d go for a new rack and go your separate ways.

Have I read Spooky_b329’s comment wrong, or has everyone skipped over it?

I hope it gets resolved with all parties happy.

If you report it to your insurers, your premium will increase next year, even if you tell them you don’t want to claim. Just saying.

But as others have said, if you don’t tell ’em, you risk invalidating your insurance.

It’s a win win for the insurance companies. As always.

https://www.comparethemarket.com/car-insurance/content/do-non-fault-claims-need-to-be-declared/

I had a collision at a roundabout a few weeks ago.
Other party at fault, she ran a red light.
Initially offered to pay to fix it herself, i was ok with that, but she hesitated when I told her I had informed my insurers anyway (I have to, I’m a professional driver)
Then, more than a week later she still hadn’t arranged to get the damage inspected, I just binned the idea and went through my insurers.
It looked like just a bumper, but the final bill is just under 3k.
With the best will in the world, she wasn’t gonna pay that.
Up to you what you do, but don’t discount mot failing damage that you can’t actually see.