scoobysteve1983

could i request a bit of advice from the legal eagles here please.

last week my mrs was visiting a client (mobile hairdresser before the comments start lol!) and when she left, a bloke had parked his motorbike very close to her car. she reversed to leave the parking space and accidentally touched the bike with her car. the bike didnt fall over or even move. the bike owner ran out and became very aggressive to the point my mrs locked herself in the car. she asked him to calm down before offering her insurance details. he said no and carried on swearing and said oh dont bother about it.

A day later and she gets a phone call from him (her car is covered with her business details) and he says he now wants to make a claim as the bike forks are bent and the mudguard is mangled.

she contacted her insurance company who told her not to make any contact with the bike owner and to leave it to them.

the bike owners insurance company have used an independant inspection company to see the bike and have said that theres 2k worth of damage to the bike.

my mrs' car has not been inspected (there is no damage whatsoever) and i fail to see how there could be that amount of damage to the bike. i get the impression he is trying to pull a fast one and has deliberately smashed the bike up in the 24 hr period before making contact.

any ideas on where she stands with this?

any replies and advice are much appreciated, cheers,

Steve.

super_ted

iTrader: (30)

Or sounds like he has poss fell off it afterwards & now trying to get insurance to pay for it. There's some right ****** out there.

scoobynutta555

It's in the hands of the insurance company so there's nothing for her to do.
Insurance claims/repairs are notorious for being over the top expensive. Look properly before reversing is the obvious advice

scoobysteve1983

i did say that but i was a knb for saying so lol!!!

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

If there are no pics of the bike and no witnesses then there's not a lot to do apart from letting the insurance get on with it.......

CCTV won't help I guess. The only defense you have is if the bike was so badly damaged it was unridable.....and he rode off.

Shaun

Wish

iTrader: (2)

Your wife made contact with the bike. The insurance company will pay out. They may request the third party insure to prove quantum.

Do you know what the bike was ? £2k can be easily gained on a motorbike.

Leave it to your insurance co and move on with your life.

What insurance companies are involved ??

jods

My personal experience of a similar situation.

I reversed off my drive and pushed my stepdaughters boyfriends (at the time) around on its stand. It didn't fall over. I reversed into the front right of the bike and cracked the indicator lens.

An " Independant Inspection Company" reported that the frame was twisted and the forks were severely bent from the Left to the right. Well excuse me but I was doing under the speed that registers on the speedo. The bike never even fell over and I hit it from the right so how on earth could I be held responsible for the forks being bent the other way? I argued my case and the final agreement was that the £600 or so repair charge would be split with me paying £100 and ex-bf paying £500 BUT I still got hit with the rental cost for a replacement bike whilst the engineers from Independant and insurance co argued the toss. That came in at £2700. I was furious as I had subsequently found out he had been razzing it around the local park and had crashed it several times in the weeks before I nudged him. The damage made no sense whatsoever as caused by me. I waited a while and then moved insurance companies to one that is a little more focused on realistic appraisals.

cuprajake

iTrader: (11)

If there were no witnesses she shouldn't of admitted liability

By speaking to the insurance she's done just that

Without liability being accepted there's little third party claims company's can do

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

I touched a bikers wheel once reversing in my van when the bike was in my blind spot it did fall over but the damage was minimal my insurance went up £500

mrmadcap

I think it is quite correct that people are penalised for careless driving, I would be gutted if someone scratched my vehicle because of lack of reversing/manoeuvring skills.

PaulC72

AS your insurance company to get the recovery report after all it sounds like it was too badly damage to ride so he must have had it recovered to somewhere.

Idiots like that are why we pay more insurance for things. As others have said let the insurance do what you pay them for and just carry on with life.

Afterthought on this, if he didnt get it recovered and rode it wherever with that damage it must have been unsafe to ride, so hasn't he now committed an offence of riding an unsuitable vehicle?

Leslie

Either lies are being told about the damage to the 'bike or he has fallen off it and is trying it on to get your wife's insurance to pay for it.

I would try making enquiries as mentioned above whether there is any record about recovering the 'bike to his home. Maybe it was recovered straight to a repairer who might be able to confirm who brought in to them which would give you a chance to check where they picked it up from and under what circumstances.

He is obviously trying a criminal deception. The 'bike needs an independent check as well.

Les

Maz

iTrader: (34)

What's not correct though is someone claiming thousands for alleged damage. In the op's case there's not a lot that can be done. Your better half has all but admitted liability and this bloke is going to milk it.

mrmadcap

It's not my better half, she would have done a proper job, reversed completely over it about twice and then completely denied it and sworn on my life

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Not sure my misses would have noticed ..

mrmadcap

My missus once drove my prized PUG 205 Gti through a church wall and ended up in the middle of a grave yard with the car totalled.

The neighbours never spoke to us for 6 months thinking we'd committed blasphemy.

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

Is it definitely the same bike being claimed for as was parked behind the vehicle? Could the blood have a second bike in a poor state of repair. Most females wouldn't know one bike from another.

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

But she did hit it.

I wonder how differently the advice would be if the OP was the bike owner.

I'd not be surprised if the rider over reacted at the time, realised he had gone over the top and scared her. So said not to worry to avoid trouble. Had a closer look at the bike, or let someone else have a look and has come across the damage.

As above bike repairs add up VERY quickly.

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

I'm sure noone here is trying to say that bike repairs can or should be done on the cheap. The problem I imagine is that the amount of repairs being claimed for here simply don't tally up with the actual impact to the bike, because of the laws of physics. If a bike's forks and frame are strong enough to support the weight of the bike and rider over less than perfect roads at cruising speeds, and at speeds well above 100mph on good roads, can it really be possible for them to sustain any noticeable damage from a nudge to the front wheel which didn't have enough force to even knock the bike over, or leave so much as a mark on the car's bumper? It just doesn't add up. If the bike was braced against something (which we know it wasn't), maybe, but then you'd expect to see damage to the car, and to the opposite side of the bike where it was braced.

QED, the biker's story is a load of tosh, and he's basically committing fraud.

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

I'm quite sure we don't actually know anything, seeing as this is third hand information on an Internet forum.

I'm just trying to see things from the other side, rather than jumping on the virtual band wagon.

Wish

iTrader: (2)

Credit hire ......

Donnie Brasco 46

iTrader: (2)

It's not what you know but what you can prove. Your misses confirms that she hit it - end of. Unless there are witnesses to confirm that the bike didn't fall over then it's her word against his.

It all boils down to credibility really. If he has no previous claims history, there is nothing to discredit him. To go to court would cost £1,000's and as she admits hitting it she would lose in the end.

Claims are like playing poker. Do you really wanna see him knowing that it'd cost you more money and even if you did you'd lose cos you have a pony hand?! Course not. I'd fold if I was you and accept that you just cannot win on this occasion.

Unfortunately the law is always in favour of the claimant - civil cases are 'on the balance of probability' not 'innocent until proven guilty'. She freely admits hitting the bike, on the balance of probability it was damaged. Sorry, I know that it's not what you wanna hear but that is how it is.....