[Closed] Accident - car driver wants to take my bike for analysis?

Tell her to do one!

[quote=jamiep said]Tell her to do one!

+1

As above, it's not her bike to value. the insurance can ask for several valuations from you but you should not surrender your property to a 3rd party.

I'd be speaking to her insurance company as that doesn't sound likely.

If she won't give you their details, then the cops will give you all the info.

In fact it might be worth avoiding the driver for the moment and get the insurance details straight from the Police.

If the insurance company want to inspect the bike, they should have an assessor who should come to you.

I've never heard of this before - sounds pretty dodgy to me, what's to stop her chucking the bike in a canal?

Not a chance. It's your property.
Just put in writing that you are happy to take it to a 3rd party bike shop for assessment.

You should hope they take it to the guy who valued the car that I hit a few years ago.
He valued a tatty R reg Hyundai accent at over £1500.

Ask for her car for security 🙂

Tell her she can have your bike if you can have her car. Fair swap. Forget it just tell her to swivel!

None of her business. If her insurance company wants an independent estimate then it is upto her insurance company to arrange, no her personally. If she's not going through insurance then she should take you up on your offer to take it to a shop of her choice.

Do not give it to her!

If she has involved her insurance, then the matter is now in the hands of them & your solicitors.

I have just this week accepted a full & final settlement for an RTA I was unfortunately involved in back in January 2012! - So don't hold your breath & NEVER accept there 1st offer, what im getting compared to what I got fobbed off with 8 months ago is very significant indeed! 🙂

I assume you are ok btw?

All the best,

Alan.

Sounds dodgy to me mate,tell her you'll let them have a look if they come around to your house and do it there.

If it was a car that had been damaged, you wouldn't hand it over to the other driver, would you?

Exactly, only deal with her insurance company now. It's out of her hands.

What that lot said

Tell her to come and collect it.

Hide in the front garden, then own her with the bent forks as she arrives. They may not be bombers, but it's the principle that counts.

No need to have a go at her, if that's what her insurance company has told her.

Just be polite and tell her to go back to her insurance company and tell them to organise their own assessment - at their cost/time, if they aren't happy with your quotation.

And ensure you also include any clothing damaged.

Did the request come from her insurer or her saying they asked to give it to her?

Weird thing to ask. An insurer wouldnt say that IMO

Depends; would you.....? 😉

Her making things up to ask you and then saying it was the insurance company that requested her to are wrong, ask for a copy of the letter from her insurance comapny, and pass it on to your comapny, let them debate it over a few emails.

all insurance companies write things down,and send all requests ut in writing also all calls are recorded, just remind her of that, and dont forget to claim for taxis, hire bikes, damaged clothing, and emeotional shock and injuries.

She paid her premium to her insurer so they take the hit for her liability and all the chasing up and paying out that follows. They do have the right to seek a second opinion on the cost to repair or replace your property but taking possession? Would they do that if your car was involved? Nope, they would send an assessor round to the garage / house to examine it. Sounds like they want her to do their donkey work for them or she wants rid of the bike. Either way it's well suss and a deffo no no.

Advise her insurer of when you will make the bike available for their assessment under your supervision.

As a former claims manager, any contact regarding your claim against her should be from her insurers - there is a definite smell of rat.

Either her insurers contact you to arrange a second valuation, or else she has not involved them and she is after a second valuation.

The request to take your bike away is rubbish. This is between her insurance co and yours. Neither one of you should be contacting the other directly. Any request or communication that is made outside of those channels, ask for in writing and forward to your insurer. As for the advice about getting information from the police. That's not true either. Any information gathered by the police is covered by the data protection act and will not be disclosed to you, only to your insurer who will have to request the information. Put them to work. That's what you pay them for.

As a former claims manager, any contact regarding your claim against her should be from her insurers - there is a definite smell of rat.

