Knocked off by reversing car

[Familymad]

Tandem ride with wife and a car pulled out 3 bike lengths from us right at the last minute. Was stationary and then sped into the middle of the road. Hit it at 15-20mph.

Lights on, daylight, helmets but I'm left with posterior dislocation and 4 months off work due to the job I do.

Bike headstock snapped and forks snapped too. It's a write off. Wife came off but not destroyed like me as she was on the back.

Anyone chased for loss of earnings and a new bike before and care to share how please?

[cliffords]

Would you be best to talk to your insurance company. Surely they will pursue it for you . They will claim on the car drivers insurance on your behalf.

[Familymad]

I don’t have a bicycle insurance company. Only ever seen theft insurance for them?

[essayer]

Sorry to hear that, Injury accident, so car driver must report to police. You should as well.

If you have the driver’s details, ask them for their insurance and start a claim with them.
If you don’t, ask the police if they will provide the registration, and askmid will give you insurance details for £10
If the police won’t give you their details (GDPR, etc) your only option is to involve a solicitor

Any witnesses, CCTV?

Edited by essayer on Friday 11th October 08:14

[fooman]

You need legal representation more than insurance, join British Cycling you can use their legal advice retrospectively it's through Leigh Day or approach them directly or any other no win no fee lawyer who specialises in cycling claims. They will put you back in the financial position you were before being knocked off your bike.

[smifffymoto]

Bummer, if your interested I am selling a Thorn tandem,s&s,Rohloff,Hope 4 piston rear brake,Andra CSS rims etc.

[boyse7en]

essayer said:

Sorry to hear that, Injury accident, so car driver must report to police. You should as well.

If you have the driver’s details, ask them for their insurance and start a claim with them.
If you don’t, ask the police if they will provide the registration, and askmid will give you insurance details for £10
If the police won’t give you their details (GDPR, etc) your only option is to involve a solicitor

Any witnesses, CCTV?

Edited by essayer on Friday 11th October 08:14

If you don't have driver's details from the scene, then you are stuffed.
The Police will not give you the driver's details, even if they know them. They say that it breaks GDPR rules. Even if you appoint a solicitor, the police will/may not give them the information.

Friend of mine had a very similar incident to the OP - car pulled out in front of her, she went over the car . Bike wrecked, she was taken to hospital in ambulance. Driver was elderly lady, who voluntarily gave up her licence after the incident, so the police/CPS decided it wasn't in the public interest to prosecute. Police would not give registration details/name of the driver or any info whatsoever to my friend (who still can't ride a bike nearly six months later due to the injuries) and even when she appointed a solicitor they still refused to disclose the info.

[SydneyBridge]

Do you have any legal expenses cover on any other insurance? They will instruct a solicitor
You can trace the defendant's insurers if you have the reg number
Any witnesses/police attendance?

[Simes205]

Report it to the MIB.
You’ll do the leg work but they supported me for hit and run claim, me left with a smashed bike and broken collar bone.

[Familymad]

We have driver name and house as it happened from her own drive. Have the reg of the car and police took a statement from her. Hopefully enough bar some independent witness.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Familymad said:

I don’t have a bicycle insurance company. Only ever seen theft insurance for them?

Does your house insurance have legal expense cover? I think some do.

[Mazinbrum]

SydneyBridge said:

Do you have any legal expenses cover on any other insurance? They will instruct a solicitor
You can trace the defendant's insurers if you have the reg number
Any witnesses/police attendance?

House insurance often has some sort of legal assistance.

[RLE]

Know a few people who have used CAMS with good results. Might be worth a call……

https://c-ams.co.uk/had-an-accident/

[Familymad]

Thanks, will do

[milesgiles]

Good luck

[irc]

boyse7en said:

If you don't have driver's details from the scene, then you are stuffed.
The Police will not give you the driver's details, even if they know them. They say that it breaks GDPR rules. Even if you appoint a solicitor, the police will/may not give them the information.

Friend of mine had a very similar incident to the OP - car pulled out in front of her, she went over the car . Bike wrecked, she was taken to hospital in ambulance. Driver was elderly lady, who voluntarily gave up her licence after the incident, so the police/CPS decided it wasn't in the public interest to prosecute. Police would not give registration details/name of the driver or any info whatsoever to my friend (who still can't ride a bike nearly six months later due to the injuries) and even when she appointed a solicitor they still refused to disclose the info.

They may not give details directly but they should give details to a lawyer. Here, for example, is the online form lawyers can use to request driver details following a crash in Scotland.

https://www.scotland.police.uk/access-to-informati...

[JQ]

Familymad said:

I don’t have a bicycle insurance company. Only ever seen theft insurance for them?

That's because the cost of insuring for 3rd party damage is less than the cost of administering the policy. In the greater scheme of things bicycles cause very little damage to 3rd parties. Motor vehicles are required to have 3rd party insurance as they cause £9,900,000,000 of damage per year and kill and seriously injure 85 people per day. Unfortunately some simpletons think because motor vehicles cause huge damage and are rightly required to have mandatory insurance, bicycles should be held to the same level of account.

As per above, join British Cycling and make use of their solicitors, you need proper legal advice. There is another thread on here of a chap who had his neck broken by a car and is in the process of making a claim, I'll see if I can find it.

Good luck and I hope you make a speedy recovery.

[Tony1963]

And still people argue the toss about whether it’s ok to reverse into the road.
I live in a quiet Suffolk village, and the majority of drivers reverse into the roads. One day the inevitable will happen, and I’ll struggle to keep my gob shut.