Mel B Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 :-( Fortunately I'm okay, just a bruised knee and a spoilt pair of jeans, but my scooter isn't looking so great. >:-( I was on my way to collect something for hubby and was going round a roundabout and about to pull off it, with my indicator on when a women in a VW polo pulled out and, despite my beeping, she kept going. 8-) I managed to slam on my brakes and put my scooter sideways so I didn't hit her head on and end up over the bonnet! *-) My nearside front faring and the side of my scooter scraped her front wing, then I had no alternative but to lay the scooter down onto its right-hand side. The upshot is that the body panels are scraped on both sides along with the brake lever, mirror and chrome exhaust cover on the right side. >:-( The woman said she hadn't seen my indicator which was still on whilst the scooter was laid on the floor and then admitted that she'd had an 'incident' in the car park just before she hit me, not sure if she'd nearly bumped someone, or they'd nearly bumped her, but obviously her minds wasn't on what she was doing. I followed her home to get her insurance details and will have to see how much it is going to cost to repair the bike - fortunately none of the panels are cracked so it may be possible to paint them rather than replace but I don't know which is the 'best' option. She has a £250 excess on her insurance and if it can be done for less than this then she'll just give me the money for it, so tomorrow I'll see if I can get some quotes. :-| The most annoying thing is that before this happened the bike was virtually pristine and we were just about to advertise it for sale. >:-(
Tracker Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 Glad you are OK Mel. Women drivers eh?? So much for the much vaunted female multi tasking then - obviously thinking and driving simultaneously were not possible in this case!! Did you report it to the Police? If you were injured you are obliged to in theory and if it does get as far as insurance companies they too always used to like to have a Police incident reference to give the claim credence.
CliveH Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 As long as you are OK Mel - the metal stuff can be fixed. As biker in the past i see some truly TERRIBLE driving by all types of people where cyclists and bikers are concerned. Sometimes those on two wheels do not help - but the accident you describe is sadly typical where a car/van/lorry driver seems to simply ignore the fact that the biker/cyclist is there.
Guest Peter James Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 Bad Luck Mel, Glad you're OK. If she claims I guess it will cost her a lot more than the £250 excess Loss of NCB + higher premium next year?
Mel B Posted October 7, 2012 Author Posted October 7, 2012 Rich - no I didn't report it to the Police as they wouldn't be interested with just a bit of a bruised knee and as I won't be claiming for any 'injury' I couldn't see the point in spending time giving statements and filling in forms, or wasting their time for nothing. It will probably be easier to sort out between ourselves if we can rather than go through insurance, both for her and for us. I'll just be happy to get it repaired and see if I can pick up a new pair of jeans ... these ones cost me all of 50p from a car boot sale and are very comfy. (lol)
Tracker Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 It pays to get expensive estimates first for reinstatement and then offer to take less for cash - in negotiating you can always come down but going up ain't so easy! It may well go your way but I can tell you that from all my years as the man from the Pru, people's memories of what actually happened and what they said can change after a chat with their family and a night's sleep!
Mel B Posted October 7, 2012 Author Posted October 7, 2012 Yes, Rich, agreed, I did take some photos before we went to her house and I obviously know where she lives too. As I'm going to get quotes tomorrow I'll take it from there, I've managed to price up a replacement mirror and brake lever on the web but can't find any panels so have no idea what they'll cost. We have two Sym VS 125 scooters - my 'damaged' silver one and hubby's black one which just needs an MOT and taxing - so we can sell the black one instead and keep the silver one. As the black one is a few months younger anyway we'll probably get a better price for it anyway - hubby prefers the silver one anyway (likes a bit of 'bling' :D ). Not sure if he was more concerned about the scooter than me when I rang to tell him!!! *-)
nowtelse2do Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 Well I'd be more concerned about the scooter, especially if my wife was being knocked off :$ :-D :-> Dave
Guest pelmetman Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 nowtelse2do - 2012-10-07 6:50 PM Well I'd be more concerned about the scooter, especially if my wife was being knocked off :$ :-D :-> Dave David!!.........Your sense of humour is as bad as mine :D
nowtelse2do Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 OH NO..!!! it's not that bad is it.????? Think I need a 2nd opinion..........will make an appointment tomorrow. (lol) (lol) Dave
teflon2 Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 Mel report it and get a written statement from her before she gets a no win no fee solicitor and claims for whiplash. She will you know. My wife was rear ended by a woman driver wrote off our car and the car in front of her and damaged the Audi which stopped first admitted fault on the day next day tried to claim it was not he fault. It might take you a little time but it might be worth it plus she should be reported for careless driving. Glad you are O.K. but get checked out properly as reaction will set in and you may not feel so well. This is from my own experience. All the best John.
