Help Required : Brisbane Crash Repariers (West / South West)

Hello all,

I was hoping that someone could suggest a decent crash repairer in
Bris, preferably in the south or western suburbs. First, a bit of
belated background info, and my apologies for such a massive post:

Three-odd weeks ago now, I was heading home down Ipswich Road, just
before the Harcourt Rd overpass, at 5pm (5:05, to be pedantic). The
traffic tends to slow up around there as you come over the hill, for
the Harcourt Rd exit, but it does it every day, so everyone pretty
much knows about it. Slowed down to about 90 kms as I came over the
top, and the guy in front started braking pretty hard.

I was already ready for him, and was on the brakes myself, with plenty
of distance to spare. The guy behind me in the ute obviously wasn't
paying enough attention, locks the brakes, and skids his bullbar into
the back of the 'Storm.

'Storm and Matt go sliding down the highway. Storm goes right, and
Matt goes left (we were in the right-hand lane). LUCKLY, a couple of
things happen here:

#1 - everyone else sees what's happening, and the people in the
left-hand lane stop before my butt arrives there. Many thanks to them.

#2 - the station wagon in front of me doesn't pay any attention, and
keeps on driving, thus neatly getting out of my way. Thanks to him or
her, I think...

#3 - as soon as I've stopped, a big bloke comes racing over from where
he's just stopped his Harley (or similar cruiser, I wasn't really
paying that much attention), and pick me up off the road, and gets me
safely over onto the side. My thanks go out to him, and if I ever see
him again, I'll be sure to buy him a cold beer.

#4 - The Draggin jeans work like a true chapmion, and keep my skin
(mainly) on me, just where I like it.

#5 - And probably most importantly, Jessie girl (who I'm luckly enough
to be marrying this Saturday), who, any other day of the year, would
have been pillion, was at home with a bad bout of the flu. (She was
NOT impressed when I arrived home in the front seat of a tow truck -
funny that)


SO, all in all, pretty lucky, really (in a perverse sort of fashion).
I ended up with a pretty badly burnt knee from the sliding, bruises,
cuts, etc; the jeans ended up being cut off by the ambo's - scratch
$200 draggin jeans; and the 'Storm's damaged all down the right hand
side from it's bit of highway surfing. It's really not too bad, so I
expect them to get it repaired. It'll need new fairings down that
side, the RHS muffler is pretty stuffed, and sitting up against the
wheel, the ducktail is all loose from the impact of the bullbar, the
tank's dented and a couple of holes in it, and the engine casing is
punched through. Other than that, it's just mainly all the little
things, like the missing indicator, missing rear brake lever, etc.

Now, I'm insured, which is good, and it's all being claimed against
his insurance anyway, but I need to get a quote to send in with the
claim form. Seeing as I bought the bike from Pro Honda, I asked them
two weeks ago to give me a quote for repair. Despite chasing them up
every couple of days, they've still "not got around to it". Colour me
impressed.

So, can anyone else recommend someone on the south side who may be
able to pop over to the towing yard and give me a quote? It's getting
rather urgent, seeing that as of Saturday I'll be spending the next 4
weeks on the beach, and I'm pretty keen to at least get the ball
rolling before then. I'm about to start ringing around places, but
thought I'd ask here first in case anyone's got any experience with
anyone.

Also, if anyone can give any suggestions about the claim process,
that'd be much appreciated. I don't have the optional Helmet cover on
my insurance (Swann), but I'm pretty keen to claim for the jacket and
jeans (helmet wasn't damaged - my neck's bloody sore from the twisting
required to keep it off the bitumen, but the helmet's OK!!!). My
theory goes that since I wasn't doing anything wrong, why should I pay
for the gear that was damaged. Is this a valid theory, or should I
resign myself to having to buy some new gear as well?

Thanks everyone - any and all comments are much appreciated!
Matto
02 Yellow Firestorm (well, what's left of it anyway!!!)

