First crash!

[Haggisman]

So, had my first crash on Friday.

Was stationary, waiting for a gap in oncoming traffic so I could turn right, a gap appears, so I check my mirror/blind spot, about to move, and an idiot in a BMW shoots past me, a few seconds (and a couple of choice words!) and I check my mirror again, all clear so I start to turn. About half way through the turn, there's a loud bang, and the back of the car starts moving rather more sideways than expected, the next bit is a bit of a blur, but next thing I remember I'm out of the car, on the phone to ambulance, because there's bits of bike strewn across the junction, and a biker on the floor. Basically it looks like he's gone to overtake me despite the fact I'm stationary opposite a junction indicating (possibly thinking "BMW got away with it, I can do the same").

Car is a W reg focus, ~140k on the clock, rear panel is dented badly, little triangle window above the parcel shelf is smashed, passenger door on driver's side is dented and skewed (interfering with driver's door slightly) and it looked like the door sill was buckled as well - I'm guessing it's going to be written off.

Thankfully I wasn't hurt at all, and the biker was released from hospital later that night with just cuts and bruises.

Couple of questions - Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I'm at fault on this one? The police officer who attended said the same, but what are the chances of the insurance company contesting it?

Secondly, assuming it is written off, how much am I looking at getting for it (I paid £1800 for it at the end of Feb)

Lastly, how long should I expect to wait for the payout?

My insurer is Bell if that's relevant to any of the questions

 

[Haggisman]

Can anyone confirm this is the case? As I've heard stories of insurers completely disregarding the police report (even where it's resulted in one of the drivers being prosecuted for dangerous driving)

 

[Haggisman]

yup, I can knock up a quick re-enactment in paint if you give me a sec =P

 

[Haggisman]

Red box is where I was waiting for traffic to clear (must have been sat for ~10-15 seconds), orange box is roughly where I must have been when the bike hit, green line is roughly the path the BMW and bike would have been taking.

When was the last time you checked your rear indicator bulb? Is it still intact? Seems odd that two people would make the same uber dangerous maneuver.

Edit: I had it parked up with the hazards on last week when I was moving some boxes, and both rear bulbs were fine, it also has the double speed dash light/click sound if there is a bulb out, which it wasn't doing.

Even so, being stationary opposite a junction, it's pretty obvious what I'm doing surely?

My guess is the BMW figured he would chance it, and the guy on the bike was just on autopilot following and it didn't register. =/

 

[Haggisman]

If the BMW had time and space to overtake why were you still waiting to turn?

The image doesn't show it clearly, but it's 2 lanes of oncoming traffic, the inside lane was clear, but there was still a car in my way in the outside lane - as I was preparing to turn after the car had gone, I see him coming up behind me at 30-40 (road being a 30 limit), straddling the line. Unlike some drivers, I tend to try and avoid crashing into things wherever possible, so I decided not to drive into his way.

 

[Haggisman]

hmm I just re-read what you have written, originally I thought the biker was overtaking you from behind, are you saying the biker was coming towards you? if so you couldn't really hope for a straighter road for visibility, not sure how you will fare if that is the case

The biker was coming up behind me (as was the beemer).

OP said the passenger door has a dent in it, or am I having a senior moment?

Rear passenger door on driver's side =P (In case you missed the other 3 replies )

unless the road has been rebuilt it is not two lanes of traffic, oncoming or otherwise

for clarity a while back I installed a load of fibre cabling behind admiral rentals so I know the road reasonably well

It's not marked as 2 lanes, however this image from streetview shows that there is plenty of space for 2 lanes of traffic - which at the time there was - preparing for the junction slightly further up (where it is marked as 2 lanes)

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en...=Nt2LQpMYjgawpUmedYU3lA&cbp=12,324.07,,0,15.2

That makes sense... well other than inside and outside arguably being the otherway round?

Hehe, possibly - there was a car in the "lane" nearest the pavement - as I said, the road isn't marked as such, but there is more than enough space for 3 cars parallel and the BMW obviously took this opportunity - possibly gambling on the fact I wasn't going to move due to the car in the far lane?

 

[Haggisman]

Caught the BMW red handed!

Haha, I didn't even notice that =P

Would be nice if it was but the numpty was blue.

 

[Haggisman]

Indicator not working - no way two people would go past otherwise, not at that location.

It's not marked as 2 lanes, however this image from streetview shows that there is plenty of space for 2 lanes of traffic - which at the time there was - preparing for the junction slightly further up (where it is marked as 2 lanes)

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en...=Nt2LQpMYjgawpUmedYU3lA&cbp=12,324.07,,0,15.2

If you want, I can go and take a picture of the 2 lanes of traffic later tonight (if my insurance can actually be bothered to get a hire car out to me after chasing them for 4 days)

 

[Haggisman]

You say the road is wide enough for three lanes?

Correct.

It's still quite clearly a two lane road.

Also correct.

So I'm confused.

I've either totally missed the point or... erm... something else :S.

Can anyone explain please?

The road is marked as 2 lanes.

however

Oncoming traffic was using it as 3 lanes in preparation for the junction ahead. You can clearly see from the picture you've posted that it's a very wide road, easily enough space for 3 cars side by side (possibly even 4).

Also your picture is inaccurate, my focus is (was) silver and 5 door

 

[Haggisman]

So let's say the lane closest to the industrial estate is lane 1 and your in lane 3, the far away lane on the opposite side of the road. The lane in the middle that other road users are using is lane 2.

Your in Lane 1... waiting to pass lanes 2 and 3 to get into the estate. Lane 2 was clear, however 3 was not... therefor you couldn't go, however lane 2 was clear and this allow the BMW to be able to overtake as he had a clear path???

I think I've got it!

So... the biker tried the same, however you started to move off and he hit the side of you??

