Accident Advice Wanted (Please!)

Hiya,

Last night I was going around a roundabout and about to reach the
point where a dual carraigeway came on to it.

Traffic in the fast lane (nearest to me) saw me, slowed down, and
then stopped. I cycled in front of the fast lane and was then hit by a
car travelling in the dual carraigeway's slow lane.

I've injured my wrist and if it had been a strain or something
relatively simple then I would probably have put it down to
experience.

Unfortuneately, however, the bone in my arm is split lengthwise and I
expect to hear tomorrow about whether or not an operation to insert
metal screws is needed.

Because my part-time job is also likely to be affected I'm now
considering the possibility of claiming compensation and wonder if
anyone could give me any advice:

Is "No win, no fee" my only option or can I make a claim direct to the
driver's insurance company?

I'm woefully ignorant about this kind of thing and would appreciate
any help.

I'm really going to miss my daily cycle rides
--

John Latter

Images of Dover, UK
http://www.panoramio.com/user/250345

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

Evolution Research Blog:
http://evomech.blogspot.com/

In article ,
says...


Is "No win, no fee" my only option or can I make a claim direct to the
driver's insurance company?

I'm woefully ignorant about this kind of thing and would appreciate
any help.

I'm really going to miss my daily cycle rides


If you are a member of the CTC phone their legal helpline. If you are
not, join and phone their legal helpline.

--
Tony

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has
taken place"
George Bernard Shaw

Get a copy of Cycling Weekly or Cycling Plus. Lots of ads from solicitors
who deal with cycling related claims - check that the company you deal with
*does* understand cycling

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:35:46 -0000, Tony Raven
wrote:

In article ,
says...


Is "No win, no fee" my only option or can I make a claim direct to the
driver's insurance company?

I'm woefully ignorant about this kind of thing and would appreciate
any help.

I'm really going to miss my daily cycle rides


If you are a member of the CTC phone their legal helpline. If you are
not, join and phone their legal helpline.

Thank you for the info, Tony. I've bookmarked their site and will get
back to it later. Must admit the £35 membership fee has suddenly
become a bit of an obstacle though.
--

John Latter

Images of Dover, UK
http://www.panoramio.com/user/250345

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

Evolution Research Blog:
http://evomech.blogspot.com/

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:52:03 -0000, "wafflycat"
wrote:

Get a copy of Cycling Weekly or Cycling Plus. Lots of ads from solicitors
who deal with cycling related claims - check that the company you deal with
*does* understand cycling

I'll check 'em out, wafflycat - thanks!'
--

John Latter

Images of Dover, UK
http://www.panoramio.com/user/250345

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism:
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

Evolution Research Blog:
http://evomech.blogspot.com/

On Nov 27, 9:44 pm, John Latter wrote:

Thank you for the info, Tony. I've bookmarked their site and will get
back to it later. Must admit the £35 membership fee has suddenly
become a bit of an obstacle though.

It could pay for itself many times over. Pick up the phone tomorrow
morning and call them. The injury sounds extremely painful. Good luck,
and I wish you a full and speedy recovery.

--
Dave...

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:44:15 +0000,
John Latter wrote:
On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:35:46 -0000, Tony Raven
wrote:

If you are a member of the CTC phone their legal helpline. If you are
not, join and phone their legal helpline.

Thank you for the info, Tony. I've bookmarked their site and will get
back to it later. Must admit the £35 membership fee has suddenly
become a bit of an obstacle though.

:-(

I can understand why 35 pounds could be a problem now if you are likely
to be off work for some time. But hopefully, in the future, you'll see
that less than one pound per week as a critical investment.

Have the police been informed? If not then I suggest you do it ASAP.
While it's the drivers responsibility to notify the police of any injury
accident it's probably going to be to your advantage if the police have
your statement about what happened.

The other thing I'd strongly recommend is writing down exactly what
happened in as much detail as you can as soon as possible. This can be
in note form, nobody else has to read it, but should include things like
was it light or dark, was it wet or dry, exactly what time was it, what
lights did you have on the bike, which bike you were riding, whether you
had a rucksack on or panniers, etc.

