Insurance/accident advice

[daveb47]

My son was involved in accident on his motorbike yesterday,bike is probably writeoff but luckily he was not badly hurt,mainly bruises & sprains but his back/neck etc is very sore.

Other driver has admitted fault.

Whats best way to sort insurance etc?

Will they sort claim for injury/work loss etc.

I have told him to get down quacks on monday and get neck pains etc documented.

Any other advice please.

Also he has no info of police who dealt with crash or other driver,doesnt even know where his bike is apart from fact that police had it taken away.

[dave21478]

I would suggest he contacts the cop shop nearest the scene, they should be aware of which cozzers attended and what statements were taken, where the bike is etc, then contact his own insurer and tell them the whole deal and let them sort it out - Thats their job, although they dont like doing it.

[Tickman]

/\ Do that, it might take some nudging to get them to do the job but as said it is there job.

[dean36014]

Might be worth contacting these if you have no joy through insurance. Don't forget he'll need to claim for new helmet and bike gear too. 

http://www.whitedalton.co.uk/

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I know it's not a popular opinion , but this is exactly what ambulance chasing accident claims management companies are for. Insurance companies don't care because there's nothing in it for them , but claims companies make money at every stage and consequently put a lot of effort in, just make sure that you use a ( relatively) reputable one. I know that Direct Accident do credit hire super bikes because I got a call from them about the tracker in a car I had showing some stupid speed, when I apologised the guy said " Dont worry that's not even the highest today , my next call is to a biker for 170!!!!"

[andy18s]

As above

After my last accident I used a claims specialist who got everything sorted.

You'll probably find his ins will put him onto 1 anyway...

Mine was Bikers Legal Defence byt I believe they have shut shop now...

[daveb47]

He has just been onto police who have told him where bike is but wont give him any other details,they say he has to fill in a form and take it to a police station and report accident himself (Police attended & reported it) & pay £35 to get information.

 

Form 518 is one needed.

 

  Request for Police Collision Reports and Third Party Details in Road Traffic Collisions   Information Required (Please cross)

Third Party Details

Police Report

  If you have a Traffic Case Reference Number, please send a payment of either:

 

THIRD PARTY DETAILS £ 34.30

(This charge is not deducted from the basic cost of the full report at a later date)

 

POLICE REPORT – BASIC £ 144.90

(Up to 25 pages of a single Evidence or Action Book. This fee is non-refundable if the work has been completed)

 

 

Payment must be in pound sterling. We only accept cheques made payable to the ‘Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC)’

 

General Fees and Charges are available from our website : www.met.police.uk

Please Allow up to 12 weeks from date of banking to receive your Police Report and 21 days from banking for third party details. If this date has passed please email [email protected]

[Bren]

Claims management all the way. Insurance company will not try very hard because they all piss in the same pot. They got me £975 for a car I paid £150 for.

[richardmorris]

Yes, but it's the insurance that pays those fees isn't it? Presumably he's already informed insurance ? Or you have?

I hope he's recovering well by the way.

[andy18s]

He has just been onto police who have told him where bike is but wont give him any other details,they say he has to fill in a form and take it to a police station and report accident himself (Police attended & reported it) & pay £35 to get information.

 

Form 518 is one needed.

Request for Police Collision Reports and Third Party Details in Road Traffic Collisions Information Required (Please cross)

Third Party Details

Police Report If you have a Traffic Case Reference Number, please send a payment of either:

 

THIRD PARTY DETAILS £ 34.30

(This charge is not deducted from the basic cost of the full report at a later date)

 

POLICE REPORT – BASIC £ 144.90

(Up to 25 pages of a single Evidence or Action Book. This fee is non-refundable if the work has been completed)

 

 

Payment must be in pound sterling. We only accept cheques made payable to the ‘Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC)’

 

General Fees and Charges are available from our website : www.met.police.uk

Please Allow up to 12 weeks from date of banking to receive your Police Report and 21 days from banking for third party details. If this date has passed please email [email protected]

 

Don't go spending anything on stuff like this,let the insurance/claim company deal with it

If it is a write off then don't let him stress over the bike, he needs to make sure he gets checked out medically first

And get receipts for any extra spending he does as a result of his accident....

Hope he isn't too badly shook up

[groovylee]

as has been said above.  report to his insurance.  he pays for this to be dealt with by them.  wait for them to appoint generic claims management company.  decline them and speak to white dalton.  much better option.

 

insurance will sort out recovering the bike.  it will be in the other parties insurances interest to do so, as otherwise itll cost them an arm and a leg.

