Timescales and inclusions

Ginsipper007

Hi.  I had a motorcycle accident at the end of 2021.  Knocked off my bike, at high speed.  Driver accepted full responsibility and this has been confirmed to me by the solicitor acting on behalf of my insurance company.

My bike was totalled (according to the engineer's report), my leathers were ruined, and I had to replace my helmet.  The accident happened in England, but nearly 200 miles from where I live.  I had to pay for the bike to be removed from roadside, and also (because I was shocked and bruised) to be picked up and brought home.  Thankfully, my injuries weren't really that bad, but my body did go into a kind of recovery phase, plus I think I was anxious / depressed for a while following the accident, and this essentially meant I was laid low for about six months.  I did manage to carry on working - 15 hours a week.  However, I wasn't really able to do anything else except sleep.

NB: I was insured fully comp.  My bike is my only mode of transport.  I'm in my 50s and I frequently ferry my family around on the back.  I was leant a bike by the insurance company, and they paid out pretty quickly on the value of the wrecked bike so I could replace that and I return the hire vehicle.

But, to date, over 18 months later, I've received nothing else.  I sent all the relevant receipts for the gear, along with photos of the damage, over a year ago.  I also sent receipts for the removal of my bike from roadside, and requested that they pay a mileage cost for my collection and return home following the accident.  These costs seem pretty uncontentious to me.  Should I have received something by now?

I also put forward the cost for cosmetic modifications I'd made to my previous bike (e.g. whitewall tyres).  I've been told that as these didn't substantially add to the value of the vehicle, I have no claim there.  Is this right?  Surely, if I paid for them, and now I've lost them as a result of the driver's actions, they could be included on the schedule.

I've also sent statements to the solicitor about the impact of the accident on my personal and family life.  As you can imagine, being asleep for 16 hours a day for six months hit my home life hard.  I've never previously experienced anything like this in my 50+ years.  The solicitors are asking for receipts for the extra costs this incurred.  It didn't really.  Just put everyone under enormous strain.  I'm the carer for my disabled wife.  Maybe we would have employed someone to fill the gaps, but we didn't know this was a possibility.

I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the lack of responsiveness from the solicitor - it frequently takes 10+ weeks and several follow up emails.  In a couple of months it's going to be two years since the accident and the direct costs I incurred.  Should I be expecting more 'urgency' at this point, and also some acknowledgement that I have suffered a prolonged period of mental and physical distress as a result of the accident?  Should I be compensated for cosmetic alterations?  I just feel that this has dragged for a very long time given that the other party accepted liability.  Any advice about how to proceed would be welcome.

DullGreyGuy

The total loss settlement of the vehicle will have included any cosmetic changes you made as long as they were declared on your policy. The unfortunate reality is that many optional extras and cosmetic changes are just a matter of personal taste and dont add anything material to the value of the vehicle.  You could put a brand new engine in a rust bucket of a MkII ford fiesta, it's still going to only going to be worth a grand at most.

Have you spoken to your insurers and checked if they have managed to recover their outlay? If not, then where are they with their claim?

When your solicitors do respond what are they saying the status is? Have you complained to the Complaints Partner at the law firm about their lack of responses?

Ginsipper007

Thanks for this, and for clearing up the question about the value of cosmetic changes.  In future, I'll know to get these declared on a policy.  Plus, the MkII Fiesta was an awesome car, although I preferred the XR2, that was a great little banger.

I communicate with the insurers via email, but will now ask if they've managed to recover their outlay and where they are with their claim.  For context, when I asked about whether I could recover any amount for the cosmetic changes, they spent 11 months telling me they were waiting for the engineer's report - which I found a bit odd, as it was the engineer's report that wrote off my bike and I received payment for the new one within three months of the accident.  It's all the other bits (yes, I had leathers and helmet insurance) that don't seem to be materialising.

The last thing the solicitors said to me, via email, was that they were waiting on information about any excess I owed.  I was a bit mystified by this as a) surely they could've cleared this up 18 months ago; and b) the other driver (and his insurance company) have admitted full liability, so isn't this something that should be recoverable? 

But to answer your question directly, when they respond they seem to be stalling.  They always seem to be being held up by something someone else has to provide them with, even though these seem to be either relatively simple things or things they should already know.

I'd rather not complain to the complaints partner, but I fear I may be going down that route.

DullGreyGuy

Your excess would be recoverable but your solicitors would need confirmation that the excess was deducted from your settlement. In clear non-fault cases some insurers will waive the excess and so it becomes part of their losses rather than yours.  Normally they just need a copy of the settlement letter showing the XS deduction. 

Ginsipper007

Thanks, you've been really helpful.