I had a bit of a disaster last week. Family do at my elder brother near Salisbury. New phone is slightly larger than old Samsung but put it in same bike jacket pocket. I noticed that the Velcro didn’t close properly but paid no attention. Phone flew out of pocket a few miles in. Wasted time looking for it and have been back to where Google thinks it is. Phone never to be seen again! Then, Satnav went mad around Chippenham and spent the next 30 miles ‘recalculating’. I know the route well but I was trying out some alternatives. I ended up switching it off and ignoring it. Big problem next: I left my brother’s around six and needed petrol. Passed very easy petrol station on my left because it was a couple of pence more expensive than the next!. The next petrol station is on the other side of the road near a big junction that gets busy at that time. I was so busy concentrating on the petrol station that I did not notice that traffic in front of me had stopped. I did a big emergency stop – well, a massive stoppie - but touched the car in front and fell off. I’m on the floor and I’m in agony. It feels as though my left boot is filling with blood. Many people stop to help and the trained fist aiders (bless them) come to the fore. I’m not very cooperative because I am writhing around in agony while the first aiders want me to lie still under a blanket with my head supported with an improvised pillow. Police show up and then ambulance. I am taken into ambulance and they give me gas. The gas is fucking brilliant and sorts me out. The sad thing about the ambulance is that there is a recorded message that goes off every time the door is shut. It is words about being on cctv and not abusing the staff. This intrigued me and I asked the guys about it. It is common for these guys to receive abuse from ‘clients’ – that is normally connected with booze and drugs. Quite sad that it comes to this abuse for guys just doing their job who are just trying to help and getting paid not a fortune. It gets madder when police come into ambulance, but not to breathalyse me, but to ask my permission to give my details to the other party whose car I hit. I have admitted fault and the police have my driving licence that I gave them. I ask why they need my permission to give my details to the party that I hit. It is data protection law they told me. I was too out of it to press the point of what would happen if I refused permission under data protection law! Anyway, stayed the night at my elder brother near Salisbury sand got bike transported back to my brother’s the next day – where it is now. My younger brother and Police wheeled bike over to petrol station where it spent the night wrapped in police tape. As far as I can tell the damage is that the left hand mirror is destroyed and left hand pipe scratched. So, pretty lucky. Ankle was x-rayed and not broken, just badly sprained with a wound on inside ankle. I’m guessing that rather than damage the bike my ankle took the hit! So could be a lot worse and I was lucky. Never did get my petrol....
Relatively lucky escape, hope the ankle heals reasonably quickly and the damage to the bike is as light as your first assessment. Presume the car driver is going to claim against your insurance. If that's the case then claiming for any damage to your bike, assuming fully comp, I guess, wouldn't have any further impact on your NCB.
I have not heard a thing from the third party. The Policeman told me that there was only a scratch on the car and that they did not want to involve insurance. I know that they have my details but I don't have theirs. Ankle is healing up fine, It is still swollen and does ache but I can walk dog just as far as before without problem. I think that I would of 'saved' about 55p on the petrol - had I made it. I'll be lucky to get out of this for less than £500 all told
As per Bumpkin & Bradders, might as well claim for your own damage if you've lost your NCB. More importantly, you're OK though bad sprains can be really painful. Hope you get it all sorted soon.
I know that I 'elected' for quite a high excess on my insurance as I never have accidents!!! Haven't checked, but it may be 250 compulsory and 500 voluntary. So 750 all told. The bike is at my elder brother's and he doesn't know anything about bikes. I will have to drive down to have a proper look.
Sorry to read about your accident but glad neither you nor the bike are too bad . As an aside about crossing junctions etc I remember a conversation I had with someone from UPS many years ago. All staff with company cars are told they must always reverse in to parking spaces so they are facing forwards when they leave and their delivery trucks in LHD countries must always turn left at junctions and turn right in RHD countries. Makes their route longer but drastically reduces the number of accidents.
Even if neither you nor the other chap put in an insurance claim, so your NCB is not lost, you will still find that at next renewal the insurers will ask whether you have had any accidents. If you truthfully reveal this one, your premium may rise; but if you don't reveal it, your insurance cover may be invalid thereafter.
My ankle is doing pretty well. Still a bit swollen but I can walk just as far as before and wound is dry and clean. Now my toes have all gone black with bruising! I never hurt my toes but I think that they are going bad just for attention! Pretty soon, I will get the Monster out and then I'll ride it down to Salisbury. My ST3 ignition key is bent about 30 degrees. HTF did the ignition key get bent???
Do they ask if you've had a previous accident or claim? An accident could be refered to just about anything unfortunate happening, even peeing in you pants could be described as an accident.
I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune and wish you a speedy recovery. If is any help to you I have a running ST3 that I am about to break, it has minor damage to the right hand side and is slver in colour.
They deliberately use the wording “accidents or claims”. They basically want to screw you as much as possible so technically, dropping a spanner on your tank in the garage would count against you.
We are talking about motor vehicles, so an accident implicitly means a vehicle colliding with another vehicle (or a person or an object or the ground) so as to cause damage. You will find that every insurance company asks this (or something like it) when you apply to buy or renew insurance.
So they price you out of making small claims with increasingly high excess charges yet expect you to report them so they can charge you more, crafty bu++ers. Steve
