Car Accident

Hi,

Ive been riding to work for the past 8 months and have found it a pretty
enjoyable experiance unitl a few weeks ago. Riding home at about 6.40 at
night doing about 40 downhill on a main road (Prospect Rd Adelaide) a car
pulled out of a side street straight into me. The middle of the cars bonnet
slammed into my side with most of the damage to the rear wheel. Myself and
the bike went flying over the bonnet flipped over and landed upside down on
the road with the bike on top of me. Lukily I was wearing a backpack with my
work clothes in it which cushioned the fall a little bit.

Anyway the lady that hit me was all apolagetic and even took me to the
hospital where I needed 10 stiches for a deep cut on my ankle. The next day
she and her husband were around my house claiming they wanted to see if I
was alright. However they were more interested in informing me that since I
had no lights it was my fault and they wern't paying. They soon shut up when
I showed them the bike with backlight still working and front light smashed
from the accident. So they agreed to either pay or claim insurance depending
on how much it would cost to fix the bike. I got a quote (about $500) for
my bike and also my watch which has a crack in the face and took it to them
today. The drivers husband claims when they reported the accident the police
told him they were not liable and he should do nothing ie not pay me or
contact their insurance company. The reason for this is that he now claims I
was riding on the footpath. This is obviously not true considering the speed
I was travelling and the distance I ride everyday. Also how could the driver
know if one minute she claims I had no lights and she didn't see me but now
claims she did see me on the footpath.

Anyway I was wandering what I should do now or if anyone has any expeience
in a similar situation (and what my chances are if I have to sue her). I
estimate the damage to the car at around $500-$1000. The driver was the only
occupant of the car and does have comprehesive insurance. However she can
barely speak english so ive been mostly speaking to her husband who's
english is only slightly better.

-M.N

MN wrote in
message ...

Ive been riding to work for the past 8 months and have found
it a pretty enjoyable experiance unitl a few weeks ago.

Riding will always be a high risk approach. Its not a
matter of if the **** hits the fan, its a matter of when.

And you have almost no protection against stupid mistakes.
At least with a car its mostly just a bruised ego/metalwork.

Riding home at about 6.40 at night doing about 40
downhill on a main road (Prospect Rd Adelaide)
a car pulled out of a side street straight into me.

Because you are MUCH less visible than a car.

The middle of the cars bonnet slammed into my side
with most of the damage to the rear wheel. Myself
and the bike went flying over the bonnet flipped over
and landed upside down on the road with the bike on
top of me. Lukily I was wearing a backpack with my
work clothes in it which cushioned the fall a little bit.

Yep, you could easily have ended up dead. And that
would have been extremely unlikely indeed in a car.

Anyway the lady that hit me was all apolagetic and even took me to
the hospital where I needed 10 stiches for a deep cut on my ankle.
The next day she and her husband were around my house claiming
they wanted to see if I was alright. However they were more interested
in informing me that since I had no lights it was my fault and they wern't
paying. They soon shut up when I showed them the bike with backlight
still working and front light smashed from the accident. So they agreed
to either pay or claim insurance depending on how much it would cost
to fix the bike. I got a quote (about $500) for my bike and also my
watch which has a crack in the face and took it to them today. The
drivers husband claims when they reported the accident the police
told him they were not liable and he should do nothing ie not pay me
or contact their insurance company. The reason for this is that he
now claims I was riding on the footpath. This is obviously not true
considering the speed I was travelling and the distance I ride everyday.
Also how could the driver know if one minute she claims I had no lights
and she didn't see me but now claims she did see me on the footpath.

Anyway I was wandering what I should do now
or if anyone has any expeience in a similar situation
(and what my chances are if I have to sue her).

You're almost guaranteed to win. As guaranteed
as you can ever be with the legal system.

I estimate the damage to the car at around $500-$1000.

Not relevant. What matters is the cost of your damages.

Best to use the small claims system, if only to stop legal
parasites pumping your pockets with such a clearcut case.

The driver was the only occupant of the
car and does have comprehesive insurance.

Best to just deal with their insurance company
if you can find out who the insurance company is.

However she can barely speak english so ive been mostly
speaking to her husband who's english is only slightly better.

And its quite likely that that is deliberately worse than it
normally is. They're clearly trying every stunt they can.

Contact the insurance company yourself if you
can find out who the insurance company is.
If you cant, use the small claims system.

Thanks for the reply,

The insurance company is AAMI. I was under the impression that the policy
holder is the one that needs to make the claim. They are refusing to contact
the insurance company at all.

Also what happens if they give their he was riding on the footpath story to
the insurance company is it likely they will then just refuse the claim. If
they did I assume suing the the insurance company would be harder to win.


"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...

MN wrote in
message ...

Ive been riding to work for the past 8 months and have found
it a pretty enjoyable experiance unitl a few weeks ago.

Riding will always be a high risk approach. Its not a
matter of if the **** hits the fan, its a matter of when.

And you have almost no protection against stupid mistakes.
At least with a car its mostly just a bruised ego/metalwork.

