What to do in the case of an accident (discussion)

Thanks! Yeah a bit scary as there was nothing I could do - but just grateful I'm not hurt (even if it now seems like I'd have been better off if I had any kind of injury, however mild!)

Bikes can be replaced. Spines not so much. From experience there's a certain psychological element when going from JRA to "shit, I can't move my legs". Sucks your bike is fucked, but you're "lucky" the impact only damaged some metal.

Their insurers should pay up. You could contact them direct with the details. For me, the bike and kit costs were paid very soon afterwards. The rest of it took 3+ years of rehab, arguing, chasing, etc. to finally sort out.

Yup ^this. Stuff is just stuff at the end of the day, however lovely a bike it was. Glad you’re ok

Oh yeah completely - I was being pretty flippant when I said I might be better off if hurt, I know I am really lucky!

I'll get it sorted and I'm also pretty lucky in that I'm not screwed even if I didn't manage to get the bike replaced, I can ride a different bike.

Benefit of n+1, innit :)

I swear half of my bikes are non-functional at any given time.

Where's the list of things to do in case of accident gone?

A driver pulled out on me from a side road and I went into the side of his car. Luckily only cuts and bruises. In process of reporting to police.

Out of interest how would you describe it? I don't want to say "accident" because it wasn't an accident, someone was at fault. Being "knocked off" doesn't feel accurate either considering the scenario.

This is the discussion thread, the details you are after are here:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/131099/

Bad luck on your crash. Are you a member of any cycling organisation (British Cycling, London Cycling Campaign, Cycling UK)?

Out of interest how would you describe it?

A collision. Driver didn't give way to oncoming traffic at the junction causing a collision between you and them.

Crash, collision (as Howard says), incident.

Good luck pursuing it all. Hope you get a good outcome.

Thanks all, it was a bad one, very lucky not to have much worse physical injuries.

I'm a member of London Cycling Campaign.

Have just reported it to Avon and Somerset Police who apparently have "an extensive delay in responding to submissions"

I'd call LCC tomorrow and get their legal support in place. That will help you enormously.

^ Yes, that's what it's for. They should get you compensation, as well as hopefully the satisfaction that it's been dealt with well.

I have found A&S to be good at responding to road incidents.

Disappointing result. Contacted LLC's firm Osborne's Law and said I was a member of LLC. They called me and took the basic details and then emailed me back to say that it's "likely that the compensation for the injuries you sustained will fall below £1000. Claims for injuries below £1000 are known as ‘small claims’ for which you are unable to claim your legal costs. If you went ahead, your legal costs will diminish the value of any compensation you recover considerably so it is unlikely to be worthwhile engaging a solicitor."

Also, I texted the driver and asked for his insurance details but he said he wants to contact his insurer himself first. I have the bike booked into the local bike shop for a crash inspection on Wednesday next week. I've also got some damage to my clothing and will need a new helmet.

I was knocked off by a driver who entered onto a roundabout that I was already on, and put me over his bonnet. Clearly his fault (witness statements corroborate this), but as I went to take his details he left the scene, leaving me and my broken bike in the middle of the road. I have a picture of the car and another of him sitting behind the wheel looking at me through the passenger window. Very lucky to have come off with cuts and grazes and nothing worse. The police were called but did not attend the scene ("as I did not require medical assistance"), but have subsequently confirmed that they are investigating with the intention of prosecuting as there is a supporting witness statement. The main issue is that I don't have a name/address of the driver, so they have issued a s.172 (?) notice to the registered owner of the car to confirm if they were driving, and if not to provide the details of who was. In this scenario they issue another s.172 to that person, and so and and so forth. Each individual has 28 days to return the form, and the situation can be extrapolated if the car was leased as the original notice goes to the leasing company first. Speaking to the individual at the Met who wrote to me, they have suggested that if they can identify a driver the ultimate outcome will be either a driving awareness course or points on licence and a fine.

