My first bike accident and dealings with insurance company

[phil480]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the forum, should have signed up ages ago and my first post could have been something better than this one.

I was involved in a collision last week between me on my Kawasaki ER5 and an Audi. Nobody was hurt. We exchanged details etc and I spoke to my insurance company (Hastings) to inform them what happened. Later that day I spoke to the driver to inform them I had spoken to my insurance, and the driver told me that they had also spoke to theirs.

By Tuesday this week, I hadn't heard anything from either insurance company, so I called Hastings just to see if they had had a response from the other insurance company. They hadn't, and said they'll chase it up and get back to me. 15mins later Hastings called me back and told me that apparently the other insurer (Aviva) haven't been contacted at all by the driver, and are unaware of any accident involving the car.
Hastings called me again on Thursday after chasing Aviva again who still claim to have had no contact from the driver/policy holder.

Not sure what to make of this, and wonder what you think about this, and has anyone had a similar scenario to this?

I will post details of what actually happened when I've got a bit more time later on.

Additional
Here's what happened:
The crash happened on Friday morning around 8:30 at a cross road on the estate where I live. I will first point out that the cross road, like on most modern housing estates is on a speed bump and is unmarked (no give way lines).
I had just set off to work. As I was approaching this cross road, it was clear enough that I could still stop if another vehicle emerged and had right of way. Just as I was entering the area where I would have right of way and going up the speed bump, this Audi came speeding across from my right. Obviously didn't slow down for the bump or to look for other traffic. I slammed on the brakes but it was unavoidable, my front wheel hit the rear passenger door which snatched the bars off me and sent me flying off like a rag doll.
No liability was accepted at the scene, or in later conversations with the driver, although they did say "I didn't see you at all, I just heard the bang".
I don't believe this is my fault at all, considering that I was on the cross road first. I wasn't going too fast because of the speed bump and also because there is a traffic island just before the cross road which has cars parked around it so it's quite a narrow gap to weave through. Some cars struggle to get through but that's a different issue.
If the driver said they didn't see me at all (I always ride with my headlamp on, like most riders to make myself more visible), surely that means they couldn't have been paying enough attention. The car was going to fast to proceed safely over the unmarked cross road, let alone the speed bump. I would estimate the car was doing 30mph, on this estate, that is fast. I would have been doing about 20mph at the very most approaching that junction, and having hit the brakes I'd guess I hit the car between 5-10mph.

[Dave70]

Am currently in a very similar situation myself.

In my case the police were involved though and the driver of the van that hit me had to produce all his documents to a designated police.station, who have forwarded them on to me as I was too busy being treated by the paramedics to get them myself at the time.

When I called his insurance company to make the claim directly from them, I was told that he had not reported the accident to ye (this was 10 days later, so he's had plenty of time to pick up the phone and call them)

I called into my insurance company to ask their advice a few days ago. They told me that my quickest option would me to claim on my insurance and they will recoup the cost from the other drivers insurance.

This is something I did not want to do as I will loose my NCB and will have to pay the excess. Of course I will eventually get it back but it will take time and I need the bike to get to work but, I can barely afford this initial out lay at the moment, which was why I wanted to claim directly from the other parties insurance.



It's a real ball ache tbh.

The guy admitted full responsibility to the police in my case (he couldn't really argue any other case anyway)

So doing it this way may be your best option.

Did you get any witness details? Where the police involved?

If not, it might be worth contacting them to report the crash. Something I think you're suppose to do anyway within 24 hrs, if the law is the same over in the UK as it is here.

[RichieZX6R]

Are you claiming for damages on this one?

I.E you dont think you were at fault?

My point being that if you were at fault and the driver hasn't contacted his insurance company then i wouldn't really chase up yours without getting a cost of getting the bike repaired and comparing that to your excess and the cost of the policy next year. Thats provided your fully comp.

When i binned my CBR a while back, it was much cheaper to get it sorted my self then claim on my insurance
____________________
Current: Kawazaki ZX6R 51
Past: Kawazaki ZX6R 96 - Honda CBR 600F4 05 - Dragstar 125 02 - Honda CB 400 SF 94 - Honda NSR 125 51 - Gilera Runner XV125 04

[janner_10]

As Richie said, are you at fault or do you think the other driver is liable.