Mel B Posted October 7, 2012 Author Posted October 7, 2012 pelmetman - 2012-10-07 8:04 PM nowtelse2do - 2012-10-07 6:50 PM Well I'd be more concerned about the scooter, especially if my wife was being knocked off :$ :-D :-> Dave David!!.........Your sense of humour is as bad as mine :D Just you two watch out ... when my scooter is fixed I'll come looking for you ... brum, brum, brum ..... >:-)
kelly58 Posted October 7, 2012 Posted October 7, 2012 Tracker I can tell you that from all my years as the man from the Pru, people's memories of what actually happened and what they said can change after a chat with their family and a night's sleep!I also spent a good number of years as " The Man from the Pru " and totally agree with Peter its strange that in the cold light of day and a family conference how peoples recolection of the event seem to change there are a lot of barrack room lawyers out there offering stupid advise.You need to go for the jugular they would if the role was reversed.
Mel B Posted October 7, 2012 Author Posted October 7, 2012 teflon2 - 2012-10-07 8:30 PM Mel report it and get a written statement from her before she gets a no win no fee solicitor and claims for whiplash. She will you know. My wife was rear ended by a woman driver wrote off our car and the car in front of her and damaged the Audi which stopped first admitted fault on the day next day tried to claim it was not he fault. It might take you a little time but it might be worth it plus she should be reported for careless driving. Glad you are O.K. but get checked out properly as reaction will set in and you may not feel so well. This is from my own experience. All the best John. No possibility of whiplash for her as I hit the side and fortunately only at low speed due to my being able to brake hard and swerve a bit. I'm fine thanks, actually it hasn't shaken me up, probably because I knew I couldn't avoid her and just accepted that it was going to happen so was more concerned about minimising the collision rather than think OMG!!!! That's just how I am. That daft thing is that had she stopped when I sounded my horn I would probably have gone in front of her and we wouldn't have had the accident. I've been riding scooters and bikes since I was 17 (over 32 years! 8-) so I've seen a lot of idiots on the road and in that time I've only had 2 other 'issues' - the first was a pillock who had some curved scrap metal sheeting on the back of his wagon which wasn't secure and a piece flew off right into my path, there was no way I could avoid it so I had to steer straight over the middle of it - it had settled with the edges curving upwards fortunately - now that DID shake me up as I'd only been riding my first motorbike for around a month or so at that point ... if the sheet had landed the other way round it would have been a very different story! The other time was when I was travelling to work and going round a sharp right hand bend in winter, as it was frosty I had taken it very carefully which was a good thing as there was black ice and I did a lovely skid across to the other side of the road on my bum! Again, this didn't actually shake me up although I have never been happy doing right hand turns since then! :$ *-) I'll see what tomorrow brings and take it from there.
Tracker Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 Mel B - 2012-10-07 10:37 PM Just you two watch out ... when my broomstick is fixed I'll come looking for you ... brum, broom, brum ..... >:-) Beware the wicked witch of the East!!
