[Closed] SMIDSY!

I was knocked off a few years ago, I think I used the legal cover that came with my house insurance to persue a claim. Even though it was cut a dried case, clipped from behind, driver stopped, police involved (more for the car that drove into the back of his stationary van) it still took over 6 months to get resolved completly.

If you are meaning dealing with the other parties insurance don't even bother (based on my experience with Zurich in a simple car claim). Either by intent or accident they aren't set up to deal with individuals. If you can get someone else to do the chasing and legwork so much the better. I got nowhere for three months but within 24 hours of getting my insurance/claims management company involved they were back in touch and things progressed.

So I'll expect it to take a long time at least!

Hmmm.

Use the BC or CTT legal firm they represent non members and are specialists

Will they pay out for my legal costs if I do instruct a lawyer / solicitor? I assume they would, but making assumptions just leads to heartache in my experience.

BC / CTT?

Part of the reason I'm with BC is help with this sort of thing. Thankfully not had to use it though.

Edit...British cycling = bc

Cool, thanks for that one, just read through their gumph on the website, possibly a bit late but may join up when I am back riding again.

Still can't think of what ctt stands for...

He meant ctc but spell check changed it. Similar to bc.

Oh, that makes more sense!

Buy any cycling mag, plenty of no win no fee cycling solicitors in the back pages, www.bikeline.co.uk , are one a lot of people use, and lots of helpful info on all the websites, keep a record of expences, and photos , phone calls etc.

and expect a long wait, and a few medicals all free though.

Hope you maker a good recovery

No win no fee, BC use Liegh Day IIRC they do non member claims

Yes, it's CTC

If you do have legal cover then you'll be expected to use it rather than "no win no fee" - but then [s]if[/s] when you win the insurance company will also pay your legal costs, so the legal cover get their money back (hence why legit "no win no fee" companies are happy to take on cases they can win). All the usual suspects already mentioned - personally I've had a good experience with bikeline, but I'm sure the others are as good - given the situation mentioned above with fees, then clearly the companies used by BC/CTC will be happy to take on a case for a non member. If you do have legal cover they might want to use their own company, but you are within your rights to insist on your choice, which is recommended as most companies aren't specialists in bike accidents and will get things wrong - I used bikeline with my legal cover paying.

I'm afraid I'll also point out that it will take a while - even my "simple" claim where the driver gave a truthful statement to the police at the scene which made it clear they were at fault it took months and the threat of court action before the insurance company paid up. Get started as soon as possible - you'll be needing to get medical reports before (and after) you heal, which is another reason not to go it alone. Do get well soon though!

Thanks guys

I've been writing everything I can think of down and have had a good phone conversation with the police.

I still need to get the bike back, but tgat shouldn't be too much of a prblem, luckily it was my commuter that's been trashed. I think it ended up under the vans front wheels.

I'm going to be drafting a letter to send on monday (to the insurers I mean), I don't fancy paying premium rate phone charges to have my words twisted and then forgotten or mis typed by whoever is on the other end of the phone.

On the mend now though and hopefully no long term damage done.

I'm going to be drafting a letter to send on monday (to the insurers I mean)

Have you not read the thread? No way I'd be going direct to insurers with injuries.

Yep, take legal advice.

It depends how you want to move forward.
I had witnesses & the driver was prosecuted so it was cut & dried.
I sent a claim direct to the other parties insurance & it was paid promptly allowing me to buy a new bike and move on from the experience.
I could possibly have got more out of it materially had I gone the lawyer route but it would have been protracted and a hindrance to moving on.
I must say my injuries, though painful, were superficial so no potential long term problems.
Before going direct I contacted a 'no win - no fee' firm who carry large adverts in the cycling press. When I went though their literature in detail I didn't care for it & it seemed they might benefit more than me financially and I'd have the inconvenience .
I appreciate the insurance company probably dealt with me promptly to close things & avoid increased cost.

OTOH my brother suffered broken bones in an unrelated event and pursued it to the bitter end as he's a bit like that.

Looking back on it I think we both acted in the right way for our particular circumstances.

I also joined CTC afterwards so if it happened again I would have a good source of advice, gained inclusive insurance & anyway would be donating to an organisation representing cyclists interests, which I hadn't really considered before.

I have read the thread and there is a lot of useful advice.

I'm going to draft a letter to the insurance company, on Monday. My poor sentance structuring made it look like I planned to send it monday.

I want to draft it myself as I think it will help me clarify what happened and what I expect to be compensated for. I'll then get this checked by whoever i instruct and go from there.

It may be a bit of a waste of my time (I've got plenty of that at the moment) but I hope it'll put my head into a clearer state.

I forgot to say that my brother had to have remedial surgery some time after the incident so he was unable to move on in the way I could anyway.

If your injuries are such that this might happen I'd be less inclined to wrap things up too soon.

I want to draft it myself as I think it will help me clarify what happened and what I expect to be compensated for. I'll then get this checked by whoever i instruct and go from there.

It may be a bit of a waste of my time (I've got plenty of that at the moment) but I hope it'll put my head into a clearer state.

That's fair enough, and it will help with what you need to tell any legal people you're employing, but I'd expect any legal bods you get to be writing their own letters and telling you not to - unless you're a lawyer it's pretty unlikely you'd use the correct wording. Good luck with it all though!

Despite what some on here might suggest, with a shattered knee cap there's no way I wouldn't be going for injury compensation (if nothing else you might be able to get private treatment if that would help you get fixed quicker). As mentioned above you don't want to be negotiating that yourself.

All the best for a speedy recovery, whatever you do.