View Full Version : First accident!
gfewster
28-11-09, 02:13 PM
Don't know if it had anything to do with making my first post recently! If it's a ratio of one post one spill, then I'd better stop posting!
Situation: Friday, 1630 - Going north up Holloway Road in the left lane, a car from the southbound side pulled out into my path - it was attempting to turn right into Liverpool Road.
Crash: I swerved to avoid her (nice young lady in a Polo) and spilled it - lowsider on the left hand side. Probably went down at around 20mph and slid 15 yards or so. She apologised and basically admitted liability.
Damage to bike: Left fairing wrecked, footpeg and gearshift wrecked, sidestand bent, front indicator wrecked, handlebar scraped and possibly bent - pending detailed inspection.
Damage to kit: Jacket ripped left shoulder and forearm, trousers ripped left knee and instep, left boot crunched on toe and ripped on instep, left glove scraped on knuckles.
Damage to me: broken left big toe. Minor bruising left shoulder and hip.
So my first crash, and I think I got away with it a bit. I am in awe of my protective kit. Without the boots it would have been shattered toes and horribly gouged instep, and without the clothing it would have plenty of horrid road rash. I think the bike basically came down and crushed my left foot, but I can't really remember it - all I remember is swerving, sliding and then jumping up quickly afterwards.
Keen to get back on though. Hire bike should arrive Mon/Tues, bit disappointed it couldn't be arranged today as I'd been heading north to see friends and was hoping I could arrive less than a day late. Bike has gone back 'home' to MotoDen for an estimate and repairs.
The chaps at MotoDen recommended a company called McAMS to manage the claim - the MotoDen staff couldn't speak highly enough of them. I've made some preliminary enquiries. Anybody have any opinions or experience? Because it was her fault, I'm keen to keep my insurers out of it - although of course I've told them about the accident.
GWS
Cant comment on the McAMS though sorry
Mighty Boosh
28-11-09, 03:09 PM
These are a good company for your claim http://www.whitedalton.co.uk/.
Out of interest what make and age were the boots you were wearing?
GWS.
gfewster
28-11-09, 03:15 PM
GWS?
Boots are by Targa, and are about 3 months old.
Graham
Get Well Soon = GWS :thumright:
gfewster
28-11-09, 03:45 PM
Thanks!
SuzukiNess
28-11-09, 04:02 PM
awwh shucks! GWS! a cop biker told me about "sorrymate" apparently they specialise in non fault motorbike claims.. if ya google it you'll probably find it..
good luck and hope the toe aint too sore.. i got a broken baby toe at the moment (didnt think a broken toe could hurt so bad! )
jimmy-james
28-11-09, 04:47 PM
Its a buggger but at least you are mostly ok, get well soon!
gfewster
28-11-09, 06:14 PM
Oh the toe is nothing, it's the bike I was really ****ed off about. Just so damn annoying. Ruined the weekend I had planned.
I was actually heading north out of London to see a friend for the weekend in Rutland, and when it happened at 1630 (only 5 mins away from MotoDen) I thought "ok, get insurance details swapped, get MotoDen on the phone, they come and get the bike with a van, jump on a courtesy bike, I'll only lose an hour or so, Tom can ask them to keep my curry warm..."
But the woman asked if I was ok, I said my toe hurt a bit, she insisted on calling an ambulance, they insisted I go for an x-ray, yadda yadda yadda.... Three hours later I limp out of Whittington Hospital still in my kit, and feeling very ****ed off I get on the tube to go and crash with my uncle in South Kensington.
Sod's law, I only insured that bike TPFT because it only cost £2.5k and I had so little riding experience. Didn't think the comp premium was worth it.
The guys think we're looking at about a grand to fully repair - so not too horrendous.
sunshine
28-11-09, 06:50 PM
gws
was the engine running on the floor? if so claim yourself a new engine, running with no oil can cause the engine to seize so claim engine damage anyway.(even if you don't put a new engine im sure the garage wont mind splitting the winnings from that with you)
as far as claiming, go through insurances you wont lose any no claims bonus and they lose theres, (yes i hate cage drivers) if they cant see you they shouldn't still have there no claims.
Glad to hear you are ok ....
Goes to show .... wear the right gear all the time ....
Friend of mine came off last week ..... just wearing suit trousers as only going 2 mins down the road ..... got knocked off by a van - he's ok, but he'd have saved himself a lot of pain but putting his riding trousers on !!!
Owenski
28-11-09, 07:34 PM
glad its nowt too serious for you. very fixable stuff :) GWS
Broken big toe is damn painful and worth a few shekels.
