First Spill... New to Country, unsure of what to do

[CanadianRider]

Had my first spill last night... some black cab pulls out from being parked on the side without signalling or looking to see if anyone is coming. Basically was able to avoid smashing into the back of him, but braked so hard that the bike had so much forward momentum that the back tyre came up and eventually I went over the front of the bike (and it followed).

Landed on my shoulder fairly hard, but luckily no breaks just real sore. We exchanged information, got witness' info as well. Went to the hospital and got checked out, and today called the police to report the accident.

Basically, wondering what to do next. do I go through insurance now to file a claim to get my bike fixed up. Or do I try to keep it private and talk to the cabbie.

Input is appreciated as am new to what procedures here in the Uk.

[Fastgut]

No doubt some will say look to do it privately and some will say play safe and do it through insurance. Privately you might not get as much money as you wish but its likely to be faster than waiting for insurance. Pros and cons to both really.
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Was a driving instructor now working in Insurance
Bikes:2005 Speed Triple and 2004 FZ6 Fazer (now the other half's)

[B_A_B]

do it through the insurance....no question.
It`s risky trying to settle it privately (unless the repair bill`s small??) and there`s no guarantee you`ll get the money any quicker doing it that way....if at all..

[MarJay]

[iooi]

What level of ins do you have ?
Hope its fully comp, as often in these sort of cases his ins will say its your fault as there is no damage to his cab.....

I would find out the cost of the damage and then have a word with him to see what he wants to do.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[CanadianRider]

unfortunately only have 3rd party. being a new rider, and the fact that I am new driver in this country, full comp would have been ridiculous.

below are the before and after pics. Anyone know approx cost of what it would cost to replace?

[ZRX61]

Your 3rd party won't cover that damage... & as you apparently didn't actually hit the cab, it's unlikely his will pay out either..

Full comp etc is only expensive if you don't need it, in this case it would have been a bargain......

[iooi]

Might be able to source a fairing on ebay.

Try a google for SV Fairings might bring up a source.

On your ins you are well stuffed, unless taxi driver admits it was his fault.... And to be honest that just ain't going to happen.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[crphillips]

Unfortunately i also think his insurance will not pay as you didn't actually hit him.....keep us posted........i'm interested in how this turns out.
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CBR600RR8 Hannspree Colours, beautiful!

[G]

The witnesses are going to be important here. If they all say he did wrong, then you should have a reasonable case.
You could try talking to him, but I suspect it's going to be a case of claiming against his insurance and seeing what happens.

Note that if you managed to flip a stoppie and still not hit him, then you could have stopped safely in that distance. Nothing against you though - it's easy to make the mistake when put into such a 'survival' situation.

[Pete.]

G is right I was witness to an accident where a guy crashed his 916 without hitting the car that pulled half-across his path. I made the car driver go back to the scene and wait for the cops who nicked him. TheDuc rider made a claim against him too.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Ste]

Any pictures of the scene?

How far away from the taxi were you when you flipped it?

Did the taxi driver offer to settle it privately?

He might have done wrong by pulling out without looking, don't really know but his insurance company could turn around and say that it's not their fault you applied the brake too hard. Speak to some solicitors and see what they say, should be able to get free consultations to see if they think you've got a case.

Oh yeah, if you might be going to go ahead and do it through the insurance then write down everything about it now.

[Graham88]

I claimed on a driver who pulled out on me. I did the same thing and hit the deck to avoid hitting him. I got a witness but didn't need to use them as insurance admitted fault immediately.

[damz]

i'd say try anything before paying for it yourself, he may actually be a decent cabbie and pay for the damage, its rare but it happens.
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Current Bikes RVF400 - 94
Cars: RX7 FD, Eunos Roadster
Former Bikes: FZR 250R 89, ZX7R 98

[D O G]

[Biker101]

Well my mate was pulled out on, he didn't hit her but went down trying to swerve out of the way. Still got a pay out for bike, loss of earnings, gear and injury from the dozy cows insurance.

IMO just hit them if you are going to crash anyway, sure way of getting a payout aslong as you aren't speeding or doing something else illegal.
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Past: 06 Runner SP50 >>> 01 Varadero XL125 >>> 08 Kwak ER-6f >>> 05 CBR600rr
Present: 99 FZS600 Fazer

[tutton]

[Paivi]

[tutton]

Please shut the fuck up as soon as you can dismount from that high horse you seem to be on.

Also you phone up your insurance company and tell them youve had a collision but your not going to use them, lets see if they get pissy about it.
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Past: '05 Peugeot XPS '99 Aprillia RS125 '94 FZR600R
Current: '02 ZX636 A1P '51 CCM R30

[Paivi]

[Kal]

You are new here, presumably the cabie knows that having spoken to you. Bang it through the insurance.

In the meantime whip the screen off and gaffatape the fairing to keep riding.
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Kal...
I Like To Hoon It Hoon It I Like To Hoon It Hoon It I Like To Hoon It Hoon It Ya Like To (HOON IT!).
1984 GB250 Clubman,1983 CB250N Superdream, 1999 GPZ500S

[Adam80UK]

First off do the witnesses agree cabbie is at fault? If so go through insurance.

If it's going to be a 50/50 claim or worse, try privately.

As for not involving insurance companies, you are actually meant to inform them of any accident, regardless of claiming. Read all the small print, terms & conditions etc. Failing to inform them can possibly invalidate your insurance believe it or not. Of course it's unlikely they'd ever find out, and people do it all the time. Also when you next obtain insurance and say no to "have you had any accidents..." then of course this is untrue, would technically mean insurance isn't valid, and is an act of fraud.

Of course I'm delving too deep there... if you can sort it out privately it will be a lot quicker and won't affect any insurance premiums as what they don't know can't hurt you.
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Current: '07 Suzuki SV1000 & '07 Honda SH300i (again).
Previously owned: '08 Yamaha R1, '10 Kawasaki Z1000, '07 Honda SH300i, '04 Suzuki SV1000S, '11 Honda CB1000R, '09 Kawasaki ZX-10R, '08 Aprilia Tuono 1000R, '07 Triumph Daytona 675, '95 Honda CBR600F.

[iooi]

The Op only has 3rd party ins so any action on his part will require legal assistance. Hope he has taken that bit of the cover out.
There are a good few companies that will take the case on, do a search of this forum, it should being some up. If not a google search will, but i would ask here if any have used them to see how good they are 1st.

If the main damage is to the fairing i would price a new/2nd hand one up and then go to the driver and see if they will pay for it or at least some of it.

Legally you are supposed to inform your ins co of any accident. You do not have to use them to recover funds though.
Of course doing this runs the risk of them bumping up the cost next year as you have has a crash even though you did not claim.... Wonder why most people never inform their ins co's....
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......