What to do after non-fault spill with TPFT insurance?

[ferrisio]

Hi, noob-ish question as I'm lucky enough not to have to have done this before, I was recently rear-ended whilst waiting at a red light (see spill counter thread), the guy admitted liability to both me and the police and the police took statements so hopefully fairly open-and-shut case.

I only have TPFT insurance, I rang MCE (at the scene, in a bit of a daze) and went through the 'claim' procedure giving them all the details, I actually thought I was fully comp at the time. They got all unhelpful after I told them I didn't want the hire bike, so I had to arrange recovery of my bike myself, and whilst the calls from their solicitors (Fletchers) have already started I don't think I'm obliged to use them?

The bike's had a proper smack from the back, rear wheel has shattered (!), plus topbox/givi rack and panniers damaged, and me helmet's fooked obviously. Luckily other than bruises and aches I seem to be ok.

What's the best thing to do on Monday morning, use Fletchers for an easy life, or call Rider Support Services or White Dalton who have both been recommended in previous threads? All I want is my bike/stuff replaced really (07 Bandit), it's a simple rear-ending with only 2 vehicles involved, and I have pictures and a witness, plus ambulance and police attended so I have paperwork etc.

TLDR - Can I just call any solicitors after a non-fault knock if insured TPFT?
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BMW R1100R

[ferrisio]

...sorry for replying to my own post, but the other option would be to contact their insurer direct? I got their Insurer and policy details from Askmid so maybe the quickest way to do it would be to contact them directly and not get solicitors involved?
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BMW R1100R

[M.C]

I only had bruises and aches after a crash (nearly) 2 years ago... still having problems now I'd let your body recover first before being sure about not putting in a personal injury claim.

I had to recover my bike myself as well, but you can claim the costs back. You already know my feelings on Flecthers but a non-fault case might be easier.

Being TPFT makes no difference as you're claiming off the other parties insurance, the only thing would be MCE/Fletchers kept telling me my TPFT policy had no legal protection (or something), so if we went to court & I lost I'd be left with the legal bill. Not gonna lie that was stressful.

However in your case if you just want the money for your bike/gear then I believe with the MCE/Fletchers deal you'll get to keep 100% of it. I believe going with someone else they'll take 25% (but it's worth confirming this).

I think people have dealt with insurers directly before, but you're not going to be in a strong position. You could try calling them up & telling them if they settle quickly you won't need a courtesy bike etc., and then if you get any hesitation call up MCE and do it their way

[Rogerborg]

[ferrisio]

Thanks chaps, much appreciated.

[Wonko The Sane]

I got rear ended in a similar situation, my bike was still ridable however (the AA came and checked to confirm it was safe to ride)

He phoned his insurance company although I had the details from him to make a claim if needed.

I phoned my insurance company, told them an incident had happened, that liability had been declared and that I'd be in contact again if I needed them (I'm 3rd party cover)

I then phoned his insurance company later in the day (gave him chance to contact them) they were expecting my call and were brilliant.

Asked if I was ok, any injury before anything else, offered a hire vehicle - I suggested a car might be easier and cheaper to source and was happy to go with whatever kept the costs down and started arranging to have my bike assessed.

What happened next was no call about bike being assessed, I took it to my usual garage to get his opinion as I was expecting a very low offer and went on holiday telling them where they could find the bike.

Came back to find they'd not touched the bike, asked how things were progressing as I need to start sorting things, phoned back a day or two later to be told they were not going to look at the bike, they were taking my garage's assessment and paying a decent amount out,

At this point a shoulder injury had been stopping me lifting my 1yr old daughter and I asked about physio - went to the doctor to get referred, as the doctor had referred me the insurance company could provide (instead of waiting on NHS having a slot)

Once things started settling down compensation was offered and accepted and the claim closed.


It's worth noting I did have a couple of phone calls implying they were my insurers, when pointed out they'd not mentioned my insurance company's name they gave a few others as though part of a group of companies and implied they were the other chap's insurance company.

The fact the details of the incident were incomplete made me suspicious and I phoned the number I had who confirmed it wasn't them but an ambulance chaser - don't talk to them as it could unsettle the claim you've got in place, only if you're offered £2.50 and a mars bar for your bike (e.g., an offer that leaves you unable to replace it) should you look for representation.

all the best.
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[woo]

contact rider support services, when ive had road collisions they done me well.

this very forum recommended rider supports services to me over 10 years ago
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Elen sila lummen omentielvo!

[M.C]

[Commuter_Tim]

[talkToTheHat]

Took me a week to notice i'd hurt my thumb when rear ended. Got the bike roadworthy again, but got caught out in summer gloves in a rainstorm, got home, made a cup of coffe to warm my hands, put my left hand around the mug and suddenly found all the pain. That was a thumb brace for a few weeks and over 3 months before i could play guitar properly.

I went with fletchers the time before that. I had to point out the witness had drawn the give way and stop markings correctly on the road as they couldnt do the spatial awareness to deduce the witness had put south at the top of the paper and drawn himself travelling up and me travelling across, and i had put north at the top and drawn myself traveling across the page in the opposite direction. They were quite quick though and got on with things. I was stupid enough to let quindell (via swinton) deal wjth my thumb and they took nearly a year when there was no liability battle. I dealt with the bike damage direct with the third party's insurance. They ignored me and refused to let me talk to anyone authorised to negotiate for two months, then caved real fast when i asked them whether they were ignoring me becasue i refused the hire bike, and offered the transcript of the conversation where they (yes, hit by someone insured with same company) where they advised taking a hire bike to speed up settlement of my claim, and then said they couldn't do 33bhp hire bikes... muppetry.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[M.C]

[Commuter_Tim]

[ferrisio]

[Commuter_Tim]

[M.C]

I wasn't gonna say this, but if you only claim for your bike & gear you might be disappointed (both tend to be undervalued). Also if the claim goes on & you don't have money for a replacement bike, you'll be out of pocket using public transport.

Rarely do you get what you (think you) deserve, you'll do well in some areas, worse in others and dependent on the whole claim you'll either lose money or not.

[Pie-Roe]

Fletchers were good for me for a small 8k total claim, terrible for a larger one. Only good thing about using them is they have an arrangement (or did) with mce so they do not take 25% cut of personal injury settlement.
If I was you I'd ask for an interim payment for bike and gear, and then wait for healing time for injuries.

I had an awkward situation where a year and a bit later, they asked me to justify why I needed a hire bike, so had to find bank, credit card and payslips from a year before. Was not ideal.
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