Injury Claim
 

Hey all,

just looking for some feedback/advice from some of the more experienced riders out there.

back in October, i was hit by a lass pulling a 3 point turn to avoid a traffic jam. thankfully i got off pretty light, didn't drop the bike but did get tagged on my left foot.

thankfully my boots did their job, and i got away with soft tissue damage.

7 months on and I've been dealing with the little red phone company (lass admitted full fault, bike repaired, boots replaced), going through physio etc I can walk fine on it, its not sore all the time, but it is aching/throbbing for example after a weekend dog walk or working in the garden.

After a medical report, they have decided that my current injury is not related to the accident, and my foot should have healed in 5-6months. Have basically said take this sum of money, or seek further representation.

i wanted to avoid the ambulance chasers and general scum that comes with personal injury claims, hence just dealing direct.

So whats your experiences, what should i do?

Re: Injury Claim
 

Depends on the amount. I assume you have been paid out for the damage/boots already and the negotiation is just about your foot. They will probably try and offer you less if they think you are an easy touch by not having ambulance chaser assistance so it might be worth putting a counter offer back to them. If it is reasonable they might agree.

Re: Injury Claim
 

medical report is wrong. if you were fine before the accident then its the accidents fault that you are still in pain. they are fobbing you off. injury claims are a compensation of difficulties you might experience later in life due to them and the compensation amount should be suitable for that discomfort.

who done the medical report?

Re: Injury Claim
 

OK I'll put this on here just as a reference point, most of it is documented here anyway - Joined the T bone club or something similar.
I was clipped / hit by a car - broke my foot - and have scaring after they had to put a cast over the cut.
Not horrendous but it's there - I couldn't care less.


After a lot of hassle I finally had a pay out - mainly due to the woman changing her mind about who's fault it was. And her insurance not wanting to pay out once they realised she broke my foot.
My insurance dealt with it - they weren't great - which is why I won't use Bennett's again.
They offered more when they found out I actually had the scar - even sending me off for an examination by their doctor.
Due to the break, and scar I was offered 5K. Which I took as I thought it was more than fair.
So did my wife - she spent it on a wood burner and getting the fireplace altered!


Depending on what they offered you if it's fair take it - if it's a **** take don't.
Mine ached for ages afterwards, not a **** me kind of ache but a dull ache.
It's fine now - or I've just got used to it. Good Luck.

Re: Injury Claim
 

Whatever they offer you it won't be worth as much as the lesson you hopefully learnt around traffic awareness. Probably not the answer you wanted to hear, and possibly a little harsh without knowing more about the circumstances, but experience is priceless and a little discomfort every now and then to remind you of it will probably do you a whole lot more good than any temporary financial windfall.

I know I'm coming across as an arrogant, unsympathetic know it all here, and I'm sort of sorry about that, but this compensation culture we have adopted really strikes a nerve with me. Money isn't going to stop your foot hurting, and by the time your old enough to really regret the incident it will be long spent anyhow. Put all the agro behind you, move on in life, and get out there to enjoy your motorcycling.

Re: Injury Claim
 

who exactly has learnt a lesson? the person doing the u-turn without warning, i very much doubt it.

i personally think that compensation claims should come out to pocket of the offender, then maybe people will think twice instead of oohh well the insurance will pay for it.

Re: Injury Claim
 

I think you're being a tad optimistic if you think all car drivers will learn to look before moving..... It's generally far more effective if you yourself learn not to assume they won't look and avoid being in the firing line, or at least not having an alternative option available to you.

I also think it's a bit unrealistic to expect every car driver to have the means to compensate for some of their more serious misdemeanours, although I'm inclined to agree they should be in a bit more jeopardy than they currently seem to be. Invariably they do end up paying in one way or another through increased premiums, which often unfortunately extends to the rest of us, hence my annoyance at this compensation culture.

Re: Injury Claim
 

I am not one to peruse compensation, apart from this accident I have never claimed for anything - ever. To be honest at the time I was more concerned about ever seeing my bike again once I foolishly let them take it away. I never pushed for the injury claim, that was all the insurance company. At the time I let it happen hoping that if I didn't see my bike then I might just be able to afford to get another to be able to continue to commute. It was however the silver lining to a really **** few months.

