TRX vs car

[drix]

Hi all

As per the title, I have now entered the "biker hits car" club and am in the lucky group of those who have escaped the worse!

Happened on Saturday 01/10, early afternoon, great weather, 29 British degrees Celsius, was doing circ 20mph in a 30mph zone (thank god I can be a slow coach), straight line/road and little traffic in an urban environment. Car coming in the opposite direction, signalling to turn right and did so just in front of me without stopping or looking who was coming in the opposite direction.

The obvious follows... got on the brakes and locked the front wheel. No time to fall and slide on the ground and arrived straight on in her car's front left wing. Me and the missus got sent forward, bike fell on the right side, so did I and the missus (although she rolled 2meters further on the tarmac than i did).

Thanks to god, she is fine and i escaped with only a dislocated/fractured left elbow that might need some little surgery. Couple of bruises and muscle pain but no big deal. Despite the great weather, we had proper bike gear on which did its job perfectly! Notes to self are: 1) never ever without my bike gear and 2) always watch your speed.

It's been a very scary moment and relive the accident regularly, asking myself what could I have done differently but I think I had no alternatives. I also have the regular feelings of guiltiness/responsibility for the health and safety of my precious pillion, angriness and p***** off at the whole situation but hey, this is life and luckily, it goes on for me.

Appologies for the essai but just thought I would vent it out here to people who understand how it is.

Now for the UK folks:

I was surprised how well the bike survived the crash, it's in one piece and not missing a single bit of glass or plastic (cant say the same of the Peugeot 308). Engine runs fine, lights, indicators, brakes etc etc. A mate rode it one mile back to his place and all seems to work. At first glance, forks and bars are bent, frame doesn't seem to have moved, front fairing and mudguard cracked/marked, tank dented by my privates, can and pegs scratched.

All in all, sounds easily repairable with some good Ebaying (especially since I was planning a respray anyway and have all the panels spare already).

Only concern is with the insurers...

Am I right in thinking they will too easily write it off when estimating the repairs, meaning I would get peanuts for it and would have to buy it back from the salvage yard for more £££ and then pay for the repairs myself? Or even worse, never see her complete again!

Can I avoid this by keeping it in my mates back yard until i get better and repair it myself? (Obviously not receiving any compensation for the damages but I'm fine with that)

Any advice on that would be welcome as I'm not familliar with UK law on that topic!

Here's a pic of her just one week before the crash, 98 reg & 20,000mls...



Thanks and ride safe!

Adrien

[Kayla]

Sorry to hear this, but I'm glad you're both relatively ok

If you think your bike's repairable on a budget, you could buy the salvage back from the insurer after they've paid out (I'm guessing it was the car driver's fault) for not very much and repair it yourself. You can also go down the route of not recording the damage, but that involves not pursuing the claim I think. If it was me (it's not, I know) I'd let the insurance write it off as a cat C or D (assuming you want to keep the bike that is!) and repair it myself on a budget. That way, you'll keep the bike and the repairs/mods you planned won't cost you anything.

edit- Just to add, you can pursue a claim for injuries separate from the actual insurance claim for your bike. I did this when I was knocked off last October, I didn't claim for the bike (didn't want it written off) but claimed for the injuries I got in the accident because I couldn't work for a couple of weeks (I'm self-employed).

[Mincehead]

Having just been dealing with running the gauntlet of the insurance companies, (albeit a car claim) I would strongly recommend you carry out all the repairs yourself and do NOT claim against the insurance for your bike`s damage. The other parties insurance will find it weird but if you claim there will be an assessors inspection, they`ll almost certainly write your baby off as they only utilise the services of dealers for their repairs and quoting of parts and labour needed etc.
The grabbing, self serving cnuts will try to rip you off if you put in a claim, mine did, my car was classified as a category C by an assesor before I had agreed to go ahead with my claim and once it`s notified to VOSA and DVLA you are fooked as it`s on their systems!
You`ll need a VOSA inspection and a new MOT to put it back on the road, amounting to around 70 quid in my case.
Because this crash happened at a relatively slow speed I very much doubt your frame has suffered at all, forks stanchions can be rolled and straightened too if you cannot find some cheap second hand legs.
Good to hear both you and your wife are ok (ish), slow speed crashes often create more injuries from impacts to other vehicles or hitting the ground than high speed ones do, Horse riders for instance often receive broken bones from their 5` plus fall to the ground.
You should speak to your insurance company as this accident was obviously the fault of the cage driver, see if you can still claim against them without incurring any `issues ` for yourself but I doubt it.
There is a vehicle insurance ombudsman in the UK if you encounter any problem, the secret is do not agree to anything even verbally til you have checked it out (insurance companies record their conversations), Martin Lewis`s MoneySavingExpert.com is a great resource too:


http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

Obviously it goes without saying, all the members here will help all they can with bits you might need, of that I`m certain.

[SDN]

Sickner - still glad you are OKish, One of the big problems I have found is the damage to your confidence

[Jak]

Glad you're relatively ok!

The insurance issue is difficult and I wish you luck figuring that one out! Insurance companies will rip you off too quickly and even though it wasn't your fault, if you make a claim it will put up the cost of your bike AND car insurance for a few years

[coxylaad]

bad news.

Sometimes even a healthy dose of paranoia cant save you from the mindless drones in cars.


On the plus side - I have a set a trx forks and bars you can have for a snip if you want standard gear

[slow codger]

Glad you and your better half are ok, can't help you with insurance side of things. Were the police involved? get a copy of the accident report from them if they were, you will also need copies of any paperwork from the hospital/doctors, especially as you were injured, these can be used a leverage against the other persons insurance. Oh, and any witnesses, I know at the time you don't think about that, but can be a help, re the fault of the other driver etc.

