Accident/Insurance advice

marcusl wrote:

ritcho wrote:
Sorry to hear about the accident and I'm glad you're ok.
I once worked on a research project for an insurance company, examining
accident claims. My advice (fwiw) is to get your quote but also get an
assessment of the pre-accident value of your bike. If it is more costly
to restore your bike to its pre-accident condition, it will be cheaper
for the insurance company to cut you a cheque (as well as being the
correct settlement for the damage to your property).
You'll (probably) need to have a qualified insurance assessor to do that
for you - a quote for a new bike from the shop won't do.
Once you have the information, a letter of demand is a pretty powerful
tool for making the other insurance company move. From the research I
had done, the letter needs to be addressed to the insured, not the
company. After all, the insured is liable, whilst the insurer has
entered a separate arrangement to indemnify the insured.
Good luck,
Ritch.
PS. F***ing 4wds!

How do you find a qualified insurance assessor for bicycles? Might give
BNSW a call they may know if there is one in Sydney.... How do you get a
pre-accident value assessment of your bike if it's not from a bike
shop...hmm....don't have the receipts...actually got it from my brother
in law who USED to run a bike shop on the Gold Coast for an extreme
discount ($700 instead of $1500) As for the letter, i read somewhere to
send it to both the insured and their insurer....it was actually his
dad's car and is probably insured thus....but i don't have his fathers
name.... Defintley more research required! In a way I'm kind of glad it
was a 4wd...if it had've been lower then i would have been catapulted
over the top and landed who knows how.... thanks for the advice marcus

--

Most insurance companies are a bit strict on who can value the bike, so
give the insurer a call and check your options.
T

I was hit by someone running a red light about 18 months ago. She had
full comprehensive insurance and lodged a claim with her insurer
(NRMA). Just by quoting who & when I was able to claim against NRMA -
mostly by phone. Just got the bike quote for **everything** & sent it
in. Then hassled them for a month+ as they lost/passed on/etc my
claim. Bike Addiction did a great job on the quote - repair cost far
exceeded replacement.

You might also want to look at the Motor Accident Authority (MAA)
website. It's mainly for your third party personal injury. So you
don't have to pay any medical/physio bills yourself. If you were on
your way to/from work, you can claim personal injury costs from
workers comp insurance, who will pass it on to the other guys insurer
anyway.

good luck with it

Al.