And yes I learnt that lesson well, I won't ever make that mistake again. Fingers crossed the next one doesn't hurt as much.

I doubt the lying bitch that hit me learnt a thing.

Re: Injury Claim
 

Don't know your circumstances but it still makes me wince when I see traffic stopping or already stopped and motorbikers carry on either down the centre or around the outside of traffic at a barely slackened pace - they are putting a lot of trust in cagers being both sympathetic to bikers and vigilant, and a significant number are neither (some actively try to close the gaps).

As for motorists wriggling out of it, I can remember a time when the biker was almost inevitably seen as being at fault in any accident - I had someone pull out of a side turn onto a main road in front of me when I was 18 and I had nowhere to go, but car drivers insurance did not pay out - after that I assumed every driver either hadn't seen me or worse, was not even looking. I treat every vehicle at a junction as a potential pull-out and if I do filter it is only when traffic is stationary and then at a walking pace.. I also fitted a pair of lovely 10 watt LED spotlights to my handlebars (nice and high up) and these are on as well as headlight during daylight, hopefully they may show up in a cagers mirrors, but may just get lost amongst the multitude of daytime running lights and headlights on other vehicles these days.

In the end only you know how bad the pain is and only you can decide if it is worth going further.

Re: Injury Claim
 

My thinking on this may not be popular, but here goes anyway.



Inescapable fact: If you ride a bike you have an increased risk of injury compared to other forms of transport.


your choice = your risk

Re: Injury Claim
 

From experience;

If you have a pre-existing condition, e.g. an x-ray finds arthritis that you may not have even known was there yet, it will be used to offset any compensation. I didn't know I had a lot of wear in my lower spine till an MRI after the accident. The accident brought on the onset a lot sooner but made little difference to the final payout - tough.

If you decline the offer and decide on a trip to court the judge may find in your favour but decide the offer is fair. You then pick up the costs.

No win, no fee is the law. This stops unscrupulous ambulance chasers. You've got nowt to lose, see a solicitor.

Re: Injury Claim
 

And get one who is used to dealing with motorcycle cases, such as White Dalton

Re: Injury Claim
 

A second endorsement here for White Dalton. Andrew Dalton dealt successfully with my FiL's case. He takes no nonsense and he and most of, if not all, of the staff there are motorcyclists themselves.

Re: Injury Claim
 

Just to add, I tried to switch to White Dalton, but they wouldn't accept my accident once the ball had already been set in motion with someone else.

Re: Injury Claim
 

They wouldn't deal with mine because it happed in Scotland.

Re: Injury Claim
 

Scotland is a different country with (amongst other things) a different legal system.
Lawyers who qualified in England are not able to practise in Scotland without requalifying in Scots Law.
So the company likely couldn't rather than wouldn't deal with yours ;)

Re: Injury Claim
 

I guess the question you should be asking yourself is are you after what you can get, or what you deserve? The two are not necessarily the same thing and ultimately only you will have to live with your decision.

Why is it that people value honesty and integrity in others so highly yet are so willing to sell their own so cheaply...... so yes, you do have something to lose.

Re: Injury Claim
 

Firstly from my own experience after being offed. My first medical examination that concluded that I had "Soft Tissue" injuries and would be fully recovered within 6 months was on behalf of the 3rd parties solicitors. Not happy with the pain that I was suffering I sought a second opinion from a consultant orthopedic surgeon that specialised in shoulders. After his examination he read the original report.


Putting it down. His first comments where who the hell wrote this, then after a couple of minutes on the computer came back with. He is a bloody GP what qualifies him to give opinions/prognosis on trauma injuries. A second report was issued by my consultant and I had to have a follow up by the 3rd parties who this time was a named orthopedic specialist. Who immediately recognised my consultant as an eminent professor of orthopedic surgery specialising in shoulder injuries and he concurred with my chaps findings.


Sufficient was proper medical reporting that after 4 years of arguing I got a reasonable out of court settlement. But 15 years after I would give it all back for it never to have happened in the first place. Even sat here typing that damn shoulder is hurting. So much for the 6 month to fully recover!