Insurance and claim abroad

[skyjohn1]

I’ve been riding now for around four years without any accidents, in the past 8 months I have now had two. Unlucky or bad riding or both possibly.

After a recent trip to spain I rear ended a car, I was coming off of the autoroute to the first set of lights at a roundabout, at a reasonable speed (same as other cars) and directly behind a 4x4, I was at a reasonable distance, its worth noting that at this point I was carrying a pillion and allot of luggage. There was a set of lights up ahead which were green, I performed a quick life saver and when I looked back the car in front had already come to an almost complete stop at an orange light.


Ok so this is obviously my fault, I should have certainly kept a lower speed considering the extra weight etc. The woman driving the car was very nice and I admitted liability and that the accident was my fault etc. She told me that she saw me in her mirror and she knew I was going to hit her, but yet she said the lights were turning orange/red Even though there was no traffic on the other side of the roundabout, I think it would have been safer if she had gone through the orange considering she was so close, but again I don’t think that’s something that I can say.


Anyway, so we exchanged details, she told me to wait so that her husband could come and sort things out. Her husband arrives, and starts making me fill in paper work, I could not read Spanish, but I spotted one thing on the comments section, which mentioned, red light. So I told him it was green then orange which I made to him very clear, which he then seemed to change. He was very pushy and wanted me to sign the declaration which I was not ready to do considering that I could not read the language, in the end I just scribbled in the signature box.

Anyway, I told him that I would try and settle this with cash if possible, but that I was going to be in spain for a week with no phone, but that I would sort this out asap when I arrived back in England. I arrive back home to 5-6 messages from the husband, the first quite polite and the last of which were aggressive. He has claimed the damages to cost in excess of 1500 Euros and that he had no choice but to send off the paperwork. I have now discovered a problem regarding my insurance policy which claim that they need to be informed prior to any trip abroad for coverage. Im now afraid that my insurance will not pay out and that the accident will still be recorded and I will have to declare it for the next five years.

The motorcycle only had a few scratchs and a slightly bent front (headlight) frame/bracket which I straightened out. I will attach a picture of the car, I think 1500 Euro’s is excessive.

What should i do in this case, should i try and contact the husband and ask to settle cash and have the claim withdrawn? Or am i totally screwed here in terms trying to get the insurance to pay out?

[c-m]

That could easily be 1500€

Your first mistake was signing something you couldn't read.

Second mistake was not informing your insurance company about the accident when it happened. Even if you don't go through them, you still need to tell them about accidents you are involved in.

The insurance company will pay out, i wouldn't worry about that. They are obliged to pay out 3rd party expensive throughout the EU.

the legislation makes no provision for having to notify your insurance company first before going abroad.

Expect to get shafted on premiums though.

By the way. You should stop at an amber/orange light, if it is safe to do so. So the woman here was in the right. But i appreciate that most of us would just go through it.
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