+1

I've seen it from the other side - working in a bike shop we often used to get asked to value bikes involved in accidents and the correspondence was always by letter from the insurance company advising us of the situation and supplying paperwork for us to fill out.

The owner would bring the bike in and once we were visited by someone from the insurance company (think there was concern about a rip-off claim but maybe it was just a random check to make sure we weren't inflating the repair bill).

It's for the insurance company to request other valuations if necessary.

Are her insurance company definitely involved?

Are her insurance company definitely involved?

this

sounds alot to me like she is trying not to go thought her insurance, if he had involved them then why would she care if there was £25 or £2500 worth of damage there paying not her.

When mine was economically written off the other party sent someone round to assess my bike.
The guy didn't have a clue, had no idea about top end carbon racing bikes.
I had a fair estimate, we didn't push it. I said if you search the net you won't find the same any cheaper.
He mentioned repairs. I said I'd want a lifetime guarantee on the work, and if it failed when I was descending or in traffic I'd take them to the cleaners.
He accepted my quotes.

I don't have an insurer - not for whilst I'm on the bike anyway. Would my home insurance deal with her insurance company? Or my car insurer?

Or do I just liaise directly with her insurance co?

I understand that there are various legal services/lawyers (specialising in bike accident cases) I can employ to handle the claim on my behalf, but I'd really prefer not to get these people involved. It just seems unnecessary.

Are her insurance company definitely involved?

I presume that's the case, but I only have her word to prove this.

sounds alot to me like she is trying not to go thought her insurance, if he had involved them then why would she care if there was £25 or £2500 worth of damage there paying not her.

^ This.
She was prepared to stretch to 'a couple of hundred quid' you know... do me a favour. Cheapest quote was £3200

don't have an insurer - not for whilst I'm on the bike anyway. Would my home insurance deal with her insurance company? Or my car insurer?

Or do I just liaise directly with her insurance co?

Try these, www.bikeline.co.uk and free.

Superficial - Member
I don't have an insurer - not for whilst I'm on the bike anyway. Would my home insurance deal with her insurance company? Or my car insurer?

Or do I just liaise directly with her insurance co?

I understand that there are various legal services/lawyers (specialising in bike accident cases) I can employ to handle the claim on my behalf, but I'd really prefer not to get these people involved. It just seems unnecessary.

Are her insurance company definitely involved?
I presume that's the case, but I only have her word to prove this.

The Police will have her insurance details on their RTC report.

I'd call the Officer who dealt with it to get her insurance details and call them myself.

The police will be able to provide you with details of her insurance company. You'd expect to have had some sort of correspondence from them really. Speak to them directly and they'll be able to process the claim for you...though how it works if you're not insured yourself, I don't know. I dare say they'd be less inclined to pay up if there's no weight behind you, but with a witness, they probably know they don't have a leg to stand on, and you might find they're happy to pay straight up.

That's my experience from making a couple of claims in the past (for the car)

Your home insurer will probably Cibber you for legal stuff against you, and put you on to a preferred solicitors who may pursue claims for you. I would do this. In fact I currently am after being knocked off by white been man a year ago. If you contract her insurer on your own they will ignore, delay, counter claim and rudely bully you as they know you aren't an expert. Been driver's insurer grief it on with me... I'd have let it go if they hadn't, now they have pursue me for some losses and my solicitor is working on agreeing the amount for the last items.
Best of luck. Hold firm.

RichPenny - Member
Tell her to come and collect it.

Hide in the front garden, then own her with the bent forks as she arrives. They may not be bombers, but it's the principle that counts.

I have just wet myself.

A colleague of mine was knocked off his bike last year and fortunately he had British Cycling Ride membership. They dealt with his claim as part of his membership package. He pays £28 a year for his membership.

Try it. You would have to take A 26'er out of my cold dead hands.

I reckon she's gone 'it's a bike, it'll be about fifty quid to put it right', and now she's heard a quote in the hundreds she thinks you're trying it on.

Either way, just do the stuff above. Get the insurance company involved.

