Neeja

Last night one of my housemates (Not Pepin!) was knocked off his bike while filtering. Today his insurance has said that they're not going to pay out as it's apparently his fault.

Basically what's happened is that he's been filtering past slow-moving traffic. There's a collegiate along the road, and people are always trying to get out into the traffic stream. While coming up to this junction, the traffic was still moving, so nothing could get out. As he was coming up to the junction, the car just in front of him stopped to let another car out, flashing her. She's not checked anything beyond this and has pulled out (probably looking left so she could see if anything was coming down the other side of the road). He's passed the car that's stopped during this time, and she basically pulled out straight into the side of him. He attempted to brake and avoid as soon as he saw her, but she did nothing.

He thought he was going to have a solid case for it - the damage to her car is on the front centre of her bumper (not a corner as would be the case if he'd moved out while she was already in the road) and the side of his bike, and at the scene he got a witness to give contact information. The insurance company has spoken to the witness today, and they're now saying that the witness has confirmed that it's his fault. Apparently this is because the car that he was filtering past stopped to allow the other car out.

Now I'm about 99% sure here that the insurance company is having him on by saying that it's his fault - yes, it's a filtering incident which is always a little tricky, but she pulled out into the side of him. They're now apparently stonewalling him. What can he do?