Car reversed into my bicycle and driver wants me to pay for scratches to window and rear bumper

Norman_Castle

ArneL wrote: »

I do not have any form of insurance (cycling, home contents or other). This is why I am considering settling with him as his insurance making a claim against me would literally bankrupt me.

In the extremely unlikely event you were found liable for the damage you would be able to pay in affordable instalments which would be preferable for the insurer as bankrupting you would give them nothing.

Advise him you don't believe you are responsible for the damage. Suggest he claims through his insurance.

Richard53

OP, with respect, you sound like a person who would go to any lengths to avoid unpleasantness or conflict. Offering to settle someone's bill when you know very well it's not your fault, just to avoid further conflict, is not sensible. When I was younger and less confident, I would have done the same, so I know where you are coming from.


Take it from me - the driver has seen this in you from your behaviour at the time of the incident, and he is leaning on you to save the cost of repairing his own damage. It's a kind of bullying. Don't give in to it. Read the Highway Code as in the posts above, You are 100% in the right.


Tell him you have no intention of paying and invite him to take you to court (he won't) or, better still, cut off all contact. I'd be inclined to report it to the Police via the non-emergency number as recommended above, just for your own peace of mind. They won't be interested, but at least you will be able to say "when I was talking to the Police ..."


Try not to worry about it.

born_again

Just tell them that you won't be paying and if they persist with contacting you. You will contact their ins co with a claim for damage to your bike.

Ergates

unforeseen wrote: »

OP was going across the rear of the vehicles so lights would not be very visible in a rear view mirror as they are both pointing away from the vehicle or at least at right angles to it.

1) OP had their lights on as they approached the car, if the driver didn't notice them approach it's because they weren't properly paying attention. If the driver did notice them, they should have been aware that the OP was there.

2) When you're reversing, and it's dark, the onus is on *you* to take extra care that there is nothing behind you that is hard to see because it's dark. For instance, wait a few seconds after engaging reverse before moving so that things behind you are lit up by your reverse lights, and/or have time to see you're about to reverse and get out of the way. "It was dark and I couldn't see" is no excuse whatsoever to hit something - if you can't see properly behind you, don't reverse at all.

The driver is an idiot and is entirely at fault here. It could easily have been a pedestrian crossing the road behind the car who ended up under the wheels.

Mercdriver

Ergates wrote: »

The driver is an idiot and is entirely at fault here. It could easily have been a pedestrian crossing the road behind the car who ended up under the wheels.

Or a nun pushing a pram with kittens in it

As above, call his bluff, and possibly via askmid let his insurance company know about the incident. Be careful to see if you can have a word with your neighbour who saw you arguing, just in case the other guy decides to try and get him to agree to be a witness.

Sea_Shell

Maybe the driver's version of events is very different!!

He was waiting to pull out of a side turning, when someone with a bike, scraped the back of his car, whilst trying to squeeze past.

Just playing Devil's advocate!!

brianposter

Simply tell the driver that you have been advised that you are not liable for the damage to his car. This tells him that trying to intimidate you is unlikely to work.
He could well believe quite sincerely that you are liable - some people are like that.

Spinybif

Ask him for insurance details, he will quickly realise that loss of no claims and potential record that he didn't report accident asap will more than off set the cost of any money claimed from you.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

OP, sorry for the all caps but PLEASE DO NOT SETTLE! There isn't a snowball's chance in hell of the driver getting any money out of you in court. Just tell him clearly that you are not liable and that he is free to pursue a small claim if he wishes to do so.

ArneL

Richard53 wrote: »

OP, with respect, you sound like a person who would go to any lengths to avoid unpleasantness or conflict. Offering to settle someone's bill when you know very well it's not your fault, just to avoid further conflict, is not sensible. When I was younger and less confident, I would have done the same, so I know where you are coming from.


Take it from me - the driver has seen this in you from your behaviour at the time of the incident, and he is leaning on you to save the cost of repairing his own damage. It's a kind of bullying. Don't give in to it. Read the Highway Code as in the posts above, You are 100% in the right.


Tell him you have no intention of paying and invite him to take you to court (he won't) or, better still, cut off all contact. I'd be inclined to report it to the Police via the non-emergency number as recommended above, just for your own peace of mind. They won't be interested, but at least you will be able to say "when I was talking to the Police ..."


Try not to worry about it.

You've hit the nail on the head - I'm very non-confrontational and don't make the best decisions when put in a stressful situation (hence why I consented to giving him my number). Definitely something I am trying to work on!

Thanks for all the helpful posts, this has really helped take some of the stress away. I haven't heard from the guy since yesterday so he may have given up already. In any case I have just filed a police report so that my version is on the record in case he does take it further.

Thanks again everyone!