While your claim might be simple and straight forwards it could also get
quite expensive for the insurance company - enough so that it's actually
worth them trying to pin at least some of the blame on you and taking it
all the way to court. If you make notes now and refer to them when ever
filling in claim forms and the like then you'll have a consistent (and
correct) story. Potentially it could be months or even years before it
gets to court (unfortunately) and it's easy to forget details that at
the moment you think will be etched into your mind for life.

Tim.

--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/

In article ,
says...

Thank you for the info, Tony. I've bookmarked their site and will get
back to it later. Must admit the £35 membership fee has suddenly
become a bit of an obstacle though.


Call the helpline first and talk to them in that case - they are quite
friendly and happy to help IME if you intend to join. You can then
decide first whether its worth the £35 or not before you pay it.

--
Tony

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has
taken place"
George Bernard Shaw

John Latter wrote:
Hiya,

Last night I was going around a roundabout and about to reach the
point where a dual carraigeway came on to it.

Traffic in the fast lane (nearest to me) saw me, slowed down, and
then stopped. I cycled in front of the fast lane and was then hit by a
car travelling in the dual carraigeway's slow lane.

I've injured my wrist and if it had been a strain or something
relatively simple then I would probably have put it down to
experience.

Unfortuneately, however, the bone in my arm is split lengthwise and I
expect to hear tomorrow about whether or not an operation to insert
metal screws is needed.

Because my part-time job is also likely to be affected I'm now
considering the possibility of claiming compensation and wonder if
anyone could give me any advice:

Is "No win, no fee" my only option or can I make a claim direct to the
driver's insurance company?

If the driver broke the law, yes you can make a claim direct to the driver's
insurance company. (A relative of mine was advised to do this by a
barrister friend specicalising in personal injury and eventually got every
penny claimed). You can claim compensation for personal injury plus
expenses.

It would be wise to get legal advice on the wording of your letters and the
amount to claim. The first letter will be just to inform the company of the
facts and get some acknowledgment. You should wait a while before making
the actual claim in case your injury and recovery is worse than expected.

Keep a diary of all expenses, inconvenience and suffering, and take photos
of any visible injuries.

~PB

Also go to the incident site area and take relevant photos of the area -- your
approach to the spot and the motorists approach ( or as much of it as
possible. You can mark on photos ( especially digital ones on your pc
positions of vehicles and you and you bike before during and after the
incident.

It is obvious that you have had medical attention and X-rays -- it is
important that you GP has knowledge of the injuries and copies ( if possible)
of X-rays taken by the A&E. In any case if you haven't started it already I
strongly recommend that you keep a day to day "medical diary" of how you are
feeling from day to day and how painful the injuries are, what restrictions
have been placed on you with regard to cycling, working , movement about home
and changes to you sleeping patterns. Include photos of injuries as they
develop. Bruising can be extensive but develops slowly.and a photo record is
extremely useful.

Legal help is absolutely essential in reaching a satisfactory settlement and
membership of British Cycling or CTC is a good idea for legal advice/help if
you are a regular daily cyclist.

--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire,
England, United Kingdom.
www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk


"Pete Biggs" wrote in
message ...
John Latter wrote:
Hiya,

Last night I was going around a roundabout and about to reach the
point where a dual carraigeway came on to it.

Traffic in the fast lane (nearest to me) saw me, slowed down, and
then stopped. I cycled in front of the fast lane and was then hit by a
car travelling in the dual carraigeway's slow lane.

I've injured my wrist and if it had been a strain or something
relatively simple then I would probably have put it down to
experience.

Unfortuneately, however, the bone in my arm is split lengthwise and I
expect to hear tomorrow about whether or not an operation to insert
metal screws is needed.

Because my part-time job is also likely to be affected I'm now
considering the possibility of claiming compensation and wonder if
anyone could give me any advice:

Is "No win, no fee" my only option or can I make a claim direct to the
driver's insurance company?

If the driver broke the law, yes you can make a claim direct to the driver's
insurance company. (A relative of mine was advised to do this by a
barrister friend specicalising in personal injury and eventually got every
penny claimed). You can claim compensation for personal injury plus
expenses.

It would be wise to get legal advice on the wording of your letters and the
amount to claim. The first letter will be just to inform the company of the
facts and get some acknowledgment. You should wait a while before making
the actual claim in case your injury and recovery is worse than expected.

Keep a diary of all expenses, inconvenience and suffering, and take photos
of any visible injuries.

~PB