Hope you heal up soon mate:D
Good job you're in one piece mate and the boots did there job!
And that the girl admitted liability is a plus! Hope you're back on the road soon!
gfewster
29-11-09, 09:57 AM
Well she didn't actually say "it was my fault" but she did say "I'm so, so sorry" almost constantly.
I'm aware that once the dust has settled and they've talked it over with family, friends and insurers, people can start to change their story and deny liability. We'lll have to see what happens.
But what I do have is agreement from the paramedic that she'll make a witness statement that she heard the girl apologising profusely to me. That must help I think.
Also I recall afterwards moving the bike out of the road, a bus was behind me waiting for the road to clear. I guess the lawyers can look at the bus routes, ask some questions and track down the driver who must have seen it happen.
And the engine was running on the floor - I had to go over and hit the kill switch.
Just go through your insurance mate, if it's not your fault your NCB will be unaffected. Not going through your insurance may encourage the other party to wonder why you're not. Maybe he isn't insured? Maybe he thinks it's his fault and doesn't want to get his insurers invlolved...maybe it is his fault! I might chance my arm with this bloke...
From experience, even the most appologetic people on the day can still be complete tw*ts when it comes to parting with hard cash. Let someone else handle it for you, that's what insurance is for.
That said I've always been fully comp, but I believe even with third party the insurers will still handle this for you. Worth a phone call at least.
Nearly forgot, GWS!
andreis
29-11-09, 10:13 AM
I'm sorry to hear what happened to you.. GWS! I guess the broken toe is a real pain.. Shifting with one can really bring some pain into riding. Hope we'll hear soon about how you fixed the bike and didn't pay a dime and how the toe is all much better
Sounds like you'll be fine mate ...... (re. liability)
Definately an insurance job ....
get insurance involved!!!, my first and only accident in 26 yrs of riding was in may this year'......the car driver did one from the scene, even tho i have 5 witness statements all giving the same description of the driver and said cars reg number hes still denying been involved....finally affter 7 months of hell, they are prosectuing at crown court ......and as of yet i havnt had a penny for my wrote off bike/gear and knee surgery:mad:...BUT I WILL SEE HIM PAY!!!
tanis34
29-11-09, 12:56 PM
Just go through your insurance mate, if it's not your fault your NCB will be unaffected. Not going through your insurance may encourage the other party to wonder why you're not. Maybe he isn't insured? Maybe he thinks it's his fault and doesn't want to get his insurers invlolved...maybe it is his fault! I might chance my arm with this bloke...
From experience, even the most appologetic people on the day can still be complete tw*ts when it comes to parting with hard cash. Let someone else handle it for you, that's what insurance is for.
That said I've always been fully comp, but I believe even with third party the insurers will still handle this for you. Worth a phone call at least.
Nearly forgot, GWS!
+ 1
when i had my first car crash the other driver admitted his fault on the day then changed his story:smt075
The chaps at MotoDen recommended a company called McAMS to manage the claim - the MotoDen staff couldn't speak highly enough of them. I've made some preliminary enquiries. Anybody have any opinions or experience? Because it was her fault, I'm keen to keep my insurers out of it - although of course I've told them about the accident.
Probably becasue firstly, Motoden earn a lucrative referral fee for referring you, and dont have to give you as good a service as a "proper paying customer", they will arrange repairs with GWS who will organise a engineers inspection to a pet "bent engineer" at a high engineers fee rate, at a higher labour rate than the insurers would agree to pay, don't have to offer you a courtesey bike, knowing you will now get a hire bike at £80 per day thats not their cost, or deal with the repairs particularly promptly, as if its a total loss they'll charge £18 per day storage to the fault parties insurers where you or I would tell them to take a running jump!
Your repairs will therefore be least twice, probably three times the cost that if you'd spilled it at fault, and you wonder why insurance goes up every year. These vultures do have a place, if an insurer wont do anything, but why, given your claiming on the other persons insurance, didnt you for heavens sake just ring them, rather than putting the cash in these leeches pockets!
gfewster
29-11-09, 01:50 PM
I understand that point about claims companies, I'm sceptical myself.
I got a text message from her insurers, saying we've been told about all this and please contact us as we may be able to help. I called them and they told me she's denying responsibility and they don't consider that there is a case to answer. Much as I suspected
I gave her my insurance details, she has no reason to suspect I'm not insured.
I have other concerns though. Firstly, given that I am only TPFT I don't think my insurers really have an incentive to fight hard - because if they back down then they won't have to pay the claim themselves.
