Crash! Insurance "mistake" - leg to stand on? Poli

[steppen22]

My beloved motorcycle has now been written off, following my being hit by a car (well, pushed into tarmac by a car).

I'm astonished that the repair bill came to 3500 with my insurers approved repairs, when I feel I could have replaced the broken bits, with ebays help, for under maybe 650. The biggest hit was the bent forks, which didn't seem bent at all to me, and I wonder whether I'm being scammed here.

1) In a way, I regret following the official channels because now I'm going to be royally shafted. Why? Becuase I unthinkingly valued the bike at 1k only - didn't expect it would end up the oil-leaking mess it did. Now I've read the small print and, with the total loss, Bennetts won't offer more than my (idiotic) estimate of value. Do I have any leg to stand on - in terms of disputing the value I declared - or do I just bend over here? The bike (new tyre, exhaust, <15,000 clocks, is worth at least 1400-1600 and I know they will take the piss and offer 500 quid.

2) Am I right in thinking that if the police wish to pursue matters, I would need to have seen a NIP within 14 days? I can honestly say I was the innocent party - but because the matter involved filtering, I'm a little worried it could be seen otherwise. I have received a questionnaire, to provide a witness statement, as have my two witnesses, in which I can make a case against the driver it seems - but I'm a bit worried the police are setting a honeytrap here. Am I worrying over nothing? Is this standard policy? Just lost my bike, don't want to lose license - I wasn't speeding or anything.


3) I am now bikeless, and I feel like something is missing in my life. The car gets me about, but there's no feel for it, no pride or interest. It just moves, chugs along, and that's it. I keep looking at other bikers and feeling wistful because I know, realistically, given the turn the weather is about to take, I wom't be looking for another two wheeler until well into next year.


I have to admit, I am not the skilled rider I liked to think I was. I have had two accidents in two years, both filtering- related. The first I feel I was significantly to blame for, as my riding was immature. However, since then, my riding has been very mature - you might say boring - and I considered myself a competent novice. I could see the first accident happening, because I was riding like a tit, and when it did, it woke me up. However, the second came completely out of the blue, and my riding had been impeccable up to then- yet it still ended the same way. Crazy.

As for me, perfectly fine. Not a fucking scratch. That's the double edge sword up sub 15mph collisions - you end up with a fucked bike but no injuries to pay for the fucking damage. A broken arm would have been enough for me to screw over the driver, as it is, nothing but bruises ahd sores.
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no regrets, no retreat, no apology.
I've made mistakes in the past, and I apologise for FUCK ALL.

[Livefast123]

You do not need to be NIP'd when the offence is in relation to an RTC however I wouldn't be worried at all if you've recieved a witness questionnaire. That would throw up all types of legal escapes if they asked for a witness statement then prosecuted you ie no caution / chance for legal advice etc which they would have to give if you believed that an offence had been committed and wanted to ask significant questions etc

As for the valuation, as you put £1000 down then I believe you will be royally shafted Best thing to do would be to ring the insurer and enquire.......can't hurt
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Current ride - Yamaha MT-07

[G]

You said it was worth £1k, that could have made insurance cheaper because that's the maximum they have to pay out in the event of a claim. Of course it's rather irksome they generally value the bike lower than you, yet base your premium on the higher figure.
They may not use it, but not much you can do if they don't.

Are you trying to claim off the other partiy's insurance? If so, I'd be tempted to leave claiming on your own and ask to keep the bike, though it looks like it may be too late.

Note if you do claim off the other party's insurance, you will get the full value.

Bent forks is quite possible, or maybe they put that in because they weren't sure and it would have cost them a decent bit of cash to take them off and have a look in the first place.

Did the poilce attend the scene? If not, you've got to worry about the other driver reporting you. I don't think the 14 day rule would apply, but not sure on that.

It's hard to tell but it sounds like you're equating 'confident sensible rider' with 'good filterer'. Unfortunately that's not really quite the same - filtering does need extra-good observations and situational awareness as well as a portion of luck too, of course.

[defblade]

1) As said, if you're claiming off the car's insurance, then you should get the value of your bike. If not, well, you could argue that work you've done to the bike has improved its value (but they might say you should ahve informed them) - small improvments can make a big difference at that sort of price; or maybe that as there are no similar bikes around now at that price, the market has firmed up a little (and you should get enough money to replace the bike). Or you may just have to suck it down - I'd recommend adding something to the value when declaring at the start rather than playing it down so you've got something to shout about later!

BUT whichever way it goes, never accept the first offer. Their job is to save themselves money by payign as little as you'll accept.

2) They've got 6 months to put charges before court; as said if they've got you to give a statement not under caution, I'd not worry.

3) OK, so you know you don't want a new bike over winter. Start saving up now. Replace any damaged gear now as sales are on. Start looking for your perfect bike after Christmas, maybe Feb when it's still horrible out and people might be keen to sell. The cheque might be through by then, too. Anyway, give you something to look forward too.



On the bright side, you're OK and the rest is just money. Grin and move on
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Honda Varadero 125cc => Suzuki Bandit 650 33bhp => 77bhp =>
BMW K1200R Sport 163bhp => Aprilia Shiver GT 750 95bhp

[steppen22]

How would I go about claiming off his insurers directly?
____________________
no regrets, no retreat, no apology.
I've made mistakes in the past, and I apologise for FUCK ALL.

[arry]

[defblade]

Either tell your insurance you don't want them to deal with it and you'll be chasing it yourself (then you ring up his lot, say EDITED: wot arry beat me to!)

Or - get your own solicitor on it. There's plenty in the bike magazines who specialize in bike crashes - if nothing else, they'll listen about the incident and tell you if it's a case worth chasing.
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Honda Varadero 125cc => Suzuki Bandit 650 33bhp => 77bhp =>
BMW K1200R Sport 163bhp => Aprilia Shiver GT 750 95bhp

[MinhDinh]

Can't you buy the bike back for cheap?
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Hit the G spot.

[Mister James]

1) To an extent, yes, you just bend over. You chose to value it at a lower level to take advantage of cheaper premiums. You can't buck the system, pay less but then demand more when the worst happens! That said, the insurance company will still try and screw you - as others have said, best to keep on arguing the toss with them until you get a reasonable figure within the bounds of what's possible from your premium.

2) NIP's can be issued verbally, and don't really count for much anyway in RTC's which are often investigated long after the event.

Don't worry about filtering as long as you were doing so in a reasonable manner. It isn't an offence of itself, it's only a problem if you're doing it in a careless/dangerous manner, or speeding, etc.

I've personally stood in the witness box and tested this in a court case - the defence tried to challenge my account by saying that filtering is inherently dangerous and I was thus at fault, the bench and clerk supported my interpretation that it's legal.
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>Soultrader Mister James, I bet you are a copper
>Bazza Wow. Eyes like a shithouse rat, you...

[Rogerborg]

The only thing the Highway Code has to say about filtering is:

[0l0dom0l0]

it wont matter what value you put you bike at as long as its deemed to be the other persons fault. I know this because I valued my bike at £1500, and when the lady crashed into me and wrote it off they said the bike was worth £1650. The salvage was forth £150 so they are giving me £1500 and the bike back.

Don't worry about it. Just see what they offer and then go from there. If its coming off the other persons insurance its fine. Its when your claiming for a fire of theft etc they will only pay out what you valued it at less the excess.