T-Boned

In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:52:01 GMT

When someone rammed the 850T up the back and caused a grand's worth of
damage, there was no "stuff to go through". The guy wanted to pay
himself at first because he didn't want to lose the NCB but decided
the quote was too much and made his claim.

No fuss no drama.

Now if the other isn't insured, or doesn't want to do their side of
the claim, then fuss and drama. Wait for that.

Zebee

 

Very true Nev, but my point being, a letter from a solicitor is very formal
and the lay-out of a legal letter is better than what you or I ,
or most of everyone here could write
and the opposition can be persuaded to pay up without any further ado

 

My arguement as well, but maybe I said it a bit different to what you interpreted
I think that a legal letter in the first instance can encourage the other person to
pay,
because of threatened or impending court action.
Not much to pay if your back is against the wall with no insurance to cover you.
As the OP said, he has only Third party property, fire and theft, which doesn't cover
damage to his vehicle

 

With apologies for the top-posting

Just got off the phone with the cager's insurance company.

"Sorry, the policy holder has not made a claim to us so we cannot even
talk to you. We cannot force him to make a claim. If he decides not to
make a a claim you will have to recover the costs etc from him privately".

Getting more pissed off by the moment.

N/

 

Why the hell would you contact the driver's insurance company. Of
course they won't talk to you, you have no relationship with them.

Don't take advice from usenet, particularly when the advisor is Nev.

How did the driver respond to your formal letter of demand?


GB

 

I have always deemed a letter from a solicitor to be a declaration of
war.

Those with peace in their hearts talk to you first.


Onya bike...

Gerry

 

The only way I can see anyone making a comment like that is if they
never read any correspondence from solicitor themselves... how,
exactly, did you manage to stay so naive through as long a life as
you've led, George?

Enough with the lawyers, already. To reiterate, that will only become
an option should the other party and/or their insurance company[1]
become obstinate, and his own insurance company refuse to help out
with advice or drawing up of correspondence in the interests of
hanging on to a customer.

So far, it looks like the other guy is ready to play ball. Ergo, the
advice to the OP has been about ways to extract the monetary
compensation due to him with a minimum of fuss and ill will. If that
changes, and the above-listed alternatives have been exhausted, *then*
it will be time to see about getting a solicitor involved and spending
the $500-$800 that will entail - which, to reiterate *again*, because
you don't read posts before you respond to them, you *won't* get back
in entirety from any kind of settlement.



[1] More than one case out there of the other guy insisting that he
"dinn' do nuffink" and his insurance company saying, "Yes, you did.
Now STFU and pay your excess."

 

To break that down even more simply:

1. Phone the other guy.
2. Inform him that you are in the process of obtaining a repair quote
and drafting up a letter of demand.
3. Request that he lodge a claim with his insurance and provide you
with the claim number for your reference when he does so.
4. Hang up the phone.
5. Proceed to do as you said you would, and obtain a repair quote and
draw up a letter of demand. Address the letter of demans to the guy
who hit you.
6. Place repair quote and the letter of demand in a Registered Post
envelope. Write other guy's name and address on the front, yours on
the back. Seal envelope. Post.
7. Wait two days.
8. Phone the other guy again and ask if he's lodged and insurance
claim.
9. Report back here with the results of the second conversation.

I honestly have no idea why I'm bothering... my usual reaction is to
let those who won't listen to advice the first time round make their
own mistakes while I kick back with a cigar and a pina colada and
watch the sorry spectacle...

 

Quite easy, by not listening to you.

Looks like, but this is not set in stone as yet, so better be prepared than sorry

Probably because of some top posters who reply and snip most of what you say,
probably the irrelevant bits

What has this got to do with the OP?

 

Nigel, I will reiterate what I said first
See a solicitor and get them to send the driver a letter for compensation to your
damaged bike, leathers, skin, loss of wages etc.

Listen to the others here and believe them and dismiss my answer if you wish, but
see who is right in the long run
A solicitors letter will not cost that much as it appears you may have trouble with
the driver
Be prepared, not be over confident.

 

Formal, layout - bah humbug.. who gives a toss. You're basing your
advice on the assumption that the 'opposition' will not just bend over
and take it like they should, which I think in most circumstances they
will. Secondly, if you're dealing with a person who is insured, then
there is no point 'persuading' them with solicitors letters, because
they are just going to forward the letter to their insurance company,
who probably have a much bigger and meaner legal team than you do, and
probably see many solicitors letters and treat them the same as any
other... and as Gerry said, as a primary action, it's very aggressive
and likely to provoke a negative reaction.

I think the best initial contact is with the other driver, either at the
scene of the accident on by telephone within a couple of days later. If
you call them politely ask for the name of their insurance company and
enquire about their health.. no need to be aggressive, no need to get
into any discussion about who was at fault or not. If they ask why,
just tell them your insurance company needs that information to lodge
your claim. If you only have 3rd party fire/theft don't tell them that.
The only information you need is their name, the name of their
insurer, and the rego of their car (and the name of the owner if the
driver was not the owner). If you get this information at the scene of
the accident it's probably not even necessary to ever contact them again.

All future dealings are with their insurer, and no need to spend any
money on solicitors. Even then if the insurer pushes back, I would be
very reluctant to spend money on solicitors unless I was prepared to
prepared to follow through with escalating the matter to court.

