Bike accident without insurance

[vickster]

LAKA 3rd party cover is £1.50 a month if looking for a low cost option (cover might be lower than BC/CUK/LCC)
https://laka.co/gb/club

hopefully the damage to the car was minimal and the driver doesn’t try to claim some sort of personal injury like whiplash. If so, definitely get legal advice (some employers/unions might offer support)

 

[Deleted member 26715]

It's the same situation here, the cyclist should pay the driver's costs.

I wasn't there so I'm not able to make that decision, I'm glad you were a witness so can assist.

There are 2 things at play here, moral & legal, morally I'd like to think if I was in the same situation I would offer to pay for the damage, 'IF' I felt I was at fault, also if the claim for damage was realistic, i.e. they didn't want a hire car just so they could take the kids to school etc, that only damage that occurred in the accident is repaired. Legally I'm not sure the rider is liable as there is no requirement for insurance, therefore shouldn't the drivers insurance not pick it up as part of the uninsured excess we all pay?

 

[Pale Rider]

Legally I'm not sure the rider is liable

If the collision was the rider's fault he is legally liable - whether he has insurance or not is irrelevant.

It's then merely a matter of how he chooses to discharge that liability, either from his own resources, or via insurance if he has any.

Seems to me 'minor damage' rarely exists with modern cars.

I hit a stray dog in my Focus which put a small crack in the bumper.

The cost of the bumper was about £200, plus another £150 for the paint, and it turned out the dog had also smacked the headlight, which meant I needed a new headlamp adjuster - another £100 or so.

Adding the labour and VAT gave me a total bill of about £750.

While it's tempting to think the driver will claim for as much as they can, the damage alone could genuinely cost £1,000 or more.

 

[PaulSB]

I wasn't there so I'm not able to make that decision, I'm glad you were a witness so can assist.

There are 2 things at play here, moral & legal, morally I'd like to think if I was in the same situation I would offer to pay for the damage, 'IF' I felt I was at fault, also if the claim for damage was realistic, i.e. they didn't want a hire car just so they could take the kids to school etc, that only damage that occurred in the accident is repaired. Legally I'm not sure the rider is liable as there is no requirement for insurance, therefore shouldn't the drivers insurance not pick it up as part of the uninsured excess we all pay?

I was not there, a point which does not need making. If you look back you will be able to note I began my comments with;

"Based on the info given this was the cyclist's fault." Here is the information given by the cyclist's wife:

"Hello, my husband has had an accident he misjudged speed of car, by the time he looked left thought he had time to pull out the driver was feet from him, he rode out and she hit him"

That is straightforward error and fault regardless of whether one is riding or driving.

You appear to be saying one can only be liable if one is insured.

I'm not sure the rider is liable as there is no requirement for insurance

This is clearly incorrect. Responsibility for and the consequences of or liability for those consequences is with the person who causes the damage whether insured or not.

 

[Drago]

I'd write back and ask for the registration number of the car they want the insurance details for, see if the penny drops.

 

[BianchiVirgin]

Hello, my husband has had an accident he misjudged speed of car, by the time he looked left thought he had time to pull out the driver was feet from him, he rode out and she hit him. It was dark so not easy to tell how far away the car was. Hubby doesn’t have insurance but has just recieved a letter from hers. They are blaming hubby and want his car nsurance details nowhere in letter does it mention he was riding a bike. The police were called hubby went to hospital, paramedics and dr can’t believe his only injury was a bruised thigh bearing in mind it was on a max speed limit of 60 mph. New e-bike a right off. He has had 50 years of experience and never had anything like this before…. Any advice gladly accepted

If you/ he have no insurance, directly or through house insurance etc., you/ he potentially personally liable.

 

[Peter Salt]

The way you described it, seems there's no doubt that the cyclist was at fault. If you have spare time and money you can try to argue that the other driver was going too fast, etc. But at the end of the day, if it goes to court, the ruling will be predominantly against the cyclist as he should have been more careful when joining the road - it can be anything between 100%/0% to 51%/49% 'fault split' but even in the best case scenario, it's unlikely to be worth the time and effort.

So you will have to settle the claim. You may want to try and settle without involving any of your insurers, but this will likely be much more expensive - the driver and his insurer will claim all expenses associated with the incident - repairs, replacement vehicle cost, anything damaged during the accident (e.g. emergency braking caused a smartphone to go flying and cracked its screen), and many more.

As others have advised, house insurance often covers this sort of situations. Motor vehicle insurance - that's rare. If you don't have anything that will cover it - well, tough. You can try and delay, not respond to the third party, etc. but there's no avoiding it.

 

[midlife]

Insurers generally only pursue individuals and organisations who have money. Otherwise they spend more chasing than they get. The car insurers will likely just pay for repairs and the driver will pay more for their insurance.

 

[HMS_Dave]

If you don't have anything that will cover it - well, tough. You can try and delay, not respond to the third party, etc. but there's no avoiding it.

I don't belief the OP is trying to avoid it or delay. Hence seeking advice here. The advice of "tough" is harsh nonsense. Even if the cyclist has to pay for legal representation, it will nearly always be worth it, there may even be opportunity for counter claims, we simply do not have enough information to for judgements here... The choice is the OP's but I would strongly advise seeking legal advice before responding. We do not know what the insurers are claiming for, there could be all sorts of bogus or unreasonable claims being levied against them, the motorist could attempt to get old repairs fixed and/or unreasonable repair costs all at the cyclists expense, loss of earnings and/or injuries where there is unreasonable grounds for such a claim and there is nothing stopping them coming back in the future to continue rinsing the cyclist that he had nothing to do with. This is why a defence, even at expense is nearly always worth it. At the very very least, see if the citizens advice bureau can help, they sometimes have access to legal experts.

 

[steveindenmark]

Insurance is all about claim, counter claim, mitigation and negotiation.

Has your hubby admitted liability?
Would it have happened if the car was going slower?
It was dark, so should have been going slower?

If any of these ring true, then hubby could counter claim for a new bike. The latter cost could be greater than the car repair costs. I can't imagine damage to the car being too excessive.

If the drivers insurance company doesn't have 100% confidence in winning the claim they could advise the driver to claim off his own fully comp insurance or to agree a knock for knock settlement.

Of course, I am completely unqualified to advise, but have been involved in a couple of insurance claims. One when I was knocked off my bike and one when a car went into the side of mine and claimed it was my fault! So maybe I have been exposed to some typical negotiations.

Find somebody who can advise, but don't assume liability too quickly.

Good luck

It would be difficult at this stage to establish the speed of the car. Just because it is dark. It does not mean the driver has to reduce speed. The cyclist has admitted that he misjudged the speed of the car. If I was the cyclist, I would put this in the hands of a solicitor.

 

[Emanresu]

Why not go back and visit the scene of the "crime" with a tape measure? It's easy to discuss blame and make assumptions but get the facts first.

How far away was the driver prior to hubby pulling out? How should a driver with reasonable care and skills react.

https://www.brake.org.uk/get-involved/take-action/mybrake/knowledge-centre/speed/stopping-distances

As they say "Ye cannae change the laws of physics"

 

[boydj]

As others have said, house insurance usually has 3rd party liability cover which will cover damage caused by the policy holder when out of the house, including when cycling.