Get a solicitor involved . When I was knocked off by a car the insurance company would not deal through me but only through a solicitor . If she has admitted liability you won't have to pay anything and you will almost certainly end up getting more than you expect .

Superficial - Member

I've shown this to the car driver who has involved her insurance (I don't think she was expecting it to cost £700+ when she admitted liability) who have apparently advised her to collect my bike for 'her own independent valuation'.

This is utter horse shit (as others have said).
There is no way in hell an insurance company would rely on their customer for third party loss adjustment.
I'll bet you a five finger kit kat she is yet to inform her insurers.

Is this all being done on the phone or something?

Just write her a letter saying you damaged my bike, here's an estimate to have it fixed or replaced, as a courtesy I can take it to another shop your nominate at my convenience for a similar quote, but otherwise I expect you to send me a cheque in the above amount within 14 days. Don't say a word more than you need to. Do keep copies. CC it to her insurance company.

If you are not going to claim for injury you can do it yourself. Contact the insurer yourself. They will handle most things but you might need your valuation for the bike. I've done this before and they sent an assessor to verify my bike shop valuation.

I would also stop all contact with the driver. They are trying it on.

All done via email, so there's a paper trail at least. Initially she said she would pay and to just send her the bill. When I did that, she emailed back saying she wanted to pick up the bike. In her email she talks about needing to know the 'market value of the bike prior to the incident' which is clearly wrong. My understanding is that all that matters is the cost of a suitable [i]replacement[/i], which I've given her. Anyway, I've emailed her back asking her to either nominate another shop to take it to, or to give me her insurance details / get the insurer to contact me.

Seems a funny way to 'try it on' though. I don't really see to what ends she thinks she can help herself by having my bike.

She wants to give you £200 and not inform her insurance company. Just tell her you want to go through her insurance.

Someone on a forum somewhere has advised her not to accept your valuation and to get her own valuation 😉 She obviously believes she actually has to have the bike to do this.

Your latest email to her should hopefully clarify the situation.

Seems fair to me.

Of course she'll be leaving her car with you while she's doing it so you can get it checked for roadworthiness etc....

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but i probably wouldn't hand your bike over.

check her reg number on MIB, the motor insurers bureau to see if she is actually insured.

Bit of a bump, and an update:

She's still insisting that she needs my bike. As advised by you lot (thanks!) I've again told her in no uncertain terms that it's not going to happen!

Previously, she told me it was her insurer who needed her to collect the bike. Now she's saying that she wants to settle outside of insurance (but now [i]she[/i] needs the bike to value personally). As many people have intoned, I very much doubt she's even spoken to her insurer. She's told me that 'failure to comply' with her instructions will result in my claim being void. This was from her 'legal representative'. If it wasn't massively frustrating it'd be laughable.

Has anyone had any dealings with cycling lawyers? Evans cycles recommend 'CyClaim' who will act as 'no win no fee' advocates for me, and pursue the claim on my behalf - Presumably reclaiming legal costs from the driver. This seems rather heavy handed and unnecessary, if she does intend to settle outside of her insurer then it's going to substantially add to the final bill.

On the one hand, I want to be reasonable, but I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with it all. Any tips for ensuring this gets sorted ASAP?

check her reg number on MIB, the motor insurers bureau to see if she is actually insured.

The police are going to follow this up for me - check she's insured etc. Once they've done this they can give me her insurer's details. I'm not sure why they haven't done this yet, but I'm assured it'll be done by tomorrow.

Once you have her insurers details just phone them direct and explain the situation. Insist that all correspondence is with them direct and not via her.

If she's not informed them they'll be cross with her but you'll get a pay out from them (assuming they find her at fault).

Above all, stop talking to her. If you continue to negotiate tell her it has to be in writing and recorded delivery for both parties.