Tony Jones Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 Glad you're OK Mel. Mel B - 2012-10-07 4:46 PM She has a £250 excess on her insurance and if it can be done for less than this then she'll just give me the money for it, so tomorrow I'll see if I can get some quotes. Whether it goes through insurance or not is for you to decide, not her. You're entitled to go straight to her insurers to claim for the damage she did.The £250 excess is irrelevant on a 3rd-party claim, it only applies to the damage she did to her own car. Make sure you get all your evidence set out logically, and don't accept any proposal from her which leaves you worse off in any way. You won't be able to replace those jeans for 50p!!
nowtelse2do Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 Mel B - 2012-10-07 10:37 PM David!!.........Your sense of humour is as bad as mine :D Just you watch out ... when my scooter is fixed I'll come looking for you ... brum, brum, brum ..... >:-) I think she fancies you Dave, 8-) :D brum is somewhere in the midlands innit, she's lost, :-D Dave
Keithl Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 Mel, Try to avoid claiming off your own insurance at all costs! Remember your NCD is 'No CLAIMS Discount' and NOT 'No FAULT Discount'. I know from bitter experience as someone reversed into me when I was stationary in a car park. In his own words "My foot slipped off the clutch". I now have to declare this every time I apply for a policy for the next 5 years. If I had not claimed off my own insurance to repair my own vehicle (he originally offered cash but then never got back in touch with me after I told him how much it would cost) I would not be in the position I am in now. Oh Yes and to crown it all I am now being plagued with calls from 'No Win, No Fee' so called solicitors as some one along the way has obviously sold my details! And don't forget if you do make a claim that you have to advise EVERY policy that you are named on that you have made a claim! Keith.
Mel B Posted October 10, 2012 Author Posted October 10, 2012 Update: I've got the cost for the repair of the scooter - £642.26!!! 8-) Nearly every panel got damaged, plus the front mudguard, so they need replacing, plus the right mirror and brake lever, also I hadn't realised the back box (proper Sym one) had got scraped too and that alone is nearly £50 + VAT. So, she's putting it through her insurance, hopefully it won't take too long as we don't want to end up having to hang on to the scooter over winter and re-insure it in Feb ... *-)
flicka Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 Glad to hear you're OK Mel The scooter appears to come off the worst, but can be repaired with much less pain.
flicka Posted October 10, 2012 Posted October 10, 2012 Glad to hear you're OK Mel The scooter appears to come off the worst, but can be repaired with much less pain.
Mel B Posted October 16, 2012 Author Posted October 16, 2012 After emailing the quote to the driver of the car twice and heard nothing, I texted her today and she replied that she's informed her insurance company and that I needed to tell mine to get in touch to sort it out. This isn't what I wanted to do as this would then show as a claim on my policy, albeit ultimately paid for by the other side, but it would still have to be declared and possibly affect insurance premium in the future. I thought, therefore, that I'd give her insurance company a ring to double check before I did anything and whilst I was looking for a phone number for them which wasn't chargeable (good old 'Say no to 0870' website) a chap from he insurers actually rang me ... coincidence? I wonder if she'd rung them to tell them I'd been in touch ... Anyway, after chatting to the chap, he confirmed that she had admitted it was her fault - thank goodness! :-> He suggested that I use their services to get their 'expert' to come out and see the scooter and arrange for it to be picked up, repaired, and returned to me. I wasn't overly happy with this as I'd already got the quote from Scootique, a local company who specialise in Syms for many a year, and are well established, so I've told him I want to have it done locally (there aren't any other Sym specialists round here so I suspect it would get shipped off to Leeds or somewhere like that) as it would be quicker and easier for me especially if i have any problems in the future as I can take it back to them. I've sent him a copy of the quote and am now waiting for him to confirm that they'll pay for it in full, then and I'll get it booked in. Once it's sorted I can then sell it, which is what I was just about to do anyway! *-)
Guest JudgeMental Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Claim for loss of value....a damaged repaired bike? talk to your insures and doctor about your neck which must be hurting now as it takes a few days
maggyd Posted October 17, 2012 Posted October 17, 2012 Sorry to see you have had a accident on your bike Mel :-S you were very lucky not to have been badly hurt never mind the bike!! my slogan after my O.H came off his mbike when he was very much younger! and was thrown over the car !! is FOUR WHEELS OR NO WHEELS !! :-D
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