Bike crash with car- need advice please

tasha247

Hello
Last saturday morning I was out cycling on my own when a lady pulled out in front of me and i crashed into her car, smashed through her windscreen and landed on a heap on the floor.
I had no major injury beyond a sore neck and back and a cut finger.
I got up and the lady gave me and the bike a lift home.
We have exchanged details, I have had a quote for repairs at a bike shop and dropped it round to her house.
I have been to the doctors to have the sore neck checked out, Ice and rest was the advice with paracetamol if it is too sore.
The lady's husband phoned me Thurs to offer me £100 in cash saying they couldn't afford to pay the £250 plus bill. I declined offer but said i was just anxious to get bike repaired as i need to use it for work 2-3 times a week. And the only immediate option would be more expensive public transport.
He phoned me back Friday saying they have now decided to pass all of my correspondence onto their insurers. So, what do i do now??
All responses with advice would be much appreciated. :(:(

victor2

It sounds like she is accepting full responsibility, but can't afford your repair bill, so has decided to let her insurers deal with it and take the hit on future premiums.
The insurers should contact you, but it could easily take a long time (like months) to sort out, as most do not move very quickly when giving out payments. It might be worth asking the driver or her husband who their insurer is and if they have a contact there for this claim. If you had been driving a car with fully comp cover, your insurers would have compensated you initially and then the two insurance companies would have sorted it out between them. However, I don't suppose you have any bike insurance, so you will be at the mercy of the insurance company.

MS1950

tasha247 wrote: »

Hello
Last saturday morning I was out cycling on my own when a lady pulled out in front of me and i crashed into her car, smashed through her windscreen and landed on a heap on the floor.
I had no major injury beyond a sore neck and back and a cut finger.
I got up and the lady gave me and the bike a lift home.
We have exchanged details, I have had a quote for repairs at a bike shop and dropped it round to her house.
I have been to the doctors to have the sore neck checked out, Ice and rest was the advice with paracetamol if it is too sore.
The lady's husband phoned me Thurs to offer me £100 in cash saying they couldn't afford to pay the £250 plus bill. I declined offer but said i was just anxious to get bike repaired as i need to use it for work 2-3 times a week. And the only immediate option would be more expensive public transport.
He phoned me back Friday saying they have now decided to pass all of my correspondence onto their insurers. So, what do i do now??
All responses with advice would be much appreciated. :(:(

Did the details you initially exchanged include details of their insurance (insurer, policy number etc)? If not then I would ask for them now and then communicate directly with the insurer setting out your account of what happened, the quote for repairs to your bicycle plus the cost of using public transport (per day/week etc) until your bicycle is repaired.

I would also ask the woman who pulled out in front of you whether she has reported the accident to the police as she is legally obliged to do (including details - incident number etc) and if she has (or does) again you should follow that up by giving them your account of the incident.

However, asking them these questions may well make them more amenable to paying for the repairs now.

brat

This sounds like a mirror image of my accident 2 weeks ago, where a car pulled out from a drive in front of me. I have minor injuries, but my bike has been written off (frame cracked plus other damage) .

I contacted the police because I had been injured, and because my bike is worth a bit. I got details of his insurance and contacted them. I'm also insured with British Cycling so I contacted them and they said they would manage my claim for damage with the car driver's insurance.

To be honest, I wish I had just dealt with the car insurance company direct. They seemed very helpful and friendly, but things seem to have gone quiet now that British Cycling are involved.

I don't like long periods of quiet. I prefer to know what's happening, and I just want to get back on my good bike again.

MacMickster

MS1950 wrote: »

I would also ask the woman who pulled out in front of you whether she has reported the accident to the police as she is legally obliged to do (including details - incident number etc) and if she has (or does) again you should follow that up by giving them your account of the incident.

However, asking them these questions may well make them more amenable to paying for the repairs now.

As you will see from the identical thread on the motoring board you are wrong about the car driver having to report the accident to the police, so your idea of trying to effectively blackmail the driver into paying up is a non-starter.

brat

MacMickster wrote: »

As you will see from the identical thread on the motoring board you are wrong about the car driver having to report the accident to the police, so your idea of trying to effectively blackmail the driver into paying up is a non-starter.

No-one is encouraging blackmail. Why should you think that?

It's a common mistake that the police have to be called if third party injury is caused. They often are called, usually via the ambulance service, and if they are called they will attend, but the driver has legal responsibilities regarding providing relevant detail to the cyclist.

It sounds like the driver was to blame, and as such his insurance is liable for the damage and injury caused, unless a satisfactory agreement can be reached between both parties. The cyclist could call the police if they felt that the police needed to be involved.

MacMickster

brat wrote: »

No-one is encouraging blackmail. Why should you think that?

Why would asking the driver if she had contacted the police "as she is legally obliged to" make her "more amenable to paying for the repairs" rather than leaving it to her insurer?

The clear implication was that she would be reported to the police for this non-existent crime unless she paid up from her own pocket - i.e. blackmail.

brat

MacMickster wrote: »

Why would asking the driver if she had contacted the police "as she is legally obliged to" make her "more amenable to paying for the repairs" rather than leaving it to her insurer?

The clear implication was that she would be reported to the police for this non-existent crime unless she paid up from her own pocket - i.e. blackmail.

So encouraging someone to accept responsibility for their actions is now called blackmail!!

You inhabit a strange world.

MacMickster

brat wrote: »

So encouraging someone to accept responsibility for their actions is now called blackmail!!

You inhabit a strange world.

The driver has already accepted responsibility and informed her insurers. Suggesting that she will be reported to the police for the imaginary "offence" of not informing the police of involvement in a collision causing injury, as a means of pressuring her to pay out of her own pocket rather than leaving it to the insurer, purely to make things more convenient for the cyclist is certainly blackmail.

esuhl

MacMickster wrote: »

The driver has already accepted responsibility and informed her insurers. Suggesting that she will be reported to the police for the imaginary "offence" of not informing the police of involvement in a collision causing injury, as a means of pressuring her to pay out of her own pocket rather than leaving it to the insurer, purely to make things more convenient for the cyclist is certainly blackmail.

I went into my local cafe and asked for a coffee. I then refused to pay. Would you believe it: the cafe actually tried to blackmail me into paying out by threatening to call the police?!

Too many shops these days resort to blackmail to sell their goods. This devious corrupt trickery, where people are forced to pay what they owe needs to stop!

MacMickster

esuhl wrote: »

I went into my local cafe and asked for a coffee. I then refused to pay. Would you believe it: the cafe actually tried to blackmail me into paying out by threatening to call the police?!

Too many shops these days resort to blackmail to sell their goods. This devious corrupt trickery, where people are forced to pay what they owe needs to stop!

Oops! I shouldn't have ventured onto this board. It's obviously where they keep their "special" posters.