To me, it seems completely reasonable to go with CyClaim. She hit you with her car, and is now trying to weasel out of paying, or just muck you around spouting legal bollox. Time to let the pro's sort it out I'd have thought. Good luck

This seems rather heavy handed and unnecessary, if she does intend to settle outside of her insurer then it's going to substantially add to the final bill.

It's her choice: she can either pay what you've asked for, or leave it to the insurers. Why not tell her you're going to contact them directly?

Every time I read a thread like this I think 'I'll join the CTC' and then inertia takes over and I don;t.

This seems rather heavy handed and unnecessary, if she does intend to settle outside of her insurer then it's going to substantially add to the final bill.

I would suggest that the time has come to look after your own interests, not worry about hers.

I've been a member of the CTC for years now purely for the insurance and legal cover. The CTC website says you might be able to get advice off them even if you're not a member.

Have a look [url= http://www.slatergordon.co.uk/unions-federations-and-charities/ctc/ ]here.[/url]

I'd say you are getting good advice on here. She's trying it on, no mistake. I'd send one letter recorded delivery asking her to settle the amount asked by return, or pass it onto her insurers, no third option. Of course her insures will then try it on as well, but at least you are starting from knowing they are scammers and can be treated as such.

www.bikeline.co.uk Like i said earlier try , have a look at their website for further info and its free.

If you dont do it legally and correct then she may well go down that road and turn the tables on you.

and stop talking to her, unless you wannt a date.

I'd agree that [i]some[/i] of the advice on here has been good but it's time to get the professionals acting on your behalf now otherwise you and she will just be bunging emails to each other without getting anywhere. At best she is scared of being scammed and is getting poor advice off friends/internet; at worst she is trying to weasle her way out of it. If neither of you hand it to insurance co/solicitor then nothing will get resolved. Time to be pro-active and take proper advice.

what a female dog! (b...)

I keep thinking of joining CTC. I think it would be a really good idea if they offered a theft insurance scheme (obviously for a lot more than membership alone). They could then negotiate really good deals with suppliers. I'd be quite happy to have a cost reduction option of accepting a last years model bike so they can get better discounts from the manufacturers and the manufacturers get to shift last years stock.

You could spend an hour or so listing each part thats borked with a price from CRC / Wiggle / Merlin.
Then when it adds up to the sum of a new bike list maybe 5 or 6 with the same spec.
She obviously is not a cyclist and sees bikes in Tesco for £149 that look identical to yours...
Do not give her your bike, and infer you will consider going to go small claims court if she doesnt want to go through her insurance.

I think it might be a road traffic offence to leave the scene of an accident without giving the 3rd party your insurance details.

she does sound like a mardy cow though

Andyl - ordinary household insurers have been offering replacement bikes on theft claims with substantial reductions from suppliers since the 90s - I set schemes up for both insurers I worked for......

but this is going off tangent

All good advice from members there. I dont really have anything to say, it's all been said but I am interested to see how this pans out for you.

Good luck!

Get CTC insurance.
Think you're covered by your home insurance if you hit a car on your bike? Nope, you're probably not. Check and see. Then get CTC.

Is there a corresponding thread on mumsnet?

Is there a corresponding thread on mumsnet?

Link? is it her getting clued up? 😆

Again, nothing to add, but I'm hoping to read about your positive out come.

Sounds like she hasn't got a leg to stand on, tell her your seeking legal advise and will be passing the costs on (I did have something to say after all).

Good Luck mate.

Insurers know all about spendy bikes so just get her out of the picture and talk to them

if all else fails I've got a couple of sacks of lime left from a previous debate you can have

Stop all contact with her. You'll need some sort of legal advice. Bikeline, CyClaim, even Citizen's Advice Bureau.

If you contact her insurance company they'll just start being difficult and trying to get you on legal loopholes. Leave it to the experts.

Bottom line is, as others have said, she's trying not to lose her no claims, thinking it'll cost her £100 or so, now she's found out it's lots of £££, she's thinking you're trying to scam her. I doubt she's being deliberately obtuse, she's probably thinking "it's only a bike, it can't be worth that much".