A quick paint diagram and description could help us.

If you think the other party is 100% liable, them log all the calls, letters etc to do with the claim.
____________________
Yamaha FZS600 (Now gone to heaven) > CBR600F4i (SOLD) > '99 YZF-R1

[Rogerborg]

^^^^
Paint diagram, details of the damage, your type of insurance and excess, any witness details that you got.

You've got an old, cheap bike. Unless it was 100% his fault and you have witnesses - or your shit is all fucked up - then you might be better off letting it slide.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[phil480]

I have updated my original post with what happened. I'll see if I can draw up a diagram. I have got some photos of the cross road, I'll get them posted when possible.
It seems like it's going to be hard to prove the other driver at fault, considering it is an unmarked junction and I can't prove the speed I was going or what the car was going. The driver could easily say I was going too quick over there.
One annoying thing is, the cross road used to have give way markings before the speed bump was put in about 5 months ago. You can still see the markings there on Google Street View. If this was still the case, I would have had right of way:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Stammer+Rd,+Wick,+Littlehampton&hl=en&ll=50.822855,-0.532064&spn=0.007252,0.01929&sll=52.8382,-2.327815&sspn=7.102588,19.753418&oq=stam&t=h&hnear=Stammer+Rd,+Wick,+Littlehampton+BN17+6GE,+United+Kingdom&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.822939,-0.532143&panoid=5LrY0_pbUH5fUnSV29anQw&cbp=12,329.66,,0,17.82

[RichieZX6R]

Sounds like the 3rd party was at fault considering he was on right meaning you were on his left but not sure how it will play out. The driver could say he was on already past 'the point of no return' so you hit his side. If he hit your side it would have been clear cut. Was there much damage to the vehicles? Skid marks showing who had to brake etc?
____________________
Current: Kawazaki ZX6R 51
Past: Kawazaki ZX6R 96 - Honda CBR 600F4 05 - Dragstar 125 02 - Honda CB 400 SF 94 - Honda NSR 125 51 - Gilera Runner XV125 04

[TaiChi]

You've ridden into the side of a car.

Your best scenario is the insurance co's put it down to 50/50. If not, Audi body repairs don't come cheap.

[phil480]

There are no skid marks, I did look for them when taking photos. The car only stopped because of hearing the impact. The car has a big dent in the rear passenger door, and the plastic trim came off. My bike has twisted forks, snapped brake lever, broken indicator, broken headlamp, broken throttle control and scuffs to the petrol tank and exhaust.

[Rogerborg]

You never have "right of way". Read the Highway Code, see if you can spot it.

Sometimes vehicle are supposed to give priority to other vehicles. At an unmarked crossroads, you're both supposed to be prepared to stop, even if it appears obvious which is the "major" and the "minor" roads - this I know, having failed my first Mod 2 for failing to spot the 3rd unmarked crossroads on my test.

Now, obviously Audi Man is in the wrong, and also a cunt. But you've got no witnesses and can't show it.

Sorry, that's not the way it should be, but it's the way that it is. If the cunt wants to fix his own car, you may want to consider just sucking it up. Compare the costs of half your repairs against the ongoing costs of an at-fault accident, it's likely to be close.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[phil480]

Just for clarification, the Audi driver is a woman.
I do have a witness who was further down the road where I had came from. But she didn't see the car at all, just heard the crash and looked up to see me flying, but didn't see the car at all. I'm hoping their statement can help prove the sort of speed the car was going. The problem is, the witness is not a stranger to me, she's a friend of my girlfriend, so the insurance might have an issue accepting it.

Hastings have phoned me this morning after hearing back off Aviva. The Audi driver claims I pulled out of a minor road and into the side of her car on the major road, and is seeking liability from me! Don't know how that works as neither is a major road. Before the markings were removed, I would have been on the major road.

Anyway, I'll have some accident forms to fill out and things, so I guess I'll have to compile all the evidence I can and hope for a 50/50 worst case scenario. I'm fully comp, I'm told if that's the way it goes, my legal cover can at least recover my excess. Just means I'll have to start again on my NCB and have much higher premiums.