 

dont accept first offer for bike. document absolutely every cost incurred as a result of this accident.  you'd be surprised what can be claimed for under 'loss of enjoyment'.

 

above all, well done on him not getting deaded, hope he recovers wel and quickly

 

Lee

[Pete-M]

Claims management firm. They're normally tied in with solicitors who do this all day. They'll take about 25% of whatever it costs the insurance company but they're a lot more likely to get about 50% more than you'd manage, and they'll sort doctors, physio, loss of earnings, clothing, helmet, gloves, boots.

[robinmasters]

So, the collective view is screw the car driver's insurance company for every underserved penny he can get? So that's why my insurance costs much.

[Slartibartfast]

I don't have any sensible advice but I'm glad your lad wasn't badly hurt and I hope he heals up quickly.

[Pete-M]

So, the collective view is screw the car driver's insurance company for every underserved penny he can get? So that's why my insurance costs much.

That's why everyone's insurance costs so much.

 

Thing is, if the insurance companies were any good at their jobs there would be no opportunities for the ambulance chasers. The insurance companies themselves tend to be atrocious at dealing with claims, they're slow, inefficient and they don't give a toss if you lose the claim. The claims vultures have to win to get paid, so they fight hard.

 

If the insurance companies did what they're paid premiums to do there would be a lot less ambulance chasing Shysters about and premiums would drop. Eventually.

 

One claim I dealt with went on for a month longer than it should have because the insurance company refused to pay for a little chrome strip on a grille. £25 part. The car owner was in a hire car while the claim went on and this little chrome bit was the last bit to get his car back on the road. Insurance company argued about it for nearly a month while the car owner was driving around in a hire car the insurance company was paying for. That £25 part had cost well over a grand by the time they agreed to pay for it. The little chrome bit was a factory part and it was damaged in an accident so to put the car back to pre-accident condition it was required, but insurance droid thought it was an upgrade so didn't authorise it. 30 seconds on Google images would have shown it to be a factory bit but they kept arguing, at £60/day, over a £25 part.

 

It's that lack of thought by the insurance companies which is equally responsible for premiums rocketing.

[robinmasters]

That's why everyone's insurance costs so much.

 

Thing is, if the insurance companies were any good at their jobs there would be no opportunities for the ambulance chasers. The insurance companies themselves tend to be atrocious at dealing with claims, they're slow, inefficient and they don't give a toss if you lose the claim. The claims vultures have to win to get paid, so they fight hard.

 

If the insurance companies did what they're paid premiums to do there would be a lot less ambulance chasing Shysters about and premiums would drop. Eventually.

 

 

On the assumption that you're talking about third party claims (and it's not entirely clear that you are), 'ambulance chasers' don't deal with claims any more quickly or efficiently than insurance companies; quite the reverse-it's in their interest to drag them out for as long as possible. Insurance companies want claims settled as quickly as possible. 

 

One claim I dealt with went on for a month longer than it should have because the insurance company refused to pay for a little chrome strip on a grille. £25 part. The car owner was in a hire car while the claim went on and this little chrome bit was the last bit to get his car back on the road. Insurance company argued about it for nearly a month while the car owner was driving around in a hire car the insurance company was paying for. That £25 part had cost well over a grand by the time they agreed to pay for it. The little chrome bit was a factory part and it was damaged in an accident so to put the car back to pre-accident condition it was required, but insurance droid thought it was an upgrade so didn't authorise it. 30 seconds on Google images would have shown it to be a factory bit but they kept arguing, at £60/day, over a £25 part.

 

It's that lack of thought by the insurance companies which is equally responsible for premiums rocketing.

 

 

The problem there isn't the part, it's the fact chummy was left a hire car while it was argued out. Did the £25 chrome strip render the car undriveable? Couldn't he have paid it himself then claimed it back? If you're dealing with claims you should be familiar with the concept of mitigation. 

 

Insurance companies are not to blame for inflated claims for hire cars, they're not blame for injuries being exaggerated, they're not to blame for the mark-up on private medical treatment when the provider knows insurance is footing the bill, and these days are rarely to blame for delays. 

 

Solicitors and claims management companies invariably benefit financially from the amount of damages they recover, so do everything they can to drag things out. 

[pilninggas]

It's worth focusing the mind of the other party's insurer quickly:

 

When I had a crash 10 years ago (in a car, the other party fully at fault) I said I needed a hire car, no problem they said we'll deliver a micra, no chance says I, I need a car with a towbar (as fitted to my own car), so they deliver a Honda 4x4 with towbar costing them £220/day in hire fees. The whole lot was sorted within 10 days, such was the cost of hireage to the other party's insurance.