Dave E

[Jak]

Just about to write a thread about UK insurance after watching Watchdog this evening (see if you can watch it on BBC iPlayer) ...


EDIT:
http://www.trx850.com/phpBB_forum/viewt ... 733#p72733
Read that thread BEFORE RINGING THE INSURANCE COMPANY!!!!!

[drix]

Thanks all for the replies and tips, very useful reminders of what I need to collate or keep track of!

Interesting read about the insurance thing, I think I'm gona try and back out of claiming for the Rex!

@Coxylaad, thanks for the offer!! I'm debating between stock or the usd + yzf rear conversion. Will let you know.

Cheers guys!

[fung]

Heal well sir, and get back riding soon!
Remember, if you fall off the horse, to get straight back on !!
cheers
fung

[HansJ]

It probably works differently in Sweden, but...

I managed to get cash from the insurance company, twice. Once for the bike and once for the car. (The first one was a minor crash, the second was an attempted theft. The buggers destroyed the fascia, which of course was extremely expensive to exchange when using Audi Spares and Audi workshop. I made a deal with the insurance company, since they wanted to wirte my car off, and got some cash for it instead.)

But, what's very important here at least, is that one has to claim for the personal injuries, even if they might be small and harmless riht at that time. In case you or the missus will get some problems that might be connected with this crash, in a couple of years from now, you'll have problems getting the insurance company to compensating you.

[Kayla]

But, what's very important here at least, is that one has to claim for the personal injuries, even if they might be small and harmless riht at that time. In case you or the missus will get some problems that might be connected with this crash, in a couple of years from now, you'll have problems getting the insurance company to compensating you.

I agree with this, although I hate the thought of ambulance-chasing lawyers. My right hand and foot still hurt now, a year after the low speed accident that wrote my TRX off.

[drix]

Right, claim on bike damage stopped. it's in writing, sent to the insurance and I have a copy! Shouldn't get any trouble further down the line hopefully and will avoid the hassle of the write off process and re reg as a cat C process.

Personnal injury, bike gear claims still going on!

[arrivisto]

Only concern is with the insurers... Am I right in thinking they will too easily write it off when estimating the repairs, meaning I would get peanuts for it and would have to buy it back from the salvage yard for more £££ and then pay for the repairs myself? Or even worse, never see her complete again! Can I avoid this by keeping it in my mates back yard until i get better and repair it myself?

I know something of insurance law, so here is one view:

First, you should claim for injury to yourself & your passenger, and for damage to your apparel. Be honest, and don't exaggerate the claim; but equally don't let the other party off lightly.

Secondly, the bike will have a value, either pre-agreed and specified in the policy, or, more likely, one based on its year, condition and current market value. Let's say it's worth £1,500. (If you dispute the insurer's view of its value, give photo evidence and other data to justify your claim).

You need to get an estimate for repairs. If that estimate is, say, £1,200 (less than the agreed £1,500 value) take the money. If it's £1.500 or more, it is NOT automatically a write-off. It is YOU, the insured, not the insurer who makes that choice. The insured always has the option to choose whether to declare a total or partial loss.

So, claim for a partial loss, and demand £1,499. You keep the bike and get the money. (Only if you declare a total loss and the bike is "written" off will the wreck belong to the insurance company). If the company object to your partial loss claim, tell them you'll sue; or else, go to the Insurance Ombudsman. There is no fee to go to the Ombudsman, it's quick & simple, and there's no risk of costs. But for the sums we're talking of, the Small Claims Court can deal with it, and you'll not be at risk of costs if you lose.

[drix]

Hi all

Thought I would provide a bit of an update and share my experiences in case this ends up being handy to someone else in future (hopefully not off course!!!) and also get some of your thoughts as to what else I should be doing/checking/asking etc.

I ended up going down the route for a claim on the bike, which my solicitor called "cash in lieue" and they sent some engineer around to take some pictures and details of the bike etc. The engineer's visit was done in 3 minutes tops so already sensed what the outcome was going to be... bike valued at £1.610 and cost of repairs estimated at £1.880. Sadly, the engineer apparently has to report the bike as an insurance write off, so a cat C here. I got to keep the salvage for circ £160 and will be getting the price difference from the other car's insurance, so circ £1.450.

Was a bit p***** off with that and by the fact I had to go through the insurance write off process which wasn't what I was told (or at least how I understood it) rather than being able to back out from it and claim an amount below the estimates (i.e. £1.500) and keep the bike's record clean.
But hey, since I was in for the long run with the TRX and since I will be moving back to France in a few years and re registering the TRX over there, I guess this doesn't make much of a difference.

Have done a bit of reading on the cat C re registration process which I believe is just fixing the bike up, putting it through an MOT, provide MOT certificate to my insurer and that's it, back on the road. Seems like I can keep my V5 as is etc and no need to inform the DVLA or VOSA etc as the engineer must've told them already. Do I get this right?

As for the accident itself, the car driver was at fault and admitted liability for the accident so that is at least a positive outcome and claims for bike gear, travel and medical expenses, no claims bonus reinstated etc etc can proceed swiftly!

As for the rest, the Mrs and my backs/shoulders are fixed up now and I've been reunited with my left elbow. It's still pretty useless though as I still can't stretch or flex my arm or do much without it hurting. Physio starts soon and should be fixed up quickly, hopefully in time to enjoy guzzling down my Christmas food with two hands.

Looking at fixing up the bike early next year, ready for the next season and finally do my "Iam's skills for life" riding course which I was initially booked in to do last October!

Safe and happy riding,
Adrien