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload/253907/images/thinkbike.jpg[IMG]

P.S. As mentioned then. Regardless of you not noticing him in the right mirror or blind spot. He was indeed in the wrong of course and I'm pretty sure the insurance will see this also. Just show them my amazing photoshop mock up and they will totally understand.[/QUOTE]

Basically this.

I'm generally very aware of bikes on the road, as I've been riding a pushbike on the road to work/college/etc since I was about 15 and I know how invisible we can be to cars (same obviously applies for motorbikes). Obviously in this case that didn't help :(

I've already forwarded your picture to my insurance co. in order to strengthen my case :p

In slightly more alarming news, I finally got my hire car today, only to be told that I can't have a like for like car, because the hire company are "struggling to find his insurance details". So this a) has me stuck in an i10 (which is making moving house somewhat challenging :mad:) and b) now has me concerned he's not insured :mad:

 

[Haggisman]

call helphire

I thought they were generally frowned upon on here? Going to call Bell again tonight, and see what they can do; if they're going to be dragging their heels unfortunately I wont have much choice =/

 

[Haggisman]

I feel bad for you having the i10 as a hire car.

In fairness I have just being driving a VW fox for the last week

Hehe, thanks for the sympathy! It wouldn't be quite so bad if it was something like a Fiesta, but I need to do a big shop and pick up some bits n pieces from Ikea, and I took a look at the boot of the i10, and I could probably fit in a few sheets of A4 if I'm lucky (Ok, slight exaggeration, but not that far off )

 

[Haggisman]

Just an update, called Bell when I got back from work earlier to moan about the car (i couldnt even fit a weekly shop in the boot!). Turns out the bike is insured but he wasn't insured to ride it, so until they establish whether he's covered by a doc policy i'm stuck with the hyundai... The guy on the phone wasn't particularly forthcoming with any info about how this would affect me, so any insight on here? Sorely tempted to give helphire a ring in the morning now

 

[Haggisman]

Where were you sitting whilst waiting to turn? That roads huge. If you had moved to the right hand side people could have got by you easily on the left while you waited for a gap.

If you were sitting to the left and indicating they may have thought you had stopped for some reason and were indicating to pull out and head straight (from stationary).

Thought I better add. Not saying it's your fault, just that from the streetview picture thats the only reason I can think for two vehicles overtaking you and why I question how far to the right you were.

I was probably about 0.5-1ft away from the centre line, cant remember exactly, but i'd definitely pulled towards the centre in preparation to turn.

In my mum's 52 reg (first ones of the new shape at the time) had an indicator bulb go and it made the indicators tick really fast when in use.
It was incredibly obvious when a bulb had gone.

Surely a Focus of the same ere would have been the same?

Yup, exactly the same (think I posted this before?)

Helphire it is!

 

[Haggisman]

Insurance have just called me re: an offer for my car.

£900 for the car.
Less my excess of £150.
Less the £600?! I still owe on the policy as they need to cancel it.
So a total of £150.

Couple of questions:

My original policy was ~£600 in total, and expires in March, I've had to change my address with them in order to actually get things sorted in the new house - this has resulted in a £300 increase in the cost of my premium. Now surely it's not right that they can take this extra £300 into account when the accident occurred before the change of address?

Secondly - why are they taking this £600 off anyway? If they're cancelling the policy, why do I have to pay the remaining months?

Thirdly, give me some tips on arguing the value of the car, I'm sitting with several ebay windows open with cars of the same age and spec with similar mileage, and tbh they range from £1300 - £2500, so what should I expect to get it up to?

 

[Haggisman]

Hmm, what spec are we talking here? I'm struggling to find any for sale below £1200, and I've checked ebay, gumtree and autotrader.

It's a W reg 1.8TDDi Ghia with ~135k on the clock, and I know the diesels are commanding a premium just now because of the fuel prices.

I'm starting to see why so many people make fraudulent compo claims, when they end up in a position where the insurance payout isn't enough to replace the car, and their premiums go up by a stupid amount too.

 

[Haggisman]

Oh dear does nobody read or even understand what they're signing and paying for??!

I understand that paying in installments is basically a finance agreement - what I don't understand is why they can cancel it and still charge me the full amount when I've basically done nothing wrong. In effect they're charging me for a service they aren't providing. It's also a bit ****-backwards in that the whole reason I'm paying in installments is because I don't have a massive lump sum to pay it off in one go, so where the hell do these cowboys get the idea that I can afford to pay out for a new car (oh yeah, sorry it's going to be £150 cheaper ) along with a whole new insurance policy.

I've also been told that if I want my H/U/amps/speakers etc out of the car, I need to pay for an engineer to go and uninstall them. At the moment I'm sat here fuming

 

[Haggisman]

If you pay up front you don't get a pro rata refund in the event of a total loss either, so its nothing to do with the instalments really.

The policy is now completed - you purchase a policy which runs either for a year or until the insurance company pays out in full on the vehicle as a total loss. Thats how it works.

They've upheld the terms of the policy which has now come to an end.

Except it's not supposed to be my insurance company who are paying out. I told them on the phone explicitly last night that I didn't want to claim against my own policy, and then the guy decides to tell me that they haven't even contacted the 3rd party insurer yet

I did try to call Helphire last night, but apparently they'd evacuated the building

 

[Haggisman]

Wouldn't surprise me =P

 

[Haggisman]

This just gets better and better. Just spoken to Bell again. Apparently it's likely that I will be found at fault (purely because he was on a bike), and they've written to the third party offering to take on their claim.

Helphire have said they can't help me because I've already gotten a car from my insurance.

I now have the 3rd party's insurance co and policy number, which Bell begrudgingly gave me.

Where do I stand now? (other than on the bikers doorstep with a large bat )