Cycle Damage Claim - Insurance company insistence on using approved supplier/repairer

nickmd

In August 2019 I was struck by a car whilst riding my bike on an event. The liability has been agreed and I'm in the process of trying to recover the costs of the damage to my bike. I have taken my bike to a specialist dealer and paid for a comprehensive damage report and estimate to restore the bike to it's original state. The defendants insurance company (AXA) is insisting that I send the bike to their approved repairer (Wheelies in Swansea) for their own examination and replacement. The bike is a high spec time trial bike and has been extensively customised and has a replacement value of more than £10K (yes it's mad I know - but I don't play golf or have a flashy car ) I am not happy to let a non-specialised generic bike supplier mess about with my bike or attempt to replace it with an equivalent (technically it's not possible for many reasons which I won't go into). I have informed the insurance company that the bike is available at the dealer for inspection and corroboration of the damage but they are refusing to cooperate unless I pack up my bike and post it to their approved repairer. 
Can anyone offer any advice in terms of what are my rights in choosing my own repairer or assessor? I believe that if I was an insured driver and my car was damaged then I would be able to choose who did the work, subject to some conditions and constraints. 
In this case I am a third-party claiming against an insured driver. There is no dispute of the liability, also I have a personal injury claim in train which is being processed separately. I believe that under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 that I can't be forced to use preferred supplier/service provider but the only snag is I'm not the policy holder. I have given the insurance company a fairly detailed explanation as to why their supplier would not be able to restore the bike to it's pre-damaged state.
Does anyone have any recommendations?

lisyloo

Do you have legal insurance on your home insurance or separately? (That is very sensible as a normal cyclist but particularly in your situation).
these policies exclude motor vehicles but not usually pedal cycles.
i think they are trying to control costs and you can stand your ground.
a legal policy would help you otherwise you’ve left yourself in the position of doing it yourself I.e. taking them to the small claims court.

nickmd

Thanks, yes I have legal cover via my home policy, in fact I am just about to call them and see what they have to say. I have a legal firm chasing the personal injury claim but have made a request for an interim payment but the insurance company have thrown me this wildcard. The snag is that the personal injury lawyers are running at glacial speed and are offering little or no help in helping me recover my material losses. Liability has been settled, medical reports done, but further follow-up is taking ages. Meanwhile my bike has been stuck in the shop for six months. I have cover through Cycling UK, so I guess I have the legal representation but the solicitors have been poor and offered little advice. They didn't even mention interim payments and the MOJ portal etc. etc. Annoyingly this is pretty straightforward claim but solicitors/insurers are not being helpful.

lisyloo

Not sure what to add.

It's a case of chasing, complaining formally. Have you spoken to cycling UK about their product?

One possibility is to get it fixed yourself and reclaim later. I'd want advice on that and it's a risk but it is an option to get advice on.

Norman_Castle

nickmd said:

 I have cover through Cycling UK, so I guess I have the legal representation but the solicitors have been poor and offered little advice. They didn't even mention interim payments and the MOJ portal etc. etc. Annoyingly this is pretty straightforward claim but solicitors/insurers are not being helpful.

Its disappointing to hear a specialist cycle insurer cant be more helpful in offering advice.

nickmd

Thanks Cycling UK are pretty good. Slater Gordon not so. After some discussion with legal professionals it would seem that in the absence of a direct contract with the insurer I have little influence and will have to negotiate or resort to the complaints process with Axa. Another alternative is to make a claim on my own insurance and seek redress that way and most likely incur higher premiums in the future, although I'm not clear as if that would be the case given there's a third party involved.

lisyloo

What have cycling uk said about the performance of slater Gordon?
i don’t think you have redress with axa who are not your insurer. You can of course complain but you don’t have a right to a complaints procedure/ombudsman like you would if they were your insurer.

if you have your own insurance for the bike then I’d do it that way and let them reclaim from axa. Not sure how it works on cycle insurance but it should eventually get fully settled and cost you less. You legal cover might include reclaiming your uninsured losses e.g. excess, higher premiums.
its a pain but that’s how most people get things sorted quickly as with motoring people need their cars on the road.

nickmd

Slater Gordon have been problematic for the personal injury claim, slow, not following recommendations from the medical report etc. CyclingUK are following up with Slater Gordon.
I saw a link on the Citzens Advice website which ultimately ends up, via the FCA, on the Financial Ombudsman site. However I'm not clear on what rights you have to complain and seek redress if you are not a policy holder. It seems that your rights are diminished if you are the 3rd party because you have no contract with the insurer.

Norman_Castle

nickmd said:

 Another alternative is to make a claim on my own insurance and seek redress that way and most likely incur higher premiums in the future, although I'm not clear as if that would be the case given there's a third party involved.

If you claim on your insurance surely your insurer would pursue the claim on your behalf to avoid them being liable for the costs. Have you asked your insurer about claiming through them?

nickmd

Norman_Castle said:

If you claim on your insurance surely your insurer would pursue the claim on your behalf to avoid them being liable for the costs. Have you asked your insurer about claiming through them?

That's fair point and something I'm considering, I will wait to see if I can get AXA to see sense and follow through with the complaints process. If not then I'll have to do so.

Jono111

I didn't think insurance covered modifications and you would get the cost of the standard bike back minus wear.