A couple of years ago I had a prang caused by a woman in a shitbox
Hyundai. I had comprehensive insurance on my bike which didn't cover my
riding gear so I had to contact the other driver's insurance to seek
reimbursement. I had already lodged a claim through my own insurance
for repairs to my bike which was a writeoff. I rang my own insurer to
get the details of the other driver's insurance company. They told me
that the other driver's insurance company had advised them that [for
reasons which I never ascertained] the other driver did not have a valid
insurance policy and they were not covering her... so I would have to
seek payment from the driver directly.

I had already been paid out for the insured value of my bike and I knew
that my bike had already sold at auction and the selling price, so I
knew that my insurer were about to send the driver a bill for the
$10,000 difference. I immediately sent her my bill with quotes, for
about $2500 worth of helmet/jacket/boots etc and a demand to pay within
7 days. Of course as soon as she got this letter she was straight on
the phone to me. You don't need to use a solicitor to get someone's
attention, you just need to scare them with a big enough number,
especially when they have no money to pay you with anyway.

After a brief telephone conversation she agreed to pay me about 1/4 of
the amount I had asked for, enough for a new helmet and a bit extra. I
had a money order in the mail 2 days later. She told me she had to
borrow the money to pay me. Sometimes you have to cut your losses. I
don't know if a solicitor would have done any better for me. I doubt
it. I knew as soon as she saw the $10,000 bill from my insurance
company, there was little chance of me getting any money from her for
myself, ever.

Nev..
'07 XB12X

 

I don't think his actions relate to any advise I gave. My advise was
based on the assumption that the other driver had lodged or would lodged
a claim.

Nev..
'07 XB12X

 

Read up, Nev. That is incorrect. Unless he lodges a claim, the
insurance company have the option of giving you the runaround.

The correct thing to do is send them a formal letter of demand with a
request that they forward it on to their insurance company, and lodge
a claim and provide you with the claim number.

Only *then* will the insurance company deal directly with you.

How many not-at-fault accidents involving an insured vehicle have you
had where, in turn, *you* haven't had insurance of your own? I've had
several now, and, trust me, that is how it works. Unless a claim's
been lodged, the other guy's insurance company will ignore you.

 

Sure, that's the solicitors way of suckering people in. Many will even
give you a free initial consultation or send a free letter of demand for
you. Remember that once you have begun legal representation, all future
correspondence you have with the other party or their insurer will be
via that solicitor, who will charge you every time they deal with you.
They will charge you every time they open a letter, or receive a fax.
They will charge you every time they read a letter, or call someone on
your behalf or contact you to tell you that they received a letter, or
write you a letter, or email you, or send you your money... and their
standard minimum charge for doing anything is about 15 minutes of their
time. They will charge you $9 for receiving a fax and $9 for sending
one, plus $10 for receiving correspondence via email, and they have
photocopiers which use toner made from gold which require an honours
degree to operate, because they will sting you about $6 per A4 sheet..
do the maths.

Nev..
'07 XB12X

 

I got T-boned by a SMIDSY in January. You got off lightly compared to
me, apart from the insurance side.

Because you were injured, the police should have attended the scene and
written up an incident report. You will need that incident report
number when you lodge claims with insurers.

You will need to lodge a claim with the driver's CTP insurer for damage
to yourself including medical expenses and lost wages. See
http://www.maa.nsw.gov.au/default.aspx?MenuID=146 You shouldn't need a
lawyer for that, but it could drag on, so get started on it ASAP.

For your bike, helmet, etc, you will need to claim from the driver.
Since he's not playing ball and lodging a claim, I suggest you ask
/your/ TPP insurer for advice before hiring a lawyer.

PS. Solosite gel is good for healing grazed skin. Available at chemist
stores.

 

???

Who said I wasn't listening? Or was this aimed at someone else?

I appreciate /everyone's/ advice here.

N/

 

The only good part of the story/ My SO works for a wound care and
surgucal company that have these incredible adhesive dressings. One
variety doesn't pull hair out

N/

 

You should be able to get 10 minutes for a few dollars at a local
solicitor , this will allow you time to discover costs if you turn the
solicitor loose starting with a letter of demand , once the stated time
period for reply is up start court action in small claims (he has to
pay costs when beaten) and if he fails to defend then you seconder his
salary or pension and or goods ( the sheriff or bailiff will serve the
paperwork for a modest fee)the solicitor will explain it all .People
paid once due to a sense of honour now they just scurry away like rats
in the dark .
Make sure you have sworn statements and copies of the site photographs
and anything remotely relevant including your diarised entry's . It is
winnable but I wish you luck anyway

 

True to a point BUT if you feel the account is excessive offer to have
it taxed at the local court house , amazing at the reductions this brings .

 

While we're on Insurance companies.....
We had two company scooters, which the directors (not me) bought in a fit
about four years ago. We have third Party insurance on each. Recently one of
them failed in the oil-pump dept. I don't need to tell you repair is not an
option, so I handed back the plate, cancelling the rego. I declined the
$0.15 refund due to us. That was two months ago.

This morning I get an Urgent Attention required letter from them (SGIO)
saying the policy (for $85) is overdue. So I rang them to tell them not to
bother, the scooter is dead, we won't be renewing. I thought it was the
courteous thing to do. Apparently not! She says, you are a company so you
have to advise us in writing. I says, or what? (laughing out loud) She says,
we will continue to send you reminders until you notify us in writing. I
says (still laughing), let's see who last longest.

I'll probably still be getting these after I retire.

Theo