idiot knocks my bike

Valentines night i stop at a shop and give the car in front at least 4-5ft space. Driver sat in vehicle whilst i pulled up, he was waiting for his missus to finish work in the shop.
Anyway i come out of the shop to witness him slowly reversing into my bike even though i was screaming at him to stop. Bike goes over and the guy helps me lift the bike.
Brake pedal bent on first inspection, which he said could be bent back into position! i said 'it can, but the lever will be useless as when metal bends it weakens' told him it would cost roughly £20 to replace, he was happy with this and told me his wife works in the shop and the road he lives in (no house number given)

On further inspection today, indicators scratched, bars are extremely bent (knew this when i got oh the bike, he had gone by then), mirror scratched, engine cover,fairing and exhaust all scratched.
Rang the shop and spoke to this guys wife, she said she'll have a look at the cctv footage. I dont know why she wants to look at it and have a thought that she might try and erase the footage. I gave her a rough estimate of at least £250 and she said she'll get her husband to ring me tomorrow.

I have taken pictures of the damage and sourced replacement parts that are of new quality and the cheapest i could find.

Do i wait until tomorrow for her husband to ring and argue the toss (he might be reasonable!) or shall i contact my insurers straight away?

They didnt give me insurance details at the scene and im reliant on the cctv footage to argue my case as my helmet cam was switched off at the time.

Sorry to hear about your damage KR.. It surprises me how often it happens, especially when the buggers have watched you turn up in the first place. fingers crossed he plays the game.. As if you say the CCTV saw it all he won't have a leg to stand on..

He's lucky really that i can get a 50% discount on the zorst as an existing customer, he's also lucky that the headset bearings are ok. I've mentioned 250 to her, i imagine that if it goes through insurance the price will rocket to £600 for genuine new parts.
He's lucky my bike is cheap and not a gixxer/r1 etc which would cost a lot more to fix.
Choice is his and hers.

Do i give them until tmw for a reply or should i contact my insurer?

I would contact the insurance co just to let them know what the situation is and Exactly what is happening , then if the wrigglers dont respond youve at least notified the ins co and they are ready . If those people put you off another day then another and you ring the ins co in a couple of weeks to notify them , youre probably going to encounter more problems than already exist.

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Originally Posted by Daddy Cool

I would contact the insurance co just to let them know what the situation is and Exactly what is happening , then if the wrigglers dont respond youve at least notified the ins co and they are ready . If those people put you off another day then another and you ring the ins co in a couple of weeks to notify them , youre probably going to encounter more problems than already exist.

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Agree with this totally.

Also, that sucks! I hope it doesnt take too long to get it all sorted

luckily have got some old handlebars that have a slight bend, so swapped them over, the brake pedal i have pulled back out, should be ok until a new one arrives.

i have photo'd scratches on the fairing and any other area on that side of the bike. Zorst has the tiniest scratch, but this has annoyed me a lot and i want that replaced lol.

Sound advice from DC.
Do exactly as he says and you should be alright.

I had a taxi driver go into the back of my car - and he wanted to sort it without going through his insurance.
I got three quotes and chose the middle of the three (fair I thought)
Then when I had got it done he started to 'wriggle' ; I said fine, we'll put it through on the insurance then.
The next day the cash was waiting for me -'funny that isn't it!

The trouble with telling your insurance up front is that although you may never need their help..you are telling them about a possible claim if things go wrong..and whatever the outcome it will be logged.
A friend had the same and although the other driver paid in full it did affect things later. although it goes down as a "no fault accident" it's like they don't quite believe you!!!!

I'd see what happens and hold the insurance notification back if the other guy tries to wiggle out.. It's amazing what the thought of their insurance premium going up for a few years tends to get them to cough up.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I cant phone insurers today as they are shut. I will give this guy until 5pm tomorrow to get in touch, if he doesn't that gives me 30 minutes talktime with the insurers.

You may also want to report it to the Police to get a crime number you can do it online.

I had someone do exactly the same to me years ago, the woman was about to drive off.

She said sorry and then drove off. I got the reg plate after assessing the damage.

Rang my insurers and she admit full fault. The damage caused was £900 on a moped!

I settled on a cheque, as I paid £400 for it and bought a brand new one of the same model.

Sorry to hear this,


I believe all insurers use some complicated statistics to work out you premium, so even if you have a no fault accident which costs them nothing it may still increase your renewal premium.

So I if you can sort it out between you without involving your insurers it could save you money at renewal time.

Also if the guy argues about cost just remind him how much premiums are going up and what effect you claiming off his insurance will have on his renewal if he insists on questioning your repair costs.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

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Originally Posted by QB1

You may also want to report it to the Police to get a crime number you can do it online.

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I spoke to the police on sunday, they didn't give me a crime number though.

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Originally Posted by Killer Rat

I spoke to the police on sunday, they didn't give me a crime number though.

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You do sometimes have to ask for one but you really should get the number. Sometimes insurers will ask for it too.

Is it a crime or an accident??

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Originally Posted by Swanny

Is it a crime or an accident??

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ive no idea!

The main crime this guy committed was telling me that he used to ride bikes, to which i replied 'how about using your mirrors to check blind spots'.

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Originally Posted by Swanny

Is it a crime or an accident??

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Doesn't it become a crime if the guy left the scene without giving his details?

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Originally Posted by WR6133

Doesn't it become a crime if the guy left the scene without giving his details?

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Not if there was an agreement between the two parties to settle the matter without the insurance companies.

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Originally Posted by WR6133

Doesn't it become a crime if the guy left the scene without giving his details?

