Car reversed into parked bike

chasm

A car reversed into, and knocked over my bike a couple of weeks ago. I contacted my insurance broker to enquire how to proceed with claiming for the damage on the other driver's insurance and they took all the details and contacted the other driver's insurance company, who is the same as mine.
Didn't hear anything for 2 weeks, so contacted my broker again who said they would phone the company and get an update, then phoned to say they were waiting on a call back.

After hearing nothing back, I then phoned my broker again, who said they still had not heard back from the other company and asked if I would like the reference number and phone number to see if I could get any response myself. I took these details and phoned the other driver's insurance company who told me they would ring me straight back with an update. That was almost 2 hours ago, so while I wait on a call that probably won't come, has anyone here had experience of this kind of accident and did it take long to sort out? I just want my bike fixed but noone (company or broker) is giving me any info on whether I can go ahead myself and get it assessed by a garage or get it repaired etc

Del2005

Of course you can get it looked at by a garage to get a quote and it can be any garage you want. Just don't let them do any work until the insurance assessor has checked it out or you have been authorised by the other insurance company.

An option if you have fully comp insurance is to get your insurance company to fix it and chase up the other insurance company. This will go down as a claim on your policy but will be for nothing when/if the other company pays out.

chasm

Del2005 wrote: »

Of course you can get it looked at by a garage to get a quote and it can be any garage you want. Just don't let them do any work until the insurance assessor has checked it out or you have been authorised by the other insurance company.

An option if you have fully comp insurance is to get your insurance company to fix it and chase up the other insurance company. This will go down as a claim on your policy but will be for nothing when/if the other company pays out.

Thanks Del2005. We both have the same insurance company. I have FC insurance, but I'd prefer not to claim on my policy tbh. I'd wonder if the delay is to encourage me to claim off my own policy?

bladespin

Call them again and make noises about getting your solicitor to look after it on your behalf.

chasm

bladespin wrote: »

Call them again and make noises about getting your solicitor to look after it on your behalf.

After listening to all the messages and pressing various keys for the different options it now goes to a vodafone voicemail !!

goblin59

I would send them an email to say if you do not hear back within 5 working days, you will be forced to contact the Insurance regulators and seek legal advice for how to proceed.
Central Bank seem to be the regulators


https://www.centralbank.ie/regulation/industry-market-sectors/insurance-reinsurance

punisher5112

Is the damage bad?

Did the other driver want to settle outside?

Could be an option if not very expensive and then they won't lose no claims etc.....

You need to either claim on your own policy and they take it from other side or you pursue the other side. You need to be firm and want it sorted asap. Is the bike usable?

zubair

Yep, still waiting over a year to get a car door repaired where our neighbor reversed into our car when it was parked, that was September last year.

chasm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Is the damage bad?

Did the other driver want to settle outside?

Could be an option if not very expensive and then they won't lose no claims etc.....

You need to either claim on your own policy and they take it from other side or you pursue the other side. You need to be firm and want it sorted asap. Is the bike usable?

There is cosmetic damage to various parts of the bike that hit the ground, indicator, handlebar, exhaust etc. I drove it the short distance home(less than 1km) but i would still like it to be given the once over to check it over as well as get the damaged parts replaced, the bike is only a few years old.

The other driver didn't say anything about settling outside, i think she was as shocked as i was tbh.

Have been in contact with my broker, who in turn has been back in contact with the insurance company. The claim has been allocated a claims handler but it seems noone else can deal with it, and that claims handler had gone home by that stage! I should be receiving a call tomorrow, so we shall see. . .

chasm

zubair wrote: »

Yep, still waiting over a year to get a car door repaired where our neighbor reversed into our car when it was parked, that was September last year.

That is crazy!

IrishGrimReaper

Your first port of call would be to make a complaint directly to the insurer that will likely be enough to get it sorted. If for whatever reason it is not then you can approach the financial services and pensions ombudsman and escalate the complaint.

I'd ring your broker beforehand to ask what date they originally notified the claim to the insurer and what dates they chased them. Advise the insurer of these dates when making your complaint.

