RTA advice

Maximum Triceratops

Maximum Triceratops

Maximum Triceratops

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Hi fellas,

A little input would be appreciated.

Was stationary at a junction trying to turn right onto a dual carriagway, a p***head on a pushbike holding a can of fosters went through a redlight and and tried to slam his brakes on but hit my drivers door causing a few decent dents and scratches, he admitted fault straight away and I managed to get a video of him admitting that his brakes didnt work and that he went through the red light, he also admittted it was his fault and he would pay for the damages. He claimed that he thought his shoulder was broken, gave me his details and said get in touch when you have a quote, I am under no illusions that he will actually pay as he seemed like your usual unemployed p***head, no problem with these people but they tend to be skint so how he will pay is anyones guess lol, I have written it off as a costly incident but I am concerned that I will be contacted in the future with some sort of compensation claim.

What I have done so far

Got his details
Reported it to the Police
And as mentioned I had the foresight to switch my phone on recored and get him to admit what I mentioned above.
Not sure what to do about contacting my insurance company yet - any input regarding this would be most appreciated.

i am also pretty sure there will be CCTV covering this junction.

FWIW he did seem genuinelly sorry and even text me a while back to apologise.

Thanks in advance.
 
I don’t think admitting fault at the scene is relevant as they might be on adrenaline or not have all the facts, even if you did get it on video.
 
MooMoo444 said:
I don’t think admitting fault at the scene is relevant as they might be on adrenaline or not have all the facts, even if you did get it on video.
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You are correct, however the text message after, apologising will be helpful.

@Maximum Triceratops let your insurance company know asap whilst everything is still fresh in your mind, even if you yourself aren't claiming. Get all evidence into them as soon as you can as this means that they can respond to the cyclists solicitors straight away if a claim is received.

Remember that for an injury claim they can submit it up to 3 years AFTER the initial incident so if they decide in 30 months time, oh yeah I'll forgot to do that you may not remember all the details and it won't look favourable for you if you didn't report it sooner.

Also be prepared that you may have to go to court to defend it as well.
 
In theory, his house insurance (if he had any) might cover him for damage to your car.
I’d suggest you quote first for the repairs and ask for it in cash. If that fails, escalate to your insurance.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
In theory, his house insurance (if he had any) might cover him for damage to your car.
I’d suggest you quote first for the repairs and ask for it in cash. If that fails, escalate to your insurance.
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Terrible advice, he has already suggested he may have a broken shoulder....I can't tell you from experience that cyclists who "admit at the scene" go on to try and make a claim because everyone convinces them them that big bad car driver is obviously in the wrong for having the audacity for being on the road.

If/when that happens his insurance company will then question why MT didn't report it straight away and will mean more of a struggle to prove he wasn't at fault.

Can also cause headaches if the claim is made by the cyclist after MT renews his policy (cyclist has up to 3 years in which to make the claim) and could result in additional premiums at best or the policy being void from inception at worst if the accident would have meant the insurer wouldn't have renewed.

This would then result in MT having to declare that he has had a policy voided due to misrepresentation making it very difficult to get insurance in the future.

This is a simple little bumper in the road, the minute a vulnerable road user is involved or any potential for injury is involved get your insurance co involved as soon as possible, that what you pay them for after all.
 
SilverTongue said:
Terrible advice, he has already suggested he may have a broken shoulder....I can't tell you from experience that cyclists who "admit at the scene" go on to try and make a claim because everyone convinces them them that big bad car driver is obviously in the wrong for having the audacity for being on the road.

If/when that happens his insurance company will then question why MT didn't report it straight away and will mean more of a struggle to prove he wasn't at fault.

Can also cause headaches if the claim is made by the cyclist after MT renews his policy (cyclist has up to 3 years in which to make the claim) and could result in additional premiums at best or the policy being void from inception at worst if the accident would have meant the insurer wouldn't have renewed.

This would then result in MT having to declare that he has had a policy voided due to misrepresentation making it very difficult to get insurance in the future.

This is a simple little bumper in the road, the minute a vulnerable road user is involved or any potential for injury is involved get your insurance co involved as soon as possible, that what you pay them for after all.
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Indeed, thinking back now I was weighing up the scenarios on how to deal with this but came to the conclusion to get it reported as sson as possible, going to request cctv from my council in the coming days too just in case,hopefully they will have it recorded.Thanks for the input.
 
Maximum Triceratops said:
Indeed, thinking back now I was weighing up the scenarios on how to deal with this but came to the conclusion to get it reported as sson as possible, going to request cctv from my council in the coming days too just in case,hopefully they will have it recorded.Thanks for the input.
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They may not provide it directly to you, if not make sure you take the details on how to apply for it so you can pass to your insurance company. May sound silly and should go without saying, but you'd be surprised how many don't give us the details on how to apply :rolleyes: and council websites are usually less use than a chocolate teapot when you need to get information.
 
Maximum Triceratops said:
Indeed, thinking back now I was weighing up the scenarios on how to deal with this but came to the conclusion to get it reported as sson as possible, going to request cctv from my council in the coming days too just in case,hopefully they will have it recorded.Thanks for the input.
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Do you have a dashcam fitted?
If so and if you haven't already get any footage off it from now, preferably from say when you pulled to a stop (or a bit earlier) until after the cyclist hit you, it may not show him hitting you but should back up your side of what happened in regards to when you stopped, where you stopped, why, and how long after that he hit you.
 
SilverTongue said:
@Maximum Triceratops any updates on this one? intrigued to see if cyclist did try to make a claim in the end
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Nothing as of yet mate thakfully, I sen tthe video footage of him admitting fault so I do not know if he tried it on or not and they used the evidence against his claim, keeping my fingers crossed but looks like im in the clear.
 
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