 

If you boy has a full bike license, he should demand a hire bike it will focus their minds (more than £100/day). If he had a provisional license he should phone them and tell them he is taxi'ing everywhere until the matter is resolved. He should them send the other party's insurance firm photos of the receipts for taxis every day.

 

As said above record every cost and keep right on them, they won't do sod all otherwise.

[Pete-M]

On the assumption that you're talking about third party claims (and it's not entirely clear that you are), 'ambulance chasers' don't deal with claims any more quickly or efficiently than insurance companies; quite the reverse-it's in their interest to drag them out for as long as possible. Insurance companies want claims settled as quickly as possible.

 

 

 

The claims vultures know they can only realistically get paid if they deal with claims quickly. Nowadays they don't want the claim to stretch out over months, they want everything sorted ASAP. I know this because I until recently worked for a car hire firm which supplied cars to said vultures. Three weeks maximum to sort all the vehicle related bits out is how the vultures work now. So if you have a crash on a Monday you'll be in a hire car Monday or Tuesday, your vehicle will be inspected by Wednesday and the vultures will be harassing the insurance companies by Thursday. They're that fast now. They're chasing for admission of liability and settlements from the other party insurance within a week - more often than not before the insurance companies themselves have even thought about going to inspect any damaged vehicles.

 

The average was 3 weeks from accident to car repaired and everything sorted with the firm we supplied hire cars to. 3 weeks. I've been to jobs where the insurance company still hasn't shown up to inspect damaged vehicles after a fortnight.

 

For the Shysters to survive nowadays they have to be shit hot at what they do, so good that the insurance companies themselves are beginning to use the Shysters instead of their own claims departments because it is quicker and more efficient. Insurance companies are that much of a mess.

 

The 'keep people in hire cars' tactic was pretty much wiped out a few years ago when they changed a lot of the laws regarding no win no fee type Shysters. There may be still a few amateurs trying to do that around Birmingham, but in the real world where people know what they're doing there's a lot more money to be made sorting everything out quickly.

 

As for chummy driving around in the hire car while the insurance company argued about the £25 chrome strip. That's simple, when the insurance company agreed to insure his car they knew what the car was. They knew the spec of the car and they agreed to cover it against damage. It was damaged and their end of the deal was to put it right. Owner paid the insurance premium, accident wasn't his fault, why should he drive his car around damaged or with bits missing when he is forced by law to pay for insurance which is to cover against exactly this. It wasn't his fault the insurance company were being dicks.

 

Insurance company enters into a contract with you to insure your car. If they try to wiggle out of it then you're perfectly within your rights to remind them they agreed to put things right, to return your car to pre accident condition. If they're arguing about it, that's their problem.

[Mally]

Surprised the police did not insist he went to Hospital for check up.

I know a normal individual tends to say I'm alright, but you should really attend.

Sore neck and back means damage and pain, both are claimable but you need evidence.

Think you have to go A and E within 24? hours. Would advise he does so and reports the pain asap.

[martybabes]

 

 

Solicitors...invariably benefit financially from the amount of damages they recover, so do everything they can to drag things out. 

 

Yes, solicitors do benefit financially from matters such as this.  But drag things out? Oh come on, really?  When was the last time you went to the hairdressers and said "Do I need a haircut?" only for him/her to reply "No, sir, it's fine as it is"!

 

So, what have solicitors ever done for you then?

 

Well, we benefit from helping you to buy/sell your house or flat - try doing that yourself and see how you get on;

We help you make a Will to sort out your affairs after you die - try doing that yourself and see what happens (!!!);

If your neighbour (or someone else) sues you, we help you defend your position - you can do that yourself if you want.  Plenty of people down the pub will help you;

Neighbour disputes crop up a lot, but you can always listen to the man who's been there, done that.  Or take legal advice.

If someone owes you money, we'll advise you on how to try to get it back - or you can simply take the hit;

If you should get wrongfully arrested (it happens), we can help you - or you can help yourself cos obviously you know best; 

If you want to start a small business and need advice on consumer protection, we can help - or you can ask a friend who knows someone;

If your wife wants to divorce you and take you to the cleaners, we'll help you get a fair result, but it also helps if she doesn't want her pound of flesh (which she often will cos she now hates you).

