Biking court cases: Grace vs Tanner

[Kylie]

They were in the wrong lane, yes, so they are at fault. You said yourself that you shouldn't of been there either, so you were in the wrong too. How much, is for the court to decide.

Thanks for going back and reading that stuff, it was a bit of an essay!
I don't agree that "I shouldn't have been there" in any way implies negligence on my part. What I meant by "shouldn't have been there" was that when I saw the car doing a stupid manouevre I should have backed right off and let him go his muppet way. Instead I assumed that he'd missed his turn but would stay in his lane, so I stayed in mine. That was a bad assumption, but not a negligent one. I'd assumed that he'd stick to the rules of the road, where I should have assumed even more stupidity on his part.

http://www.sorrymate.com/

Try these.

if you were in the right lane for your exit and he wasnt dont take 50 50!

It seems to be 100% the other muppets fault, so although more contesting is hassle, I hate injustices and would fight it all the way. Maybe when you win we can all cite your case when it happens to us!

On an aside, maybe Ed can tell me (*limited legal understanding warning*) because we have case law, what happens if you get one dodgy decision in a case, and now that sets a crap precedent. Shouldn't each case be judged on its own merits?

Nope i would fight that also...

[Kylie]

Just had a long chat with a friendly solicitor at White Dalton. They can't help me on a no win no fee basis as my losses are less than £5K (no injuries and bike written off for £3K). They could take the work on a chargeable basis but he seemed to think that it would not be worth it, its only really my NCB that is at stake here.

He did give me some good advice though, Appeals cases are binding but only based on the material facts, so its up to me to convince both insurers that my incident was not the same as that case. So I'll have to write to my insurers explaining how my case is different, and asking them to keep fighting this one.

Originally Posted by Kylie

Just had a long chat with a friendly solicitor at White Dalton. They can't help me on a no win no fee basis as my losses are less than £5K (no injuries and bike written off for £3K). They could take the work on a chargeable basis but he seemed to think that it would not be worth it, its only really my NCB that is at stake here.

He did give me some good advice though, Appeals cases are binding but only based on the material facts, so its up to me to convince both insurers that my incident was not the same as that case. So I'll have to write to my insurers explaining how my case is different, and asking them to keep fighting this one.

go for it !

good luck!

Originally Posted by Toypop

Christ I nearly had an accident like that last year. A car was in the left lane and I was in the middle (going straight over the 3 lane roundabout) and about to accelerate onto the dual carriageway when the car continued around the roundabout and nearly took my front wheel out from under me.

How the **** can that be a 50/50??!?!?!?!

I mean I just cannot see how I could have been in any way responsible or done anything to avoid it?

I am not blaming you in anyway, I have been in similar near misses, but I have learnt it is best never to over or under take on a roundabout or on the exit, that way it doesn't really matter what the muppets do you will be OK. I tend to use the left and middle lanes only, rarely the right, and use the power of the bike to ensure I am never "next" to a muppet.

Always assume they are going to do something stupid, they probably will!

It's in the interest of both insurance companies to get a 50/50 decision. If there is any conceivable way to get that result then they will.

I have also been stuffed by insurance companies agreeing a 50/50 decision.

I wont bother going into details but at the end of the day, when you are going down a road and get hit by a car exiting a garage from the right, how that can end in a 50/50 decision is beyond me. Both insurance companies agreed without consulting me at all. By the time I found out about it 6 months had passed and they told me the case was closed.

[Kylie]

By the time I found out about it 6 months had passed and they told me the case was closed

Sorry to hear that, I'm not surprised, the stuff they have done to me is nearly as bad. They didn't tell me when they wrote the bike off, luckily the lady at the rescue yard called me to say that she'd been told to send my bike to a salvage yard and was that ok... Then on the legal side after hearing nothing for 7 months I get a letter (sent to my old adress, even though the insurers have charged me £200 for my recent change in address) saying that if I don't respond in 14 days they will assume I agree to 50/50. A bit better than what they did to you, but still, WTF?

The bit I like in their letter says that 50/50 means I will have to "pay 50% of the car driver's losses, if he has any". Like, after 7 months, shouldn't they f!?!?ing know if he has any losses?

I'd blame all this on ebike and their cheap rates, but I'm not sure other insurers would be any better.