 

In aus.motorcycles on 10 Oct 2004 21:36:14 -0700

YOu have 2 choices - claim on your insurance and let them recover from
his insurance, or claim on his and not yours.

If you claim on yours, it's simple - you get quotes, fill in form, and wait.

If you claim on his, it is almost as simple - you get quotes, get form
from his insurance company, fillin form, and wait.

Your lot will pay out when they've processed it all.

His lot will not start processing till he has filled in his paperwork
and given it to them. THis can take time and may require you to send a
letter of demand to him. His insurance company may require you to do
that anyway.

If you claim on his you don't pay excess or lose your no claim.

If he isn't insured or refuses to claim, then you have to take him to
court if you claim on his, if you claim on yours, your insurance company
takes him to court but pays you quickly.

If he seemed to think his insurance was in order, then I think the best
bet is to claim on his and claim everything you can. You will wait
longer for your money but get more and not pay excess.

Make sure you claim for your gear, the cost of the truck, and any other
expenses.

Whichever way you jump, make sure you have:
- full repair quote for your bike in writing
- cost of towtruck or any other costs incurred.
- replacement cost for riding gear.
- police report number. If the cops did not attend, you should have
reported the crash the same day and got the report number. If you
haven't done so, get down now and do it.
- his full name, address, driver's licence number if possible.
- his insurance company details.

Zebee

 

I could suggest a company called Simca in Slacks Creek. They are in the
Yellow Pages. My 02 Triumph is there at the moment after I had the
misfortune of being hit by a car.

 

That's where I got the Gixxer from/repaired. They're work's pretty good.
Even managed to incorporate an 02 colour scheme onto a 98 bike quite
flawlessly. Wish I could mention names and such, but it's been a while

TB

 

Ummm, _almost_...

You can't "claim on his insurance", you have to make a claim personally
against him and he then has the option to either pay you directly or
claim against his own insurance (or to **** you around and require you
to got thru the court to get your money).

I've done this twice now, once from each end. When the Landcruiser hit
me and Marko from behind, I just got he police report saying I was not
at fault, and let my insurance deal with everything including claiming
my helmet and jacket against _his_ insurance even though they weren't
covered by mine. When the Spada got mown down while it was parked, it
only had 3rd party property, so I got a quote and wrote the guy a letter
of demand[1] - his insurance company contacted me and they dealt with
everything.

If you're deemed "not at fault" and you can identify him, I think you'll
find that claiming on your insurance is by far the best way to go. When
I needed to, they[2] were quick, helpful, and upfront about everything,
and doing it that way allowed me to start the repairs immediately by
actually paying my excess up front, which I got back again when they'd
sorted out all the details with the at-fault drivers insurance company
(about 8 weeks from memeory). I'm reasonably sure that if it wasn't your
fault and the at fault drive is insured then it doesn't effect your no
claim bonus either - call your insurance company and check.

big

[1] based on this (possibly NSW specific) advice:
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lc.nsf/pages/info_issueclaims

[2] Western QBE - I've been insured full comp with them for almost 5
years now, I've made 2 claims, one my fault and one not my fault, and
have been perfectly happy with them both times. (as it turns out, the 5
years worth of premiums comes out to more than the two repair costs, but
thats insurance for you...)

 

Allbikes in Moss Street, Slacks Creek did my wifes bike repair and it was a
great job.

 

Contact Swann.

If it's the other guys fault, Swann will chase it all up, and you won't
pay any excess.

It doesn't matter what you insured yourself for, claim every bit of
damage this moron caused. Helmet, Draggin's (contact them. I seem to
recall that they can be very grateful for the ability to examin
crash-tested jeans) towing, other clothing, any medicals. He or his
insurance company will pay up, Swann will help you collect.

Don't be too shocked if the total cost of the repairs is a bit higher
than you anticipate. I hope it doesn't become a write-off situation.

Moike

 

Hi Everyone,

Firstly, thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond - it's most
appreciated.