 

Oh there's lots of way we can make money but we are very tightly regulated, and are subject to disciplinary procedures that can cost us our livelihood.  It costs us years of study (degree (3 years), professional qualifying exams (another year) and then Training (formerly Articles of Clerkship) for two more years) and lots of money before we can even be let loose on the unsuspecting public.  And we have to buy a certificate every year that allows us to keep practising (and that costs us hundreds of £££s).  Oh yes, we have it easy, fear not....

 

Now then, where's me tablets?

[garbaldy]

/\ That may be true but by fuck are they slow to do anything other than send a bill and a big one at that.

[daveb47]

He was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Hasnt even got details of other vehicle.

only thing he has is police collar number.

[Mally]

There are Solicitors and Solicitors.

I had one was great, both my parents died within 3 months of each other, he lumped it all together, saving me cash, advised how to sort my affairs so my children didn't have the problems I/him had met, everything in order at a reasonable price.

A few years later he was struck off for illegal practice. (Defrauding Inland Revenue). Make what you will of that.

 

His replacement was next to useless, I had to keep nudging and reminding, things went missing, cash was taken for a Barristers  opinion then forgot to ask the Barrister and said I should wait until the end of the month for my cash back, which had been demanded up front.

None of this to do with my original  guy, different matter entirely.

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but there are good and not so good in every profession

[panhard65]

I think the police asking for money to supply the details of the other driver is a bit over the top. The poor lad was carted off to hospital how do they expect him to get the details. Is it not a legal requirement to exchange details after an accident ? Surely the old bill should give him those details for no charge otherwise who can his insurance claim from if they don't know who hit him.

[Cavcraft]

That's why everyone's insurance costs so much.

 

Thing is, if the insurance companies were any good at their jobs there would be no opportunities for the ambulance chasers. The insurance companies themselves tend to be atrocious at dealing with claims, they're slow, inefficient and they don't give a toss if you lose the claim. The claims vultures have to win to get paid, so they fight hard.

 

If the insurance companies did what they're paid premiums to do there would be a lot less ambulance chasing Shysters about and premiums would drop. Eventually.

 

One claim I dealt with went on for a month longer than it should have because the insurance company refused to pay for a little chrome strip on a grille. £25 part. The car owner was in a hire car while the claim went on and this little chrome bit was the last bit to get his car back on the road. Insurance company argued about it for nearly a month while the car owner was driving around in a hire car the insurance company was paying for. That £25 part had cost well over a grand by the time they agreed to pay for it. The little chrome bit was a factory part and it was damaged in an accident so to put the car back to pre-accident condition it was required, but insurance droid thought it was an upgrade so didn't authorise it. 30 seconds on Google images would have shown it to be a factory bit but they kept arguing, at £60/day, over a £25 part.

 

It's that lack of thought by the insurance companies which is equally responsible for premiums rocketing.

 

Absolutely 100% bang on. Been through it twice with Direct Liars, both times I just wanted what was I entitled to, both times they failed and I got a solicitor involved. Must have cost them three times at least what they would have paid out had they actually done their job.

[lisbon_road]

Hope this works out ok for you.  Nothing useful to add, except really shocked that the police would charge for something like that.  What kind of society have we become?

[richardmorris]

He'll probably also get a bill for the ambulance too. Again, this is something for the insurers to sort out directly.

[Slartibartfast]

He'll probably also get a bill for the ambulance too. Again, this is something for the insurers to sort out directly.

 

Wait, what? Why? Do we get billed for ambulance journeys?

 

Edit: it appears that indeed a thing. Colour my mind boggled.

[Pete-M]

 

Wait, what? Why? Do we get billed for ambulance journeys?

 

Colour my mind boggled.

I was billed for an ambulance back in 1989. It was about £35.

[Tamworthbay]

I think the police asking for money to supply the details of the other driver is a bit over the top. The poor lad was carted off to hospital how do they expect him to get the details. Is it not a legal requirement to exchange details after an accident ? Surely the old bill should give him those details for no charge otherwise who can his insurance claim from if they don't know who hit him.

  

Hope this works out ok for you.  Nothing useful to add, except really shocked that the police would charge for something like that.  What kind of society have we become?

It came in a few years ago suspiciously close to when they cut the Police budgets. The argument being that instead of the tax payer funding a police officers time the insurance should do it. Unfortunately as it's the average tax payer who also funds the insurance companies it had the small flaw of being complete bollocks. But it allows more money to be diverted to other vital causes such as tax cuts for millionaires and massive international corporations.