Traffic collision

[Steve]

Whilst commuting from work I was hit by a car. The long and short of it is that I was travelling along a major, straight road and the other party pulled out from a minor road intending to cross in front of me. There was damage to both vehicles.

I have contacted my insurance party but am not sure how to proceed with the claim. With my insurance being third pary, fire and theft only, do I leave my insurance company to settle the matter for me? Or pursue with a solicitor?

 I have not been contacted by any other parties besides my own insurer, and frankly I am unsure how to proceed.

Any advice would be appreciated, as this is my first road incident on the bike and so I have no experience with these matters.

[red98]

Hi steve.sorry to hear of your accident.iam in the same boat...you'll have to do the leg work yourself, phone the other parties insurance company and make a claim yourself , hopefully they have contacted them and given all the details, its easier than it sounds.....do you have any witnesses ?..pictures of the crash scene ?.....will make things easier if you have,sounds straight forward to me, ive done all mine via email, taken about 3 weeks and the bikes going in for repair this thursday....good luck with you claim and I hope you've not suffered any injuries.....

[AndyL]

I had this, added confusion as both parties were with Hastings. the other driver claimed she was stationary and that I overtook a car and hit her (I was filtering and had stopped when she misjudged a corner and clipped me). I only had a bent disc on a 125 and misplaced the old one so gave up on trying to get costs back (only £25 on ebay anyway).


For the record my claim went 70/30 car/me after a bit of back and forth.

[Punkstig]

You're insurance cover is there to pay out to the 3rd party if the accident is your fault, clearly this isn't the case so you'll be claiming through the other persons insurance, and this is down to you to chase up, this only becomes difficult if the other party denies responsibility!
Call up their insurance and find out what's happening, always accept a loan vehicle as they will give an interim payment for the value of your bike asap to reduce their final cost!
if they are unhelpful feel free to ring the guys I've used several times in the past - Lampkin and Co, ‪0808 178 2110‬
If you do go down this route give me a shout as they do a refer a friend thing where we'd both get vouchers of some description!

[7omly]

I 'm sorry to hear about your misfortune. I don't know if you have this option but I am in the GMB trade union and we have free legal cover where they would do all this for you. Good luck with your claim.

[youngsterbiker]

I had this back in Febuary. Just keep chasing the other parties insurance. If anything like mine your insurance will do nothing for you.
 As long as the other driver accepts liability you should be sorted in a couple weeks maybe a month.

[Paulfzs]

Hi steve.sorry to hear of your accident.iam in the same boat...you'll have to do the leg work yourself, phone the other parties insurance company and make a claim yourself .

What?


Phone your insurance company give them the other partys info such as insurance company and registration and they will do all the work.


be prepared for a sv650 or cbf600 or similar hire bike ( i advise you to take it IF they cover the costs that will make them pull their finger out)

[Steve]

Hi all, cheers for all the advice, though it looks like your responses have been as varied and mixed as that of my insurance company. When I initially contacted my insurance company they said they appreciate that this is my first road incident and that they would be there to support me; for all intended purposes acting as a mediator between myself and the third party. However, having called them today they're making no such gestures. They have taken no action, nor have they contacted the other party, recommending that I sort it out personally.

Evidently, if you are third party, fire and theft only, even if the other party has accepted liability it is still for you to sort everything out. This has brought crushing clarity to my misconceptions regarding insurance parties in general- that being they have the clients' best interests at heart, and unfortunately it does seem that if they are not legally obligated to facilitate a claim or client as entailed in the contract, simply put it is not in their interest to do so!

I'll contact the third parties' insurance as soon as they open tomorrow and hope for a simple and speedy solution.

The whole thing does leave me wondering- have I been naive? Or just unrealistic in my expectations? In comparison, how do your own experiences and expectations of similar events compare? I'd be very interested to hear about them.

[AndyL]

Pretty much the same as you. Hastings frequently pointed out I had to deal with their insurance company until I pointed out that was also Hastings. Mine was a bent disk on a 125 which I replaced with a second hand one and gave up chasing (70% of £25 didn't seem worth the time). I just pointed out how unhappy I when it came time to renew and they gave me a good price.

[Millietant]

Strangely, I do understand the insurers stance here.

When you get TPFT insurance you are accepting that all you are insured for is a 3rd party claim against you, if your bike catches fire, or if it's stolen.

The insurer makes it clear that they are not including them acting on your behalf in the price you pay for your insurance.

If it was you, and someone had decided NOT to pay you for chasing up their 3rd party claims, would you do it for them for free - I doubt it.

As much as I hate the robbing, theiving, barsteward insurance companies, because I spend a lot of time dealing with contractual disputes, I can clearly understand their position. Sorry guys, but if you want them to chase things up for you, go for Fully Comp insurance (it's cheaper than hiring someone to chase up your claim).

I'm now for the flailing I'm going to get on here for posting this !!!