Money Moral Dilemma: Should I pursue damages for my bike? 28 September 2021 at 3:05PM in Public transport & cycling 28 replies 20.5K views

MSE_Sarah

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks...

My bicycle got damaged as a motorcyclist went into me and we both came off (no injuries as it was at slow speed). He agreed it was his fault verbally and agreed to pay for damages, but he's ghosting me now and has blocked my phone number. It's only £80 - should I pay it myself or track him down as I have his number plate?

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tacpot12

I think I would try to track him down. To offer to pay and then ghost you is acting in bad faith, and so I would persue him. If he had remained in contact, I would have worked with him to keep the cost to a minimum. 

olgadapolga

I wouldn't bother, not for £80, life's too short. You'd probably spend more than that (in time and resources) tracing the guy who collided with you.

Get your bike fixed, put it down to one of those unfortunate things and get back to cycling and enjoying your life.

HHandES

Personally I would report the accident to the police and then contact the Motor Insurance Bureaux (MIB) and make a claim to them, including giving the motorcyclist’s details. The MIB is there to protect 3rd parties from uninsured or untraceable drivers following an accident. The police will be interested in understanding why the motorcyclist chose not to leave his full detail at the scene of the accident.

al223

Claim! Check if any insurance you have has any kind of legal cover to help, or use the askMID website to hopefully find out their insurer so you can write to them, as obviously they would have reported it to them as per the terms of their insurance. Be certain there's no other damage, I'm not sure if your bike has been assessed by an expert or not.

Bluemouse

You should claim. He sounds irresponsible and, for all you were fine at the time, things sometimes show up later. Having said, “sorry” he’s possibly worried this invalidates his insurance but anyone with sense would settle this out of his pocket rather than lose his no claims bonus. 

If you have contents insurance on your home, this often covers bikes even if you haven’t listed it separately. 

No need to stress; just report it as previous posts advise and other people will do the spadework. 

From another angle, if he feels he has got away with this, who’s to say he won’t do it again. You have been reasonable and would not have fleeced him; he is deliberately avoiding accepting the consequences of what he did. 

youngmale1967

You should claim, what happens when someone injured, person afraid that you will claim through there insurance.
You could try your house insurance if you got legal cover. Also some paid banking & member of union sometimes have legal cover included.

MalMonroe

I agree with HHandES. 

How does anyone even know if that motorcycle was his, or if it was properly insured or if he had passed a driving test?

The fact that he's virtually disappeared is very worrying.

He - if he is indeed qualified to ride on public roads - should not have left the scene of a collision without leaving his details. 

He's probably discovered that his insurance premium will go up and he'll have to declare having an accident for the next few years if this turns into an insurance claim. 

It's also a worry that he 'went into you' - there are too many motorcycle accidents on our roads and he really does need to own up to this one. 

I don't know about you but £80 is a lot of money to me. I'd have to have a bash at trying to track him down!

Littlefoot20

I would 100% pursue this…report it to the police etc as other posts have advised. 

Marcon

HHandES said:

Personally I would report the accident to the police and then contact the Motor Insurance Bureaux (MIB) and make a claim to them, including giving the motorcyclist’s details. The MIB is there to protect 3rd parties from uninsured or untraceable drivers following an accident. The police will be interested in understanding why the motorcyclist chose not to leave his full detail at the scene of the accident.

No need to give insurer details at the scene if nobody was hurt.

Ash_Pole

You can to apply to DVLC to find the registered owner's details if you have reasonable cause, and you certainly do. I did this a few years ago when someone ran into the back of me. I think it cost about £2.