I thought I'd post a general round up of the questions, rather than
answer each of you individually, for ease of reading the thread's
sake.

Seems the general consensus is that it's easier to claim via my
insurance, and let them do all the running around, even if it means
that they may pay out a bit less than I'd otherwise get. Due to the
lack of being around for the next 4 weeks to chase it all up myself, I
figure that this is probably a pretty good deal, and I may stand a
chance of having the bike back by the time we return (yeah, right!).

When I spoke to Swann at the start of things, they told me that so
long as it's not my fault, they don't require any excess, and it won't
affect my no-claim bonus. The Swann operator (who was most helpful)
said the only real difference between claiming on my insurance or his
was that by claiming through mine, I'll actually get the bike fixed
some time soon. Seems to be the general consensus here too, so that's
great!

Regarding the police report - they didn't come to the scene of the
accident. Well, we waited 40 mins, and they hadn't turned up by then,
so we all assumed that they weren't coming. I phoned up that evening
and spoke to the duty officer who really wasn't that concerned, and
seemed to think that I didn't really need to report it. That said, he
was very vague about it all: "Well, you don't really need to report
it, unless it's over $xxx ($2500, I think?)", leaving it open to my
valuation of the damage. He suggested that if I did want to report it,
to go to "my local station" in the morning, and sort it out there.
Must have been a busy night. I didn't do this - might this come back
to bite me?

Thanks for the suggestions regarding the repair shops too - it's great
to actually get some idea of who'll do a decent job. You spend all
this time and money taking good care of them yourselves, would be a
shame to end up with some backyard bob just slapping on bit of filler
and (maybe) giving it a quick sand. I'll give both Simca and AllBikes
a call, and have a chat!

And finally, regarding the gear. I'll get some prices for replacing
the damaged gear with like-for-like. I imagine that, should it be
approved, they'll just provide a cheque to cover these costs? That
might come in handy, since it's a winter jacket, and it's coming into
summer now. I'll shoot Draggin an email, and see if they're
interested in some R&D supplies!

Quickie question too on the helmet - should I look at getting this
replaced as well? I managed to keep it off the deck, and it's
(amazingly) not got even a scratch on it. My understanding is that if
they're dropped, or suffer a similar shock which could degrade the
performance of the compressed foam structure, then that's when you
need to replace them. What is essentially a bit of bobbing around
shouldn't worry it at all? Should I claim for a new lid anyway, and if
it gets rejected, so be it?


Again thanks to everyone for your help. Not the sort of thing you hope
to ever have to know everything about.

Thanks!
Matto
'02 Yellow Storm (Hopefully in one piece again soon!)

 

In aus.motorcycles on 11 Oct 2004 17:28:30 -0700

ask your insurance company. Last time I had to claim, they wanted a
police report number.

Zebee

 

...and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait.

If you claim on your own, and can nominate another party as being at fault,
you will not pay any excess or lose your NCB.

IMHO I think that is bad advice. Why pay an insurance premium if you're not
going to make use of it when the circumstances arise? Your insurance premium
pays for more than just the cover of the bike, you're paying for quick
resolution of the matter - be it repair or money to go buy a new bike, you're
paying to let someone else **** around with filling out paperwork and writing
letters and dealing with insurance companies.

Last year I had a not at fault accident. I claimed through my own insurance
for the repairs to the bike, and directly through the other party's insurance
company for replacement of my leathers, helmet, boots, watch, phone, taxi to
get home and even for the cost of hiring a Ducati to ride down to Phillip
Island for the GP.

My insurance company had my bike repaired and back on the road 2 months before
the cheque from the other insurance company arrived for my riding gear etc.
If the bike is a write off, you may have a cheque in your hand from your own

From the damage the OP described I'd think the bike may well be a write off.
If he has an agreed value policy he'll probably get a much better payout from
his own insurer than the other party's insurer, who will only pay market
value.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R