Advice for minor encounter

Iain Jones wrote:
I was over on the right to take the right

Quoted message said:

fork. I'm behind a taxi which is going left.

If you are behind the taxi how did he hit you?. Is there 2 lanes going
through and you are in the right lane? Were you overtaking him in the
same lane?

The guy was all apologetic and

Quoted message said:

offered me a lift home, but once in his car he gives me the sob-story
that he'll lose his job, he's got a family crisis, etc so if I don't
mind would I not go to his insurance...

Leaving aside how the accident happened. If he accepts liability then
get your bike checked and get a total cost for any bike repairs and a
cost for replacement of all damaged clothing. If he is happy to pay it
what's the problem? If you are certain you are not injured take the
cash from him. Sometimes though injuries like bruising and sprains are
not felt until the next morning so don't decide anything for 24 hours.
Iain

Quoted message said:

Iain Jones wrote:
I was over on the right to take the right

Quoted message said:

fork. I'm behind a taxi which is going left.

If you are behind the taxi how did he hit you?. Is there 2 lanes going
through and you are in the right lane? Were you overtaking him in the
same lane?

The junction's full of roadworks at the moment, and temporary traffic
lights let one road at a time out. Coming into it from Liver Street (as
we were) you go round a sharp right-hand bend and are met with a fork
in the cones - left for Hanover Street or right into Duke Street, onto
the wrong side of the road, while the traffic coming out of there waits
at the red light. We both wanted Duke Street. Me having known the
layout for a few weeks went over to the right to go into Duke St
(concentrating briefly on avoiding 2 small but deep potholes in my line
of turn). Taxi driver having not been there since the works started,
met the cones, slowed down (coming back alongside me but way over to
the left), realised where he should be going and swerved to the right,
hitting me.

To be fair, the junction's a mess, there's not enough signposting, and
coming round the bend on the normal line you suddenly find yourself
needing to be on the wrong side of the road.

Quoted message said:

The guy was all apologetic and

Quoted message said:

offered me a lift home, but once in his car he gives me the sob-story
that he'll lose his job, he's got a family crisis, etc so if I don't
mind would I not go to his insurance...

Leaving aside how the accident happened. If he accepts liability then
get your bike checked and get a total cost for any bike repairs and a
cost for replacement of all damaged clothing. If he is happy to pay it
what's the problem? If you are certain you are not injured take the
cash from him. Sometimes though injuries like bruising and sprains are
not felt until the next morning so don't decide anything for 24 hours.

I was thinking the same, I'll give it a couple of days, weigh up the
damage and if nothing changes I'll give him a call about the cost of
the gloves.

Thanks,
Iain

Iain Jones wrote on 19/12/2006 20:04 +0100:

Quoted message said:

My question is, what would my chances be on a claim? On the grand scale
of car/bike collisions it wasn't much but there's the cut knee, a hole
in my leggings, and ripped gloves (~£40).

Good. Get the costs sorted out to put you back where you were before
the accident. Your claim in law is against him, not his insurance
company, and if you have to take him to the Small Claims Court it is him
you take to Court, not his insurance company. It is up to him whether
he wants to pay you himself or report it to his insurance company to
cover his out of pocket costs.

Mind you, last time I had that sob story it turned out she was an
uninsured driver but the police may check up on that for you anyway.

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Good. Get the costs sorted out to put you back where you were before the
accident. Your claim in law is against him, not his insurance company,
and if you have to take him to the Small Claims Court it is him you take
to Court, not his insurance company. It is up to him whether he wants to
pay you himself or report it to his insurance company to cover his out of
pocket costs.

If he fails to report it to his insurance company then that would be fraud
on his behalf and would likely invalidate his policy. I would always be
wary of someone who tries to offer me cash "on the quiet".

Iain Jones said:

the taxi, and a couple of passer-by's. The guy was all apologetic and
offered me a lift home, but once in his car he gives me the sob-story
that he'll lose his job, he's got a family crisis, etc so if I don't
mind would I not go to his insurance...

He's legally obliged to tell his insurance company that he's had an
accident.

Chris
--
Chris Eilbeck

"Adrian Boliston" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Good. Get the costs sorted out to put you back where you were before the
accident. Your claim in law is against him, not his insurance company,
and if you have to take him to the Small Claims Court it is him you take
to Court, not his insurance company. It is up to him whether he wants to
pay you himself or report it to his insurance company to cover his out of
pocket costs.

If he fails to report it to his insurance company then that would be fraud
on his behalf and would likely invalidate his policy. I would always be
wary of someone who tries to offer me cash "on the quiet".