Riding home at about 6.40 at night doing about 40
downhill on a main road (Prospect Rd Adelaide)
a car pulled out of a side street straight into me.

Because you are MUCH less visible than a car.

The middle of the cars bonnet slammed into my side
with most of the damage to the rear wheel. Myself
and the bike went flying over the bonnet flipped over
and landed upside down on the road with the bike on
top of me. Lukily I was wearing a backpack with my
work clothes in it which cushioned the fall a little bit.

Yep, you could easily have ended up dead. And that
would have been extremely unlikely indeed in a car.

Anyway the lady that hit me was all apolagetic and even took me to
the hospital where I needed 10 stiches for a deep cut on my ankle.
The next day she and her husband were around my house claiming
they wanted to see if I was alright. However they were more interested
in informing me that since I had no lights it was my fault and they
wern't
paying. They soon shut up when I showed them the bike with backlight
still working and front light smashed from the accident. So they agreed
to either pay or claim insurance depending on how much it would cost
to fix the bike. I got a quote (about $500) for my bike and also my
watch which has a crack in the face and took it to them today. The
drivers husband claims when they reported the accident the police
told him they were not liable and he should do nothing ie not pay me
or contact their insurance company. The reason for this is that he
now claims I was riding on the footpath. This is obviously not true
considering the speed I was travelling and the distance I ride everyday.
Also how could the driver know if one minute she claims I had no lights
and she didn't see me but now claims she did see me on the footpath.

Anyway I was wandering what I should do now
or if anyone has any expeience in a similar situation
(and what my chances are if I have to sue her).

You're almost guaranteed to win. As guaranteed
as you can ever be with the legal system.

I estimate the damage to the car at around $500-$1000.

Not relevant. What matters is the cost of your damages.

Best to use the small claims system, if only to stop legal
parasites pumping your pockets with such a clearcut case.

The driver was the only occupant of the
car and does have comprehesive insurance.

Best to just deal with their insurance company
if you can find out who the insurance company is.

However she can barely speak english so ive been mostly
speaking to her husband who's english is only slightly better.

And its quite likely that that is deliberately worse than it
normally is. They're clearly trying every stunt they can.

Contact the insurance company yourself if you
can find out who the insurance company is.
If you cant, use the small claims system.

MN wrote:

The insurance company is AAMI. I was under the impression that the
policy holder is the one that needs to make the claim.

I had a smash a month ago where a girl pulled out of a petrol bowser
into my car as I was leaving the servo. She said I was in the wrong,
but I knew she was (she pulled off from a stationary position into
the moving traffic). Her insurance company is Allianz. I basically
sent a written report (by fax) of what happened, and her details,
direct to Allianz, and they did what they called a "without prejudice
inspection". They agreed that she was in the wrong and I got a cheque
for $1800 (the amount of a quote I got for repairs to my car) about two
weeks later. So no, you don't have to wait for the insured party to
contact their insurance company before claiming.

They are refusing to contact the insurance company at all.

As you've seen, the insurance company will contact them, if they don't.

Also what happens if they give their he was riding on the footpath
story to the insurance company is it likely they will then just
refuse the claim.

My girl claimed I was wrong, but her company disagreed with her.
Relax -- as Rod said in another post, you'll win, based on the fact
that they were pulling out without due care.

MN wrote in
message ...

Thanks for the reply,

The insurance company is AAMI. I was under the impression
that the policy holder is the one that needs to make the claim.

Its more complicated than that. Strictly speaking you're sposed
to deal with the guilty party yourself when you arent just claiming
on your own insurance and letting them go after the guilty party,
but most insurance companys will see sense if you approach them
directly. Not all tho, quite a few will just tell you to bugger off.

In which case you should use the small claims system.

They are refusing to contact the insurance company at all.

OK, threaten them with the small claims system
and see if that brings them to their senses.

Also what happens if they give their he was riding on the footpath story
to the insurance company is it likely they will then just refuse the claim.

I doubt it when you make it clear to the insurance company
that that cant be true given the distance from your work
to home etc and where the accident actually happened.

Sounds like you didnt call the cops to the accident.

That wasnt a terrific idea, because it would then
have been clear that you couldnt have been riding on the
footpath to have got the headlight fragments on the road etc.

Illegal in some states to not call the cops
when physical injury has occured too.

If they did I assume suing the the insurance
company would be harder to win.

They'll likely realise that the guilty party is
trying to find any excuse to get them off.

That doesnt mean that they will automatically just
pay the claim tho, the worst of them have a hell of
a capacity to attempt to bluff right up to the courthouse
steps, just to minimise their payouts etc.


"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...

MN wrote in
message ...

Ive been riding to work for the past 8 months and have found
it a pretty enjoyable experiance unitl a few weeks ago.

Riding will always be a high risk approach. Its not a
matter of if the **** hits the fan, its a matter of when.

And you have almost no protection against stupid mistakes.
At least with a car its mostly just a bruised ego/metalwork.

Riding home at about 6.40 at night doing about 40
downhill on a main road (Prospect Rd Adelaide)
a car pulled out of a side street straight into me.