My bike has been assessed by my LBS who have provided a written report detailing a quote of £1k to repair/replace the components, including labour to strip the frame for inspection/repair by carbon repair company. Carbon Repair UK have quoted another c.£1k to do a full inspection and repair of the visible damage to downtube and chainstay. My inclination is that these costs exceed the market value of the bike, which was purchased for c.£3.5k in 2018. The bike is a named item on my home insurance but am reluctant to seek to claim given the impact on future premiums. My bike clothes/helmet were also damaged in the crash so would be seeking compensation for these.

I am a BC member and have appointed Leigh Day to act on my behalf. They have advised submitting a personal injury claim to the Motor Insurance Bureau under their untraced driver scheme (which unfortunately doesn't accept property damage claim), which can be cancelled if a driver/insurance company is identified.

Would appreciate thoughts from the hive mind in general, and in particular on:

• points/fine for causing an RTA and fleeing the scene seems low-ball. Bloody cyclists etc, but is this in line with expectations for this type of thing?
  
• sounds like the personal injury claim to MIB is a sensible course of action, but does this prejudice future potential claims against the driver if they can be identified? The person at Leigh Day didn't know the answer to this so would go away to check
  
• has anyone had success in pursuing a property damage claim against the MIB?
  
• Is there anything else I'm missing doing at this stage which might be advisable?
  

You have picture of the driver and the car (inc registration) and that's not enough to ID the driver? Or you don't have registration? Did the witnesses get rego?

I have a picture of the driver's face, and a picture of the car showing the registration. The issue is that the car has multiple drivers registered to it, and/or the driver may not have been registered to the vehicle. Insurance is for the driver, rather than the vehicle per se.

My hope is that the police can identify the driver through their process. They've said the photos I took at the scene are non-evidential so couldn't be used in prosecution, but may help them in locating the driver.

Doesn't the registered owner need to provide a "this is actually who was driving the car" statement otherwise they're considered the driver? Otherwise, I'd just run people over and claim I wasn't driving.

You can reverse lookup whether the car is insured via the MIBs (motor insurers bureau) database. It will cost you £10 and if the database has a policy listed for the plate, they will provide details of the insuruer, policy number etc. You can then contact the insurance company listed and open a claim.

Looking for recomendations on LBS in Clapton or Seven Sisters to do a crash damage assesment that doesn't cost more than £50

Based on what you've written the likely charge would be careless driving.

The fail to respond to the request for driver's details (sometimes called failure to nominate) is also a criminal offence.

Only you can decide if those penalties are high/low/about right for the incident you found yourself in. I would be very clear if the Met Police do proceed that you want to seek compensation via the court in the event the individual is found / pleads guilty.

Thanks that's helpful info. If the driver is identified then I'd either look to claim against their insurance, or if not insured then switch the MIB claim to the "uninsured driver" which I think then covers property damage.

Would a compensation claim through the court acknowledge the potential PI/property claim already in motion, and be in addition to this? In my simplistic view there seem to be an overlap of potential coverage for the ultimate damage (my own insurance, driver's potential insurance, MIB, court compensation) and I'm not clear on the hierarchy of where the liability falls first

Think you're misunderstanding. You can open a claim with the driver's insurance company directly without knowing their name or contact. You just need their policy number and the name of the insurance broker which you can get through the MIB lookup tool. Then just contact the insurance and open up a claim, provide incident details, evidence, witnesses etc and the insurance company will do their job (investigate and find fault).

I was at the raw end of a hit and run recently. Got the plates, ran the check and ended up ringing up the insurance company listed. Unfortunately the policy listed for the car was from a recent previous owner who could provide proof of sale, so it didnt go anywhere – but they were helpful / dilligent.

Ok that all makes sense, but I think the reason Leigh Day have been stumped so far is that the vehicle has multiple policies on it, and so far the driver is untraced. The work the Met are doing may turn up the driver, which would then determine the policy if they are insured.

I've done as you suggested and paid for the MIB search either way, so I can validate what I've been told so far by both the police and solicitors.

That shouldn't be a problem, and insurance company investigations are usually totally seperate from the police. They will be in some contact but it's limited. If you have photos of the driver and can prove it's the scene / time of incident, the insurance company will verify the ID as a matter of process. The onus is on the policy holder to cooperate with the investigation I believe. If non-compliant they'll likely send out investigators.