Cyclist Hit my car

[eternalife]

MattT - thanks fella. And I totally agree: BillG's advice has been very helpful.

I had a little read of your incident; It really is unfair that cyclists can use the road without the same requirements as other road users.

Are you arguing your case through insurance? with the cyclist direct? or via Small Claims court?

I think I will get a quote for mine over xmas and take it from there. Will probably end up doing the same as you and paying out of my own pocket whilst pursuing the claim.

Thankfully I know a good body shop who can be trusted.

Yep, you're right. Major users of the road and the majority without insurance.
My insurance is aware of the situation - just in case he made a claim off of me etc. But I've paid for the repair so they won't pursue anything now. As BillG said, they'd only get involved when they had paid out for something and there was money to recover.
I wasn't prepared to:

1. Wait for the blame to be sorted before my car would be repaired - could've been months.
2. Run the risk of having a claim on my policy should they not recover the fund from him. I'd have lost 2years NCB and paid £500 excess. No chance.

The latest in my situation is that I've had the repair done (which I'm extremely happy with btw!) and am in the process of collecting together all the estimates / statements / bills etc to send to him. I'm hoping it doesn't come to the small claims court situation, but it is a possibility should he not play ball.
Best of luck with yours BTW, what gets me is although we're not entirely to blame - it's the driver of the car that has to do all the leg work, not the cyclist or other party involved.

Keep us up to date on your progress anyways.

Thanks for the info MattT - greatly appreciated. Will keep you (and CS) informed.

I will probably follow the same procedure as yourself and get the work done (at least then my car will be minty again :approve. Will try the various approaches to recoup costs.

I am informing my insurers tomorrow - and contacting the police for her details tomorrow also. What pisses me off most (and i gather yourself also) is the hassle it has caused - what i do for a living leaves little time for me to enjoy my car let alone sort out repairs on it.

If worse comes to worse and Judge rules in cyclists favour. I would personally do exactly the same thing with a bike to the Judge when he/she is driving. Will be good to see them argue its not their fault

IMO its a flaw in the law - every road user should carry insurance.

 

[Monkey636]

It's appalling that cyclists don't carry insurance. I drive and also use a cycle most days. I have cycle insurance through Cycleguard and it costs me over £60 per year. It covers me against any liability such as in the case highlighted above and insures my bike at replacement value.

My thinking is that I use the road, travel between 20-30mph and should therefore abide by carrying suitable insurance against any eventuality, should be law I reckon.

 

[eternalife]

Monkey636 - I totally agree. Good to know some cyclists go about taking out insurance even if it isnt mandatory - Lets face it £60 a year is small compared to the replacement value of a bike,let alone anything else.

Although, one would hope, those who do not carry cycle insurance, If they are at fault in an incident, they deal with the consequences in the correct manner i.e. Pay up.


********************UPDATE********************
Witness statement (who was a cyclist) has come through stating 'I was not at all at fault for the accident'.

Now just got to get the 'woman on the bike' details from the police and see how this is progressed.

Plan to get an estimate of reairs on Wednesday and hopefully try and book it in over xmas if possible. Will absolutely hate not having my car though :dapprove:...and have a huge smile on my face (hopefully) wen i get it back

 

[buxz777]

when speaking to her id be polite and maybe even say you was willing to pay halfs if she refuses whole payment

saying that you do have an independent witness
anyhows good luck

how bad did she damage the car out of intrest?? have you any pics?? how fast was she going??

ive seen a biker hit a car before it was crazy he went flying and his bike was sooooo f*kd he had to wait 4 a lift home but car wernt that badly damaged at all hardly anything

peace out

 

[eternalife]

when speaking to her id be polite and maybe even say you was willing to pay halfs if she refuses whole payment

saying that you do have an independent witness
anyhows good luck

how bad did she damage the car out of intrest?? have you any pics?? how fast was she going??

ive seen a biker hit a car before it was crazy he went flying and his bike was sooooo f*kd he had to wait 4 a lift home but car wernt that badly damaged at all hardly anything

peace out

Cheers for the advice - goes without saying to be polite etc.
I wont settle for half payment personally, will try various routes of obtaining the cash and if all else fails will get it pursued through a legal firm.

She has put marks / scratches on the driver side front end (luckily my Alu bonnet is untouched!). Estimates are circa £400 for the damage (by a body shop Myself and my brother have used in the past and therefore know the quality of work).

I have seen a few bike accidents myself and they do usually go flying and for some reason they fail to remember to use their limbs to break their fall (not sure if this is specific to the ones i have seen or if its like this in general:S). But yeh cycling on road is not without danger.


**********************UPDATE************************
1. Awaiting the response from police about the incident with the other party's details, does anyone know how long it should take to arrive??

2. Trying to book my car into the bodyshop to get all sorted :approve:

 

[MattT]

^^ My feedback from the police took a long time. In my case the accident took place on the 16th Sept and I only heard from them again on the 15th Dec. But in my case I wasn't waiting on information from them so it might be different for you.

 

[21castlehill]

I hope you don't get hit with a bill for the ambulance on top of your repairs. Some areas charge others don't, but invarably when they do it's the car driver or their insurer that foots the bill.

 

[eternalife]

MattT - Yeh I envisaged the police taking longer than usual. Although they now are being chased by my insurers, an accident investigation consultancy and myself.

21Castlehill - thanks for the comments. Although in London I have never heard of anyone paying for ambulance call out charges! Furthermore, I am not at fault.

*******************UPDATE*******************
1. Witness statement come back in my favour statind I am not at all to blame for the incident.
2. Had a guy from the Accident Invesitgation Consultancy (AIC) take my statement of the events.
3. The AIC are creating a simulation of the event.
4. The police have labelled me as the 'victim' in this incident and I have this in writing.
5. Paid out cash to get my car fixed at the moment.
6. Insurers cost recovery team on standby should the other party not pay me in full for my losses.
7. Statements gone out to Insurers and Police

All that can be done for now has been done. I await the statement from the police to my Insurers and then will progress from there.