Hit by a car while cycling - having trouble getting driver to pay for damage

payandisplay

Could you not claim off your own insurance - or don't you have any?

Nasqueron

payandisplay wrote: »

Could you not claim off your own insurance - or don't you have any?

Bike insurers (aside from Yellow Jersey afaik) will increase premiums for a claim just like car insurance, you'd struggle to get damages from them as well. OP just needs to use the proper legal process if she's not insured - claim off MIB or her directly and report her to the police for driving without insurance

martindow

You mention in your OP that you have her business card so I would contact her at work. If she thinks you may tell her boss what has been going on she is likely to pay up quickly rather than put her job at risk.

Tell her that if you don't receive a payment asap you will send a letter before action and be opening a claim. Have you told the police she is uninsured?

timefortea

I rang her work number and left a message (giving a different phone number and just my first name, so she didn't know who it was) and she got back to me today. And... paid up! So that's that. I left a message with the police asking for the PC who witnessed it to call me back yesterday so if he does I'll tell him that she's uninsured, otherwise I'll just leave it. I get the impression that they're not bothered.

Thanks for your help and advice everyone!

payandisplay wrote: »

Could you not claim off your own insurance - or don't you have any?

I do have insurance but wouldn't have claimed on my own if I could avoid it.

martindow

timefortea wrote: »

. I left a message with the police asking for the PC who witnessed it to call me back yesterday so if he does I'll tell him that she's uninsured, otherwise I'll just leave it. I get the impression that they're not bothered.

I'm glad you've got your money - well done.

I think you ought to press much harder with the police. Anyone driving without insurance is a menace and deserves all they get.

esuhl

martindow wrote: »

I think you ought to press much harder with the police. Anyone driving without insurance is a menace and deserves all they get.

Me too! Should only take a minute to report it to CrimeStoppers.
https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information-online/

The most important thing (for you) is that the criminal paid for the damage she caused.

brat

Is she uninsured? From my experience approximately one out of every five vehicles shown by MIB to be uninsured are actually driven by uninsured drivers. I may have missed some detail in my skim through this thread that raises the doubt re her insurance credentials, but the police will not check every vehicle that is checked by someone on the MID database.

Mr_Singleton

timefortea wrote: »

I left a message with the police asking for the PC who witnessed it to call me back yesterday so if he does I'll tell him that she's uninsured, otherwise I'll just leave it.

Please don't.... if they don't call you back pester them till they take action against this driver.

I and millions of others cycle if this idiot driver kills somebody or worse puts them in a wheelchair for the rest of there lives they are going to need compensation which they aren't going to get if theres no proper insurance.

Think of it as your public duty.

Thankyou.

brat

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Please don't.... if they don't call you back pester them till they take action against this driver.

I and millions of others cycle if this idiot driver kills somebody or worse puts them in a wheelchair for the rest of there lives they are going to need compensation which they aren't going to get if theres no proper insurance.

Think of it as your public duty.

Thankyou.

Like I said, most vehicles who are shown as having no insurance on MIB actually do have drivers who have insurance. The police will not chase down every vehicle shown on MIB as uninsured. People are insured. Not vehicles. That's the way the law works. The insurance database is a handy tool for investigators but it is not by any means accurate.

timefortea

brat wrote: »

Is she uninsured? From my experience approximately one out of every five vehicles shown by MIB to be uninsured are actually driven by uninsured drivers. I may have missed some detail in my skim through this thread that raises the doubt re her insurance credentials, but the police will not check every vehicle that is checked by someone on the MID database.

I did suspect that it might not be accurate.

The police haven't called me back and I'm not going to press it, given that the database may well be incorrect, and as the policeman breathalysed her and checked her car over I'd be surprised if he didn't check for insurance too.