Secondly, when I informed my insurers about the accident and told them my intention to claim against her, they basically put me onto another company of the same ilk as McAMS and told me they'd be handling it for me. They were called BDL, and basically offer the same service - getting you a hire bike, liaising with repairers and doing the fighting with the other party's insurers, with their fees added to the eventual claim value.
So it appears I have a choice of two companies to do the same thing. Both obviously pay some sort of referral fee from the case - BDL would pay Bennetts and McAMS would pay MotoDen.
I asked McAMS how they get paid if they lose the case, and they said they win 95% of the time because they don't take it on unless it's rock solid. I challenged them on the other 5% and they said they take out an insurance policy against that eventuality.
I've not committed to doing anything with either company. But from McAMS I have one bloke to deal with and I have his mobile number. From BDL I have a call-centre number and no named contact. I know the guys at MotoDen well, and they said they've used them personally in the past - and I like to think I can spot an act.
I just got a much better vibe from McAMS than BDL, and I don't think my insurers (Bennetts) are really interested - they just took basic details and then palmed me off to BDL.
sunshine
29-11-09, 02:47 PM
oh no your with bennetts good luck with there insurance claims department.
McAMS seem like your best bet, they charge so much to the opposite side, the 5% of cases they lose they make back on the fees they charge the 95%.
someone pulling in front of you to get in a junction is a solid case, im going to hope you had the police at the scene, dangerious driving or driving without due care and attention is in order i believe. Good luck with the case i hope it goes well.
mkz9876
29-11-09, 08:09 PM
The chaps at MotoDen recommended a company called McAMS to manage the claim - the MotoDen staff couldn't speak highly enough of them. I've made some preliminary enquiries. Anybody have any opinions or experience? Because it was her fault, I'm keen to keep my insurers out of it - although of course I've told them about the accident.
a guy i know works for them, supposed to be pretty good, the guys at motoden will do their best to get you to go to them though, as they get a good amount for referral, the plus side of this is that is that they will work their nuts off for you so they get their money back
gfewster
30-11-09, 07:19 PM
Update.
I decided to follow up initially with both companies, McAMS who I was pushed towards by MotoDen and BLD who were designated by my insurers.
McAMS seemed less interested in the incident and more interested in me signing papers giving them exclusive rights to the case. Their terms also included unpleasant statements such as "whilst you may attempt to recover our fees from the other side, you are ultimately responsible for payment" and "if at any point we believe that you do not have a realistic prospect of winning your case then we may terminate this agreement and you will be liable for our costs incurred up to that point". In fact, their bloke brought papers round to my house this morning. I asked him to clarify a few acronyms in the contract, and he couldn't. Also it said "this contract must be read in conjunction with the Law Society Guidance Document XYZ12345" and he couldn't give me a copy of that to read. I told him I couldn't sign the papers because of this.
I called BLD back and they were really just interested in what happened out on the road. I gave them all the details, and once they'd gone and checked that the other party really existed and was definitely insured by who she said she was, they rang me back and told me they'd be bringing me a 650 Bandit between 3pm and 5pm tomorrow. I'm much happier with this because I'm not being asked to sign a CFA (which I now know is a Conditional Fee Agreement).
MotoDen's estimate for repairs is £1,700. 4 hours labour, the rest parts and materials. But then that is to remove every scratch, nick and dent from the bike - a number of which pre-date the accident.
It just goes to show you should follow up multiple avenues and not make quick decisions about how you're going to handle something like this - because the initial vibes I got on Saturday were much, much better from McAMS than they were from BLD.
My parents-in-law also made a good point last night while we were discussing it. The lady concerned could be in trouble for leaving the scene of an accident, since the police turned up (called by the paramedics) and she left before they arrived.
As I expected though, her insurers are denying liability on the basis that there was no actual collision between us.
Sorry to hear about this, I know that turning well.
I'd definitely get the insurance involved... the facts are the directions you were travelling, and the attempted turn she made, causing you to take evasive action.
Hope you're not too sore!
Sounds like you have everything in hand, glad to hear things seem to be going in the right direction. :cool:
gfewster
01-12-09, 03:29 PM
650 Bandit S just delivered, and been out for a half hour blat to make sure I've not lost my confidence.
Don't like it much compared to the SV. Although the engine is silky smooth, the bottom-end and mid-range is gutless (as you'd expect from an I4 compared to a V2) and I don't like the upright riding position.
They bought me a rental helmet too. It looked like the cheapest pile of junk imaginable, so it was like "no thanks I'll stick to my own, even though I can't be 100% sure it didn't hit the road during the crash" (there are no marks on it!).
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