Moral Maze

[Long John]

Some of you may recall or even been there when I had my off last December.

It's now seven months later and insurance renewal time. Two separate letters a month apart state the third party hasn't claimed and the case will be filed, but then the renewal arrives stating the renewal premium has risen and there's a claim being processed? Several phone calls later I find out the car owners (enterprise hire) haven't filed a claim to date, but the driver of the stationary vehicle has so far claimed £3000+ for his personal injury. Thinking this is some sort of mistake I decide to call the driver to seek clarification, I politely explain who I am and explain I'm having problems with my insurance. To my amazement he awkwardly confirms he has made a small claim because he suffered some kind of whiplash injury to his shoulder, resulting from my bike sliding along the road and glancing against the side of the car. So now I'm stuffed by a dubious claim from the driver even though the damage was clearly caused to the vehicle. The driver was clearly not shaken or affected by the incident and even told me he use to ride himself.

Obviously, I'm not naive or unaware of the claim culture we've all inflicted upon ourselves. However, I can honestly say I would not have even considered claiming if I was the driver in this scenario.

Am I wrong, out of touch or is society really that shallow. As an older colleague of mine quotes, "nowadays everybody knows there rights, but few know what's right". Where will the madness end?

?

[Nelly]

Nope, you're right sadly happens too often these days. Someone i know was reversing off her drive a couple of weeks ago when her next door neighbour decided to do the same. They had a 2mph bump in the road on the back quarters. Both got out had a look, no damage. Happy days.
Sadly not. Couple of weeks later letter comes through the door with a claim for injury and stress. Everybody seems to want to make a quick buck. Good luck with the ensuing muddle.

[Trev]

Feel for you Long John, hassle for no good reason. I'm sure we all agree with the need for insurance to cover us when needed but don't expect it to be used as a financial generator for no good reason.

My daughter was involved in a minor prang a couple of years ago, she was in the back of a car bumped at low speed from the side, not much damage to the car but was written off as only worth a grand and no one injured. However all 3 occupants were chased frequently and doggedly by a claims company saying they were 'entitled' to claim for any injury at all and the related stress. One lad (the other passenger) did so and got just over £1200 after having to attend a medical where the doctor confirmed minor whiplash - this 2 months after the event and the lad not missing a day of work, complaining of any pain or missing one single minute of playing time from the local footie team he played for. Can't really blame him as £1200 is a lot for anyone let alone a student working bar on minimum wage but absolutely shouldn't be given the opportunity or hounded to do so, no doubt the claims company made significantly more than £1200 and cost the rest of us insured drivers/riders a small increase each in our premiums.

[Wes]

I dont see how the insurers can process this sort of claim, must be one of those ambulance chasing companies putting this forward, its a total farce, has he got any witnesses? As you said mate, it was only a glancing knock at low level.

[redken1]

It would seem that from top to bottom of the social ladder, greed is promoted and even widely accepted as a reasonable moral position. The MPs' expenses scandal and the casino banking collapse are two examples of institutionalised greed. Unfortunately and sadly, too many ordinary people want a slice of the ill gotten cake too.

In the words of Ghandi, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”

Hope you get it sorted John.

[wheelers]

can I object to the way of thinking here!!!
I had an off in April when a car pulled out In front of me , when I was doing around 5mph. I got up we spoke and all seemed ok. 2 days later get a stiff neck and pain in hip. I left it around a month and chased the insurance to see if driver was claiming as I had heard nothing but as a trade policy I needed to know. no claim her side but I was asked a few questions about myself.
the resultant 2 months later Im getting physio for neck, shoulder back and hip pain. I have a job to move without naproxine until 8am and get restless sleep. the physio says all symptoms are typical from whiplash or car type accidents. Yes , it is genuine pain and I do have a job moving to the extent I have only ridden bikes twice since April. I now have what resembles sciatica, a burning pain in the hips and buttocks.
the general reason for not complaining first apparently was adrenaline flowing, which is why I got up and rode away.. not that easy now...
I was ok on the 4th April, if I get a payout then its not for nothing. don't confuse with those professional car drivers who slam their brakes on in front of you.
each case has its own merits, its not greed. although your car driver was safe in his box he may be trying it on, you wont know

[redken1]

Wheelers, allow me to clarify my comments in my post. They were general and made with reference to the ever increasing cases of insurance fraud.

[Dabz]

That's ridiculous, the static car would have barely felt the impact - by then the bikes momentum was slowed by the Tarmac. A sign of our modern compensation culture, absolutely stupid that his claim could be upheld

[Julie_S]

We are now officially whiplash capital of the world

I had whiplash proper once years ago, didn't manifest itself until nearly a week after the accident. Didn't cross my mind at the time to claim for it as the only person really inconvenienced was my employer as being salaried I was paid when I cleared off home at 12.30 every day for fortnight when I couldn't stay sat at my any longer

Couple of examples of the scavengers who prey on innocent drivers:-

18 Year old girl on the Metro forum I use drove into a car, a month or so later in came the claim for the 3 invisible passengers

A women I worked with has an accident in a lane near Warminster, pulled over for a speeding car which proceeded to hit her in the drivers rear wing. When she put a detailed diagram in to her insurances saying the woman's story was un feasible she changed her story and claimed the accident had happened in Warminster itself. Needless to say she suffered whiplash, and got paid despite the damage to both cars showing clearing this was not the case

75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain - my god how this country has changed in that time. Can't imagine anyone then having that mind set

[wiltshire builders]

I had a 20 tonne lorry sideswipe my van trailer at 15-20 mph.
It was knock for knock and we were both fine so we left it at that.
A few days later I got a call from the police saying I had committed a hit and run leaving the lorry driver with whiplash and severe facial lacerations.
He wanted £20,000!
Luckily I had the sense to notify the police at the time, just incase, so I had an incident number thus proving I hadn't driven off.
Lesson learned.