It shouldn't take weeks to respond.

horse7

Maybe I am missing something but should,not you just claim on the offending persons insurance policy, even though it's the same as yours. The claim is against their policy, no need to make a claim on your policy.

chasm

horse7 wrote: »

Maybe I am missing something but should,not you just claim on the offending persons insurance policy, even though it's the same as yours. The claim is against their policy, no need to make a claim on your policy.

Yes, that is what i am trying to do.

horse7

Why go to the broker, you should just claim / deal with the insurance company.

chasm

horse7 wrote: »

Why go to the broker, you should just claim / deal with the insurance company.

I initially contacted my insurance broker to enquire how to proceed with claiming for the damage on the other driver's insurance and they took all the details and contacted the other driver's insurance company on my behalf. When i phoned them today they were surprised that noone had been in contact from the insurance company to discuss it with me. My broker then gave me the reference number they were given for my claim and the phone number for the other drivers insurance company. My broker is a large, well known company, yet even they didn't get the call back they were promised, so it wasn't just me.

mgbgt1978

You are wasting your time contacting your Broker again. They have no Dog in this Fight, so they will do their best to stay out.
You can pester the Insurers claims handler for a couple of days and see what sort of time-wasting rubbish they come back with.
Get a quote from a Dealer to repair the damage 1st, without that you don't even know what you are claiming for.
If you then feel the Insurer is dragging it out just get a Solicitor involved.
BTW what Bike/year is it ?

horse7

Ps, I presume you reported the incident to the Gardai.

bladespin

horse7 wrote: »

Ps, I presume you reported the incident to the Gardai.

Very much this!

punisher5112

horse7 wrote: »

Ps, I presume you reported the incident to the Gardai.

They couldn't care less.
Parked vehicle, no injuries.

horse7

If it's not reported and logged it is is possible for the insurance to claim it never happened. Nothing to do with injury

punisher5112

horse7 wrote: »

If it's not reported and logged it is is possible for the insurance to claim it never happened. Nothing to do with injury

They still don't care....

Del2005

punisher5112 wrote: »

They still don't care....

They may not care but its a legal requirement to report all RTCs regardless of their being injures or not. The Gardai shouldn't turn up for no injury RTCs but the affected parties should report it ASAP

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/motor_accidents.html

listermint

punisher5112 wrote: »

They still don't care....

It will be logged in the station book, Its not about caring or not caring.

mgbgt1978

Most Insurers will ask for the Garda Pulse Number (or whatever they call it nowadays).

littlevillage

You don't NEED to call the Gardai if its a minor accident. They wouldn't have come out anyway.

You can always just give them the details now.... for recording purposes.


Get a quote for to fix the damage.

If its more than say €500.....
Go straight to the other parties insurance company and Lodge a claim for that cost. If they are delaying (most of these companies are on skeleton staff due to Covid) just have a chat to a solicitor

It will cost about €200 to have a chat with a solicitor and have them to send a letter to her insurance company.

You are best off in this situation going no where near your insurance company , you contact her insurance company and say you were hit by a driver who is insured with them and let them sort it out.

You then contact your insurance company and just give them a head up as to what is happening, if you claim off your insurance company afaik even if they retrieve the cost from hers your NCB is gone.

In this case you are both with the same insurance company but I would still just ring and say you were hit by someone who insures them and you want to claim off their policy.

I don't know why you are ringing any broker, they just broker the deal they have nothing to do with claims..

I was hit last year, bike and myself badly damaged and I did the above. My insurance company weren't involved at all, I dealt directly with her insurance company.

bladespin

punisher5112 wrote: »

They still don't care....

They do - the insurance company that is, without the record it didn't happen.

Note, the cost of involving a solicitor (if need be) should be covered by her insurance.

big syke

Dont bother with your broker contact their insurance company ASAP.

Take the bike to a garage and get a scan of it and a quote for damage I know bike world have a proper scanner.

The same happened me except I was on the Nike when reversed into.

Looked cosmetic but was 4k worth of damage in the end so my advice is go direct with insurance dont try settle worh driver.

cursai

Why would the gardai be involved in a civil matter? I can never understand this.

My child pissed in my flowerbed. Call the gards

bladespin

cursai wrote: »

Why would the gardai be involved in a civil matter? I can never understand this.

My child pissed in my flowerbed. Call the gards

Nothing to do with that, when you report an accident any accident to the gardai they make an official and legal record of the event, that's all you need/want them to do, without that there's no proof it actually happened.

