General Chat

who knocked o.h. off his bike in May and ruined our holiday?

Well, a letter arrived from the Police yesterday to say they prosecuted him for driving without due care and attention and he was fined £120, had his licence endorsed with 3 points, and had to pay costs of £115.

They even gave us his address as well as his name which surprised me.

The amount is about as much as the new bike he promised o.h. would have cost him, before we pushed the complaint after we found out o.h.'s finger was broken and we had to cancel our holiday.

I am glad he was prosecuted as it will make him think twice about driving straight out from a junction without looking more carefully.

O.h. had to see a specialist recently to have his injuries and recovery assessed, so we are now waiting to see what payout we get from the insurance company.

Lizx

Good. Now you have proof that it was his fault.

Has the new bike arrived yet?

You should be able to claim the cost of your holiday ~ it was HIS fault you had to cancel.

How is OH's finger?

Hope you have a good lawyer. <3

Good news that the car driver was found guilty and the police have prosecuted him. I hope that o.h. will now get the full financial payment for all the two of you have suffered.
Gxx

The insurer will decide on the compensation and is in no way bound by whatever the insured party may have promised.

As a general rule insurer's do not pay out for consequential losses so compensation for your ruined holiday is unlikely. You may be able to claim on your holiday insurance if you had any.

Another general rule is the principle of "betterment" i.e. if the bicycle was old then the insurer won't pay for a new one. Time to dig out receipts, photo of the bike...

You are on much stronger ground with the injury itself and compensation for any time off work. The insurer has a table which they keep secret but a broken finger should be worth about £ 3 K excl. loss of pay.

Try and avoid claims firms they will take a third of whatever is paid out one way or the other. And remember, patience pays.

Glad he was prosecuted Liz :-D xx

Me too Jules, thought he might have got away with it as at first the Police were not taking it further as they said there were no witnesses, even tho the driver had told them and o.h. he 'hadn't seen him' (o.h. in hi vis jacket, lights on his bike etc)

When we heard there was damage to o.h.'s thumb, I called and let the Police know and they changed their tune.

We got the bike mended at a cost of around £100 including a service check. It was quicker than waiting for a claim to go through once it was set in motion. It's being done through o.h.'s house insurance where there was legal help for free.

I spoke to the person dealing with it and they want a copy of the letter, and are waiting for the report from the consultant. I explained how low o.h. has been since the accident and he keeps having flashbacks of hurtling over the bonnet of the car and she said she would see if the consultant mentioned any psychological problems and maybe o.h. would have to see a physologist. There were questions asked by the consultant on o.h.'s emotional wellbeing due to the accident so will wait to hear if he thought it sufficient to need further examination.

O.h. lost lots of regular overtime from work so lost out on pay. We have claimed from our holiday insurance for the hols etc but still waiting on that as well.

These things take so long to get sorted out.

Lizx

That's always the same with insurance claims, they seem to take forever....I hope it gets sorted soon.....

Jules xx

Glad you had insurance in place.

You are moving up the tree, be patient. On the basis of what you have posted you are now looking at quite a useful settlement as well as loss of earnings. You will need to get documentation for l.o.e. - overtime is allowable when it is regular.

In France the car driver's insurance ( and often his license ) always carries the can for bike/car accidents and imho that's the way it should be. No crushed cyclists from buses and trucks turning right in Paris ...

Rollo, I am hoping there will be a satisfactory amount from the accident as it really messed up our year in many ways and with o.h. still feeling the effects can not be forgotten yet.

I wouldn't go abroad without insurance, it's not worth the risk altho o.h. is often sceptical about it and I have to push him into arranging his. Maybe now he will realise how important it is, also that it's essential to be truthtful when sorting it out, he has various health problems that have to be declared but unless I stand over him, I know he wouldn't bother.

Thanks Jules, patience isn't o.h.'s middle name lol


Lizx