Her insurance company will probably be pissed off that she hasn't notified them immediately and the police might have something to say about that too.

Are you keeping track of the expenses incurred as you are unable to use your bike???

Is it your only means of transport?

If it was your car you'd charge your reasonable expenses for public transport or a hire car....

Ime you need to push to get this resolved....

Relying on being nice will not get this solved...

Why dont you try CTC hq and see if they can offer any guidance and while you are at it join up.

You could always consider a money claim online through the county court sydtem.

Bear in mind though no guarantee of new for old just because it is a bike. I cannot tell whether how that is how your value was assessed. If it was primarily your means of getting to work keep the bus receipts etc.

And on no account let the bike out of your possession. Potentially it is evidence of a crime (eg of driving without due care if the police wished to consider that - although from your description it seems unlikely) or civil liability. Why give that over to someone with an incentive to not look after it.

The CTC allowed me to join and use their legal services [i]after[/i] I was knocked off- give them a call and they'll see you right!

Cheers,
Jamie

Think you're covered by your home insurance if you hit a car on your bike? Nope, you're probably not. Check and see.

Yes, I do think I'm covered by my home insurance. I've checked. Last time this came up I also checked the policy details of a few other popular insurance companies and every single one of them also provided 3rd party cover for cycling. Also some of those people who initially claimed they weren't covered under their home insurance went away and checked and found that actually they were. So I'd suggest quite the opposite - you probably are. Why don't you check yours?

It is disappointing that this myth about most cyclists not having insurance gets perpetuated by cyclists on cycling forums - hence the derailing of the thread (apologies to the OP for that, but I have already given what I hope is a useful reply on your other thread).

Not that I'd want to discourage anybody from joining the CTC, as there are plenty of other good reasons for that, but you don't need to do so for 3rd party or legal cover, as most of us have that under household insurance already. Even if you don't then www.bikeline.co.uk will provide just as good a service as if you did (possibly better - I had a long winded claim which went on for several years and at one stage my legal cover wouldn't pay for any more - I had to pay for a crucial report myself in order to carry on and eventually win a large payout; if I hadn't had legal cover then bikeline would have happily covered it under no-win-no-fee).

I was knocked off my bike and the legal expenses element of my household insurance took care of everything.

Took well over 18 months to settle but they stuck with it even when she kept denying everything. Ended up with a reasonable settlement.

If you have legal expenses on your home insurance policy (its usually a small add on that not everyone takes) speak to them and they should help.

Cheers

Danny B

[i]Why don't you check yours?[/i]

I did and I wasn't but it was too late. This is why I encourage people to check in instances like this, just trying to help. I haven't told anyone they weren't covered, just that they should check and make sure.

You should do something about that frothing at the mouth problem you're experiencing, it could damage the keyboard.

Who's your insurance company, samuri? Curious as it would be the first one I've come across which doesn't provide such cover. I'm talking about 3rd party cover, which does include damage to property.

I haven't told anyone they weren't covered, just that they should check and make sure.

[img] [/img]

Get CTC insurance.
Think you're covered by your home insurance if you hit a car on your bike? [b]Nope, you're probably not. [/b]Check and see. Then get CTC.

It was churchill.

No, that's definitely Lionel Hutz. Churchills eyes are a little closer together. And clearly he would never wear a red tie.

Page 14 of

- standard terms which appear almost word for word in every policy document I've looked at (I'm fairly sure I checked Churchill before). As always, it specfically excludes use of a motor vehicle, which by direct implication means you're covered when using a bicycle. Have the terms improved, or were you fobbed off?

Actually I think you're right, the couple I've just checked do cover damage to property. I'll stop saying it.

Get CTC insurance anyway. If nothing more they'll agree with your insurance company when they say they don't cover you for damage to cars. 😉

edit: and in response to your last post, no idea. The policy stated insurance to individuals but not property. I sent it to the CTC who validated that.