Cyclist and car accident claim

chrisy_t

Hi all - I have an insurance claim against me that I am very worried about..

One morning in June, I was cycling to work. After listening to what was behind me (nothing at the time), and looking and listening for on coming and side ways coming traffic, I approached my usual quiet space for turning onto another road. To my amazement, a car screeched past me and smashed into a post on the other side of the road leaving me gobsmacked in the middle of it!
A witness (2 minutes too late), the driver and myself made sure we were all alright and the driver took our details. His car was able to drive away, no injuries to me or him.
A few months later (I had forgotten about the accident it had been so long), a letter dropped on the mat. It was from the guys works insurance company requesting the damage costs.
A few weeks later I moved house and this document was lost/ mislaid. I kept returning to my previous address (family) to check for mail and today when I checked, there was a letter from the insurance companys solicitors demanding 5 times the amount.
I really don't know where I stand as a cyclist (no insurance, no home insurance at the time) and do not possess the original document issued by the insurance company detailing the expenses.
Any help, guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Voyager2002

Personally, I would write back denying liability. The account you have just posted does not give any suggestion that you caused the accident.

chrisy_t

Thanks for your reply.
My immediate thought was to write and deny but with solicitors now involved, every reply they send me back is costing me £20. Also, the letter from the solicitors stated that they want payment in the next 14 days or they will proceed with legal procedings - I only got the letter today and it was dated some 3 weeks ago!

Cheers so far.... :-(

Mrs_pbradley936

I would be inclined to say that I witnessed an accident and that I was not involved in one.
I would also add that I am able to state that nobody was injured, no ambulance or police attended and that the car concerned was able to drive away. If you insist on going to court and involving me in any way I will be pleased to reiterate all of the above. Please refrain from sending any more letters because it is bordering on harassment.

Astaroth

Hmmm.... of cause if they do go to court the solicitors fees will double over night and so the "dont bother me again" type approach probably isnt the best one.

These types of accidents are a pain in the !!!! to deal with as it is protracted arguments over if the other parties actions were reasonable or not.

Is there a personal injury claim involved? What is the total cost of the claim (injury and non-injury separated if you have them)?

In may of these cases liability normally ends up being split between the two parties but generally is significant arguing over case law, differing version of events, witness statements (if there are any) etc.... to be honest it is too complex a case to give a coaching over the net type help

derrick

I think it is well past time that cyclists should have compulsory 3rd party insurance, they use the roads, get cycle lanes put down and pay s*d all to any of it, and they should have some sort of number plate so that they can be traced like motorists are.

anniecave

derrick wrote:

I think it is well past time that cyclists should have compulsory 3rd party insurance, they use the roads, get cycle lanes put down and pay s*d all to any of it, and they should have some sort of number plate so that they can be traced like motorists are.

yeah but in that case pedestrians should also have it - for when they walk out into the road without looking (happens frequently in areas around pubs)

chrisy t - you could contact citizens advice bureau on this one. I'm not sure if you should get the police involved if someone is trying to claim against you, especially if you don't consider it was your fault. CAB would be able to advise what would be the best course of action.

chrisy_t

Thanks for your advice people.

It is a difficult one. There is no personal injury involved in this and without mentioning figures (you never know who is viewing this!), the initial letter from his insurance company was 800% less than their solicitor wants out of me! I tried CAB to today but no joy, will have to give it a go tomorrow.

Many thanks so far for your help in this very distressing matter.

Astaroth

The police wont be involved as this is civil law and not criminal.

The insurance company will only be claiming for the repair costs they paid out for the vehicle.

The solicitor will be claiming for all the other costs (plus their own fees if it is above the small track limit - £5,000 for non-injury cases unless the judge deems it is too complex for the small track).

These kinds of claims will almost always be higher for the uninsured losses than the vehicle damage - even for £200 of repairs you would be looking at a few days of repair when you add the engineer authorisation, sign off inspections and awaiting parts etc and for all that time you are having to pay for the loss of his takings plus also the loss of use of his vehicle for his private use (if appropriate)

everythingblogcast

It was the drivers fault NOT yours, so why should you pay because of the drivers driving ways.

Astaroth

everythingblogcast wrote:

It was the drivers fault NOT yours, so why should you pay because of the drivers driving ways.

Whilst I do not know your legal qualifications, clearly from the third party's version of events both the TPI and TPSol believe that their client has a reasonable chance of not being held 100% liable... after all the insurer will have to pay the sol either directly or indirectly if the case is unsuccessful.

Unfortunately we do not know the TPs version or supporting evidence and therefore it is not possible to judge liability. My concern on the case would be that the OP has almost said the classic "he came out of no where"/ dont know where they came from which will immediately say that they were not fully aware of what was going on.

I assume from the basic circs that the OP has given that they were turning right into a side road when the event happened... whilst it isnt a direct comparison the classic version of this when it is 2 motor vehicles and there is a meeting of the 2 vehicles then the turning vehicle is held 1/3 liable, the overtaking vehicle 2/3. As I no longer work in claims I do not have access to the case law directories to find how the factors of it being a cyclist (eg smaller but more likely to cause a vehicle to swerve than to have an impact and also not going to have any where near as much indication of their intention) would affect the liability.

My guess would be that the TP will say that he was correctly proceeding down the road saw a cyclist (the OP) going along the side of the road. As the road was clear they moved into a position to overtake the cyclist giving them sufficient room but as making the manover the cyclist moved out into the middle of the road without indication or checking it was safe to do so leaving the TP no option but to take evasive manovers

I am sure if a motorist had posted the above version of events 1/2 the people here would be saying that the cyclist was certainly at fault and they should be suing them