Heading down my road for the usual Wednesday night ride rendezvous I was being a bit of a prat, looking down at something on my bike whilst following a car. We had already both stopped once to allow oncoming traffic pass parked cars. Anyway, I looked up and…..too late saw that the car had stopped again. I grabbed the anchors, but hit the back of the car at probably 10-15mph. Totally my fault.

Nice late middle aged couple in the car. Were more concerned about me than anything else, and I apologised a lot and took responsibility. Looking at the car I noticed that I had put a small dent in the boot hatch and a scratch there. There were probably other small scratches on the bumper. After a couple of minutes recovering (something hit my knackers quite hard), we swapped details. I’m fine. I will probably ache a bit in the morning, but my ‘injuries’ are a grazed knee and an abrasion/bruise on my inner thigh where, i think, the nose of my saddle went. It didn’t stop me from doing the usual ride.

So, clearly I broke rule number one, if only for a second. Now, I don’t want to break rule number one again, but clearly I am not insured.

Surely a few STWers have been in this position, what happens next? Presumably, they get the car fixed and send me the bill and that is that?

P.S. I am going to bed in a few minutes, so won’t be replying a lot.

they get the car fixed and send me the bill and that is that?

More or less. No harm in asking for a couple of quotes, and making sure you only pay for damage you inflicted

Any footage, you know, to establish the extent of the slapstick hilarity damage?

Nah, no footage.

It doesn’t feel like that big a deal to me, but the woman driving the car looked a bit shaken up, so I ended up asking her if she was OK!

I’ve no idea about cost, though. I guess it will bring it into focus when I find out how much it is going to hurt in the wallet region.

I’ve had all the kids (two) I’m ever going to have, so even the knackers are expendable.

I can picture it now!

Worth checking the public liability of home insurance?

You may have insurance through your house policy. Worth a look. Might also be worth suggesting a cash offer. Not everyone cares about having a mint car. So sone money in the pocket and live with a little dent might be an option.

Worth checking the public liability of home insurance?

The witness said that, actually. I’ll have a look. In fact the witness was the only person (apart from me in the original incident) that was a bit of a pain. She certainly laid it on very thick about ‘seeing it all’ and made me suspect she wasn’t a fan of mountain bikes.

FWIW I don’t look anything like the roadie in that vid. Let’s just get that clear!

You gave your real details !!

As noted aboveyour house insurance may be a good call on cover.

Hope you are ok too.

Maybe join Cycling UK or BC and get some 3rd party liability cover for future possible mishaps?

Glad it didn’t work out any worse for you or anyone else involved op.

Have to ask though… No mention on whether the bike is ok?!

I know you still rode it after but still, we need to know!🤔

I checked that out before, the legal cover is literally only there to cover legal fees, it’s not liability insurance. Dunno about anyone else but my policy doesn’t cover public liability.

Sounds like its just going to be a case of paying up.

Maybe worth mentioning that you should make sure you get a receipt/documentation for the work done, and that its clear that they (not you) are responsible for making the repairs. Just thinking in terms of protecting yourself against any sort of “the bumper is flaking where they re-sprayed it” type of thing in 6 months time.

Hopefully everyone remembers rule number one

I did this, going downhill at 55kph, rounded a bend so as to maintain speed (this was actually on my mind as I approached the corner) it was perfect cornering – like a gazelle on the open plains (in my mind) and then I found an Audi estate, red, stationary, with a Landrover trying to pull a wide horse box uphill the other way. Both cars were stationary as they tried to squeeze past each other. I had about 4m to react and scrub speed. I ended up upside down in the barely existent gap between the two cars after hitting the Audi a glancing blow.

£800 bill for the Audi (no dent, to be perfectly honest, and thinking back, the marks on the car were black, not silver, they may have polished out. £400 bill for my teeth. Anyway, covered by BC and a lesson learned. My times down that hill are now a lot slower.

I checked that out before, the legal cover is literally only there to cover legal fees, it’s not liability insurance. Dunno about anyone else but my policy doesn’t cover public liability.

You’re (almost certainly) reading the wrong bit. It’s not legal cover, it’s liability. Probably in the contents bit of your household policy under an “additional cover”.

If they were not wearing hi-viz vests and helmets its surely their fault no? 😀

The whiplash claim could be a nightmare…..

british cycling is so cheap when you consider the cover @ only £35-40 a year

The whiplash claim could be a nightmare…..

I clipped a car on a motorbike once, just touched it and didn’t even fall off, guess what………..

You’ve almost definitely got third party liability cover on your home insurance, it’s included on basically every policy. Check your policy documents again.

I hope your injuries aren’t too painful this morning?

If it helps you feel any better, you’ve provided a useful public service, in encouraging some of us to join Cycling UK . . .

You’ve almost definitely got third party liability cover on your home insurance, it’s included on basically every policy

(II) Personal Liability
As a result of an accident occurring during the period of insurance, within the territorial
limits, causing:
– Death, disease, illness or physical injury to anyone other than you or your family or anyone else permanently residing with you, including your domestic staff
– Damage to physical property other than property belonging to, or in the custody or control of, you, your family or anyone else permanently residing with you

Double check you policy it really should be there otherwise you could end up liable for all sorts of stuff, home catches fire and burns down your neighbour would be a good ‘house’ example.

, home catches fire and burns down your neighbour would NOT be a good ‘house’ example.

FTFY. There aren’t many “simple” examples for how a liability policy would respond. In most cases the word “negligence” needs to be used as in “I was cycling down the road, and I negligently collided with a parked car causing damage.”

Huh, I was looking at something else completely. Obviously. Oh well, cheers for enlightening me!

I did similar as a kid. I was cycling back from getting my passport photo taken, and every photo since then has included my mashed front teeth!

Damage to the car (it was actually written off, which I was pretty proud of once the pain had worn off) and also my bike was covered by the house insurance as mentioned above.

What are the “territorial limits” on home insurance??

I’ve been in a similar situation. My fault they were friendly and nice about it, i took responsibility. They asked for £500 and I paid it in cash, it was then up to them whether they used it to repair the car or offset resale value when they sold the car.
If it is an expensive repair job then of course consider insurance, but bear in mind that as soon as insurers get involved then the costs of repair work go up, plus future insurance renewal prices increase.