The gardai serve many purposes in mour community, why people only see then as a punitive force is beyond me.

Del2005

cursai wrote: »

Why would the gardai be involved in a civil matter? I can never understand this.

My child pissed in my flowerbed. Call the gards

Because its the law that all RTCs have to be reported to them.

Someone could call the Gardai if a person is exposing themselves in public, so even though its your flower bed if it's visible your child can't get pee in it.

cursai

cursai wrote: »

Why would the gardai be involved in a civil matter? I can never understand this.

My child pissed in my flowerbed. Call the gards

For accidents involving vehicles they can be involved on suspicion the driver was intoxicated

In my crash they came to my hospital bed and accused me of leaving the scene of an accident and breathalysed me. The doctor was quick enough to tell them to **** off , as if I was going to wait 2 hours for them when I'm broken up. The lads I dealt with were clowns

Hotblack Desiato

punisher5112 wrote: »

Is the damage bad?

Did the other driver want to settle outside?

Could be an option if not very expensive and then they won't lose no claims etc.....

A lot of people don't realise that what looks like a minor tip over of a bike can easily cause >€1000 of damage.

Melted

Had a clown rear end my bike while it was parked launching it forward with a brake disc lock in place. he done a runner but luckily a fellow biker witnessed it and took a picture. With out him I would be in trouble as I use the bike for commuting. So yea id agree to repair something like that can cost minimum 1k.

I also had someone reverse into me in a cark park while I was sitting on it in a car space. luckily I was not knocked over and she only broke my indicator and scraped my front fairings. the driver was sound and gave me her details. got it sorted in a day without insurance.

If your policy has free legal get on that...

bladespin

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

A lot of people don't realise that what looks like a minor tip over of a bike can easily cause >€1000 of damage.

Most 'average' car drivers assume bikes are cheap, tell one that a fairing could cost upwards of a thousand euro and they're shocked, yet they seem to understand that a car bumper can cost that much???

D3V!L

A car drove into the back of me at a round about 10 years ago. She "thought I was going to move". She genuinely thought it would be an easy cheap couple quid to repair. It cost 6k to fix the bike (2009 ZZR1400) and another 18k for my back injury.

GBX

Had a colleague knock my VFR800 over years ago at a very low speed. Bike was parked up. Few marks on the fairings, bar ends, replacement mirror - all replaced. Added up fairly lively. Went through M50 Honda. The insurance assessor argued with me about it being very expensive. Prick. Told him I didnt care. Not my f**king problem if its expensive. Got it sorted eventually.

Alfasudcrazy

I don't know why you simply did not hand the matter over to your solicitor at the outset. That's what I always did if any of my cars were damaged.

I recall I did have a case like that when I was a Garda and simply asked the motorbike owner to get an estimate for the cost of the repairs which I would then pass onto the car owner (who had similarly reversed into the bike knocking it over) which I did. €600 as I recall. The car owner was not pleased at the cost but I was just an intermediary in that case. Perhaps another call to a more friendly Garda you might know might do the trick similar to my case.

A few months later I was investigating a fatal accident that took the life of the same motorcyclist on that same bike - really sad case that was.

Ever since that (former) case I always double think where I will park my bikes with the possibility of a car reversing into it and knocking it over being paramount in my mind.

Melted

Alfasudcrazy wrote: »

Ever since that (former) case I always double think where I will park my bikes with the possibility of a car reversing into it and knocking it over being paramount in my mind.

I try to do this when I can but theres no wininng sometimes when you try to park in a non allocated car spot.

Incedently when my bike was knocked over the van in question drived onto the bus stop, a cycle track and hatch markings to knock it over it was in a safe space away from people and cars and it still go knocked. I often wondered was he pissed and was that the reason for the runner

Alfasudcrazy

But if the case is a hit & run the Gardai are obliged to investigate as that immediately creates a few road traffic infringements by the fleeing driver?

How long ago did this happen?

Melted

oh yea but i think it was a case of them chatting to the driver, I dont think they do anything unless you want to press charges. which is odd tbh you would thinkdeliberatly fleeing like that after causing damadge should incur some penalty? points on the license at least?