Cyclist hit my parked car

jmmo20

Hi,

I have quite a difficult situation in my hands right now. Basically in June 2012 I bought my first car in the UK. It was a cheap second hand car that costed bout £4000.

Since this was my first car and my first insurance, the first year (well, 10 months) were extremely expensive, at £700 even though I'm 29 and I've had my license for 9 years.

SO there I was last week extrmely, EXTREMELY happy because with my 1 year no claims bonus I had managed to get a 12-month policy with Direct Line for £550.

And then I went to London to spend the day. I parked in a quite empty road near Regent's Park. When I came back there were TWO ambulances around my (correctly) parked car because a cyclist decided he felt like "eating" my car. He had a high speed collision against the back of my car. He seemed OK although his bike was completely destroyed. My card had quite a bump/indent in the boot door. Nothing major considering the age and value of the car. We did exchange insurance details as he is a professional cyclist and has insurance from the british cycling society.

Today I made a claim against my company. I was told that they would contact the other party ot recoup the costs of reparing my car, but that I would have to initially pay the excess (£250) and I would temporarily lose my 1 year no claim bonus.

Since my current policy expires in 12 days, and that my new insurer believes I had no claims (since I did the paperwork BEFORE this incident happened) I was told I have to contact them again.

I did check online for a quote and found that:

1) Assuming I lose my 1 year NCB my premium increases from £575 to £1045.

2) Assuming I still declare I have 1 year NCB, if I declare a claim against a third party hitting me, my premium increases to £800

3) Even If i select that i have 1 year NCB and that I was hit but no claim was made, my premium increases to £750

This is the most unfair thing that has happened to me in a while, no matter what I do I end up losing money for something that was not my fault at all.

What should I do?
thanks.

Buzby

As you cannot be held to blame, it may seem unfair but as the action is pending settlement, you might be lucky enough NOT to be hit by this increase. If they do, then you will get an immediate recalculation once the case is settled.

If you have ULR cover (Uninsured Loss Recovery) you can get them to pursue your additional costs.

Good luck!

marathonic

I'm afraid life is unfair at times. I had a person make a false claim against me in the past. The police investigated and there was no CCTV evidence of me being there (the area he claimed it happened in is amongst a group of night clubs and near a university - hence, littered with CCTV cameras).

The police dropped their case but because there was the potential for him to take a private case against me for up to three years, I lost my 5-years no-claims bonus.

In my case, I took the car off the road. In your case, you'll probably have to pay the increased premium. What sort of rate is your current insurer currently giving for renewal with them?

jmmo20

Could I drop the claim with my current insurer and report to direct line that I was hit but no claim was made?
In this case the premium increase is less that £100, and the damage is not significant enough for a car worth less than £2000.

marathonic

jmmo20 wrote: »

Could I drop the claim with my current insurer and report to direct line that I was hit but no claim was made?
In this case the premium increase is less that £100, and the damage is not significant enough for a car worth less than £2000.

The risk here is that the cyclist attempts to claim for personal injuries. They have up to three years to do this. The claim must remain open for this period - as was the case with me.

jmmo20

marathonic wrote: »

The risk here is that the cyclist attempts to claim for personal injuries. They have up to three years to do this. The claim must remain open for this period - as was the case with me.

even if it was his own fault?
my car was parked and unattended, and I only arrived there after about half an hour of the ambulances being there.

marathonic

jmmo20 wrote: »

even if it was his own fault?
my car was parked and unattended, and I only arrived there after about half an hour of the ambulances being there.

In my case, my car wasn't even there - it was someone chancing their arm for a payout. The slight threat of a claim for personal injuries was enough for the insurance company to refuse to close the case.....

hugoshavez

marathonic wrote: »

The risk here is that the cyclist attempts to claim for personal injuries. They have up to three years to do this. The claim must remain open for this period - as was the case with me.

Actually, I'm pretty sure that if it's clearly non-fault (and the OP's car was parked and unattended) then his insurer will close the claim if he tells them to.

Worth checking with them OP.

jmmo20

marathonic wrote: »

In my case, my car wasn't even there - it was someone chancing their arm for a payout. The slight threat of a claim for personal injuries was enough for the insurance company to refuse to close the case.....

I see, your case certainly is unfair and unfortunate.
In my case, there were 4 paramedics (or 5?) and more witnesses.

I'll give the guy a call tomorrow to see if he's OK and then I'll try to close the claim.

I wonder if I should report this to the police as well.

marathonic

hugoshavez wrote: »

Actually, I'm pretty sure that if it's clearly non-fault (and the OP's car was parked and unattended) then his insurer will close the claim if he tells them to.

Worth checking with them OP.

Not in my case - how much more clearly non-fault can you get than the fact that my car was 12 miles away from where the alleged incident took place?

All it takes is for the cyclist to claim for personal injury. Then, an investigation and potential court hearing will take place and, during this time, the claim must remain open.

In fact, my claim is still open due to a threat of a personal injury claim 2.5 years ago. I've had no correspondance from the person trying to claim since late 2011 so can only assume that they've seen sense. However, my insurance company have informed me that, in the absense of a letter from a solicitor saying that no claim for personal injury will be persued, the claim must remain open until this May (3 year deadline).

Good luck in trying to get the cyclist to pay a solicitor to send a letter in this nature.

By the way, I spoke to my solicitor that handled my house purchase last year to see whether I could counter-claim from this person. As it turns out, I could have had I kept my car on the road and paid the increased premium - as there would have been a provable financial loss. With me taking the car off the road, the chances of a successful counter-claim are minmimal.

By the way, I'm not saying that the system is correct. I find it absolutely rediculous that, like this person done to me, I could just lodge a claim that someone hit my car and drove off and cause the same outcome for them - even if it was just because I didn't like the person!

rs65

jmmo20 wrote: »

Could I drop the claim with my current insurer and report to direct line that I was hit but no claim was made?
In this case the premium increase is less that £100, and the damage is not significant enough for a car worth less than £2000.

Ignore all this talk of injuries.

Its unfortunate timing so close to renewal but once the claim is settled, and your insurers make a recovery, your NCB will be reinstated. Whoever you choose from renewal, check what the premium will be once the NCB is reinstated.