rpwoodman

Hi,

I got rear-ended last year (no huge damage - £1400 damage to the bike, fractured coccyx + minor sore bits). 3rd party admitted liability, went on a police course, and things seemed to be progressing well.
I don't remember anything between feeling the bike (I was stopped at a roundabout) was falling and trying to extricate myself from under the front skirting of the bike. The whole next hour is a bit blank, I don't remember taking off my helmet (so I don't know what I did with it - dropped it, put it down carefully etc), I remember sitting in a witness' car, phoning my wife and starting to cry (!!!), but that's about it.

Carole Nash provided me with legal cover, and when the spoke to me, I said that tho there wasn't any visible damage to my helmet, I'd claim for a new one (£250 rrp - I got the replacement for less) as I didn't know whether I'd hit it and damaged it. I was told that this would be fine. I liked the helmet I had, and the colour scheme, but a new model had come out, so I had to try a few places before I could find one exactly the same as my old one. I bought this, and sent the receipt to the solicitor.
I've just got a letter from the sol saying that the other insurers want photos of the damage to the old helmet. I'll send them photos, but there is no visible damage, so there is an implication that they will refuse to pay.

My current thought is that I could say "well, if you guarantee that my old helmet is fine, I'll carry on wearing it and woe betide you if I get knocked off again and it is found that the helmet was actually damaged previously", but I'm not sure the legal implications.

The sol I'm talking to is petulant at best, but I'll certainly speak to her if I need to.

Any thoughts?

Many thanks