Because you are MUCH less visible than a car.

The middle of the cars bonnet slammed into my side
with most of the damage to the rear wheel. Myself
and the bike went flying over the bonnet flipped over
and landed upside down on the road with the bike on
top of me. Lukily I was wearing a backpack with my
work clothes in it which cushioned the fall a little bit.

Yep, you could easily have ended up dead. And that
would have been extremely unlikely indeed in a car.

Anyway the lady that hit me was all apolagetic and even took me to
the hospital where I needed 10 stiches for a deep cut on my ankle.
The next day she and her husband were around my house claiming
they wanted to see if I was alright. However they were more interested
in informing me that since I had no lights it was my fault and they
wern't
paying. They soon shut up when I showed them the bike with backlight
still working and front light smashed from the accident. So they agreed
to either pay or claim insurance depending on how much it would cost
to fix the bike. I got a quote (about $500) for my bike and also my
watch which has a crack in the face and took it to them today. The
drivers husband claims when they reported the accident the police
told him they were not liable and he should do nothing ie not pay me
or contact their insurance company. The reason for this is that he
now claims I was riding on the footpath. This is obviously not true
considering the speed I was travelling and the distance I ride everyday.
Also how could the driver know if one minute she claims I had no lights
and she didn't see me but now claims she did see me on the footpath.

Anyway I was wandering what I should do now
or if anyone has any expeience in a similar situation
(and what my chances are if I have to sue her).

You're almost guaranteed to win. As guaranteed
as you can ever be with the legal system.

I estimate the damage to the car at around $500-$1000.

Not relevant. What matters is the cost of your damages.

Best to use the small claims system, if only to stop legal
parasites pumping your pockets with such a clearcut case.

The driver was the only occupant of the
car and does have comprehesive insurance.

Best to just deal with their insurance company
if you can find out who the insurance company is.

However she can barely speak english so ive been mostly
speaking to her husband who's english is only slightly better.

And its quite likely that that is deliberately worse than it
normally is. They're clearly trying every stunt they can.

Contact the insurance company yourself if you
can find out who the insurance company is.
If you cant, use the small claims system.

In article , MN
wrote:

Thanks for the reply,

The insurance company is AAMI. I was under the impression that the policy
holder is the one that needs to make the claim. They are refusing to contact
the insurance company at all.

No you can make a claim on their policy.


Also what happens if they give their he was riding on the footpath story to
the insurance company is it likely they will then just refuse the claim. If
they did I assume suing the the insurance company would be harder to win.

If you sued them, they'd just bring in the insurers anyhow. Quite
frankly with such a small cost, if you did sue, you'd most likely get a
settlement considering the small costs.

"Peter" wrote in message news:140920031753019855%spamfromnewsgroups@chatoma tic.net...
In article , MN
wrote:

Thanks for the reply,

The insurance company is AAMI. I was under the impression that the policy
holder is the one that needs to make the claim. They are refusing to contact
the insurance company at all.

No you can make a claim on their policy.

Wrong. You can certainly make a claim on them via their insurance company tho.

Also what happens if they give their he was riding on the footpath story to
the insurance company is it likely they will then just refuse the claim. If
they did I assume suing the the insurance company would be harder to win.

If you sued them, they'd just bring in the insurers anyhow.
Quite frankly with such a small cost, if you did sue, you'd
most likely get a settlement considering the small costs.

And it makes more sense to use the small claims system if you can.

In article , Sambo
wrote:
No you can make a claim on their policy.

Wrong. You can certainly make a claim on them via their insurance company tho.


Rodbot.. if you're going to tell me I'm wrong then perhaps you can
actually state why instead of agreeing with me in your next sentence.
Or are you just used to telling people they're wrong, like a reflex
action???

In article , Sambo
wrote:
No you can make a claim on their policy.

Wrong. You can certainly make a claim on them via their insurance company tho.


Rodbot.. if you're going to tell me I'm wrong then perhaps you can
actually state why instead of agreeing with me in your next sentence.
Or are you just used to telling people they're wrong, like a reflex
action???

Peter wrote:

In article , MN
wrote:

Thanks for the reply,

The insurance company is AAMI. I was under the impression that the policy
holder is the one that needs to make the claim. They are refusing to contact
the insurance company at all.

No you can make a claim on their policy.


Also what happens if they give their he was riding on the footpath story to
the insurance company is it likely they will then just refuse the claim. If
they did I assume suing the the insurance company would be harder to win.

If you sued them, they'd just bring in the insurers anyhow. Quite
frankly with such a small cost, if you did sue, you'd most likely get a
settlement considering the small costs.

Don't bet on it! Just finished suing Yellow Cabs in Adelaide on behalf
of my son (who was rear ended while stationary). They initially
agreed, then refused to pay full amount of repair (on instruction from
the purported insurance Co no doubt) - a portion being the muffler
replacement cost. The difference was $234 total between the offer and
amount sought. They lost.....

--
SIR - Philosopher unauthorised
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The one who is educated from the wrong books is not educated, he is
misled.
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