Cash "on the quiet" can work to one's advantage. I extracted more cash from
a driver that I'd have probably got from his insurance company. He was very
young and driving a very expensive sports car on his mother's insurance
policy and decided it would be less stressful to mollify me with loads of
money than to fess up to his mother. Mind you having a police station 300m
away from the incident and me threatening to go there to resolve the matter
hastened the settlement :-)

Chris Eilbeck said:

Iain Jones said:

the taxi, and a couple of passer-by's. The guy was all apologetic and
offered me a lift home, but once in his car he gives me the sob-story
that he'll lose his job, he's got a family crisis, etc so if I don't
mind would I not go to his insurance...

He's legally obliged to tell his insurance company that he's had an
accident.

He might have a contractual obligation to tell his insurers, but the
law doesn't care about that. The legal requirment is to report to the
police.

Thanks for all the advice, as I say there was a police car behind me
when it happened so they did all they need to do in terms of reporting
it and checking he had insurance (he does). Not feeling any worse for
wear this morning so I'll go and have a chat with my boss about it (an
ex-sergeant - conveniently I work in police HQ about 100 yards from
where it happened!)

Adrian Boliston wrote on 19/12/2006 23:14 +0100:

Quoted message said:

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Good. Get the costs sorted out to put you back where you were before the
accident. Your claim in law is against him, not his insurance company,
and if you have to take him to the Small Claims Court it is him you take
to Court, not his insurance company. It is up to him whether he wants to
pay you himself or report it to his insurance company to cover his out of
pocket costs.

If he fails to report it to his insurance company then that would be fraud
on his behalf and would likely invalidate his policy. I would always be
wary of someone who tries to offer me cash "on the quiet".

But that's his problem, not yours. If he fails to pay and the insurance
company won't back him up because he has invalidated his policy, then
you take him to the small claims Court and they send the baliffs in if
he doesn't pay up. None of that is your problem other than the hassle
of going to Court, but his insurance company will probably take you to
the Court steps otherwise anyway.

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

vernon said:

Cash "on the quiet" can work to one's advantage. I extracted more
cash from a driver that I'd have probably got from his insurance
company.

I took £50 off a taxi driver once when he reversed (very slowly and
without looking in his mirror at all) into me, while I was leaning on my
horn to warn him that I was there. I got a broken indicator lens and a
cracked headlight.

He wasn't happy, and I offered to let the insurance deal with it, but at
Vauxhall garage prices (and with a hefty excess on his insurance) I think we
both came out on top at £50. I got the bits from the scrapyard for a tenner
and fitted them myself. He saved about £100 at garage prices.

Tom
--
Return address is dead. Real address is at
http://www.happy-penguin.info/address.jpg

"Iain Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My question is, what would my chances be on a claim? On the grand scale
of car/bike collisions it wasn't much but there's the cut knee, a hole
in my leggings, and ripped gloves (~£40).

Being as the police saw it, I'd say pretty good. The way I'd do it is to
send him a letter detailing your damages (ie, gloves, truing wheel, new
tights etc.), and asking him for payment. If he doesn't seem to want to
stump up, make a claim against his insurance. Most sane people would rather
give you £100 than risk their NCB over a claim of this size. I've certainly
done it before when I've caught someone's bumper in a car park (and yes, I
informed my insurance company).

Iain Jones said:

My question is, what would my chances be on a claim? On the grand
scale of car/bike collisions it wasn't much but there's the cut knee,
a hole in my leggings, and ripped gloves (~£40).

As it was clearly an accident, the driver was apologetic and there was
no hint of malice involved, you should have no axe to grind. The
accident was witnessed and recorded by police officers, so legally
everything should be sewn up.

As you're OK, the next most important thing is that all your costs are
covered. That is the cost of any repairs your bike needs, and any bits
of equipment or clothing that need to be replaced - and any costs that
you have incurred while your bike is/was out of action.

If the driver is prepared to pay those costs out of his pocket, rather
than go through his insurance company, that's his choice and I'd
accept his money. I know plenty of people who have calculated that
losing their NCB (plus the excess) would have cost them considerably
more than simply paying for the repairs needed after a minor
collision.

--
Stevie D
\\\\\ ///// Bringing dating agencies to the
\\\\\\\__X__/////// common hedgehog since 2001 - "HedgeHugs"
___\\\\\\\'/ \'///////_____________________________________________

Stevie D <[email hidden]> whizzed past me shouting

Quoted message said:

If the driver is prepared to pay those costs out of his pocket, rather
than go through his insurance company, that's his choice and I'd
accept his money. I know plenty of people who have calculated that
losing their NCB (plus the excess) would have cost them considerably
more than simply paying for the repairs needed after a minor
collision.

But did they remember to report the accident to their insurance company
? The policy says they've to do that regardless of whether they make a
claim.
Of course the other party's morals are no concern of the OP's.

--
Sue ]🙁🙂