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Yes - if he didn't give you methods of contact.
If it were me I would phone him this afternoon and say 'Last chance before I contact my insurers'
Your choice fella?
If no response then put it in the hands of your insurers - job done

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Originally Posted by Rabb

Yes - if he didn't give you methods of contact.
If it were me I would phone him this afternoon and say 'Last chance before I contact my insurers'
Your choice fella?
If no response then put it in the hands of your insurers - job done

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Contacted my insurers, im at the information only stage. If he doesn't ring me tonight, i shall follow-up with the insurers tmw.

Get as much info as possible. The police should have given you the log number of your call. It's the date followed by a number. This will at least show that the incident was recorded at the time.
If there was CCTV footage this will seal the guys fate.

Just to put things inperspective:
On saturday my brohter in-law was working in Batheaston. He looked out of the window to see his van being driven off.
By the time he got outside the guy had crashed into the wall opposite.
He dragged him out and called the police.
The guy gets arrested for agrivated theft, drink driving etc.
Great. Obviously an open and shut case.......... not quite.

The little sh*t said he was just walking past and that my brother in-law is trying to set the guy up. No witnesses saw him take or crash the van.
If this even gets to court, I'll eat my trowel!

My advice. Hit him with everything at your disposal. You can always ease off if he comes through with the money.

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Originally Posted by wiltshire builders

Get as much info as possible. The police should have given you the log number of your call. It's the date followed by a number. This will at least show that the incident was recorded at the time.
If there was CCTV footage this will seal the guys fate.

Just to put things inperspective:
On saturday my brohter in-law was working in Batheaston. He looked out of the window to see his van being driven off.
By the time he got outside the guy had crashed into the wall opposite.
He dragged him out and called the police.
The guy gets arrested for agrivated theft, drink driving etc.
Great. Obviously an open and shut case.......... not quite.

The little sh*t said he was just walking past and that my brother in-law is trying to set the guy up. No witnesses saw him take or crash the van.
If this even gets to court, I'll eat my trowel!

My advice. Hit him with everything at your disposal. You can always ease off if he comes through with the money.

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Pity to hear about your bruv-in-law's hassle; problem is that the law is really only effective for those who, on the whole, prefer and try to live within it, if u really don't give a f**k then it's amazing how far you have to go before you feel the consequences. For these people it would better if protection from the law was not an option therefore allowing van owners who are relieved of their property to take action they see best fit to deter future thieving scumbags and to relieve them of suitable compensation - rant over !

Too true Trev.. If you stay legal..at least they can send you a speed ticket through the post..if you buy a car for cash of a bloke at the pub..don't tax it..register it or insure it..then the ticket gets dropped after they can't find the present owner.. I can't watch things like traffic cops..where you see some piece of C@?! Steal your car.. Run from the police..crash into half a dozen other cars..and then get 60 hours community service and points on a licence they don't even have..WTF!!.. Never mind the poor sods that won't get enough money for their car to replace it like for like..and will probably end up in debt just to replace what the scum wrote off..

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Originally Posted by Sins

Too true Trev.. If you stay legal..at least they can send you a speed ticket through the post..if you buy a car for cash of a bloke at the pub..don't tax it..register it or insure it..then the ticket gets dropped after they can't find the present owner.. I can't watch things like traffic cops..where you see some piece of C@?! Steal your car.. Run from the police..crash into half a dozen other cars..and then get 60 hours community service and points on a licence they don't even have..WTF!!.. Never mind the poor sods that won't get enough money for their car to replace it like for like..and will probably end up in debt just to replace what the scum wrote off..

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and who will pay increased insurance premiums in future as they've had to claim through no fault of their own :mad:

just realized that both me and the party involved were both parked on double yellows. according to my insurers, this wont affect my claim! PHEW!

in process now of starting the claim (my first ever insurance claim) will report back when new and exciting things happen.

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Originally Posted by Killer Rat

just realized that both me and the party involved were both parked on double yellows. according to my insurers, this wont affect my claim! PHEW!

in process now of starting the claim (my first ever insurance claim) will report back when new and exciting things happen.

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Is this because he failed to live up to his promise or are you taking a pre-emptive strike?

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Originally Posted by wiltshire builders

Is this because he failed to live up to his promise or are you taking a pre-emptive strike?

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He didn't come through last night. He's had his chances and not bothered and i cant let this drag on so had to do the dirty. Got a crime ref. number, phoned insurers and sent photos of damage.
With the cctv footage i have got him by the danglies and should get my £250 excess back as there's no way he can get out of it, if his wife has tampered with the cctv recording then this will lead to further problems for her aswell.
He should've acted properly in the first instance instead of being an idiot in a rush to get somewhere and not giving full details to me.

Insurance company say it's fine for to me source the replacement parts and fit myself as the damage is cosmetic and not mechanical.

Does this mean i can sell the old exhaust with slight marks?

No one will know what you do with the old exhaust, I don't see why you couldn't sell it

I wouldn't go selling the bits just now

Good luck, my sons car was written off in August, have pictures of person, van, damage, showing him inspecting it. Claimed he didn't do it. Gave me false details telephone number of company etc etc. But the twat had his company logo and telephone number plastered down the side of van. Found out the company who were a delivery company were not insured either. Phoned police and said this is fraud, he gave me false details, he is an uninsured driver (have proof) and photos of him and company details on van. They told me to bugger off !!!! Not getting involved. Insurer says as we had third party insurance tough **** ... so 8 months later one written off car and no £1,000 agreed valuation from insurer.

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Originally Posted by shiftyblake

Good luck, my sons car was written off in August, have pictures of person, van, damage, showing him inspecting it. Claimed he didn't do it. Gave me false details telephone number of company etc etc. But the twat had his company logo and telephone number plastered down the side of van. Found out the company who were a delivery company were not insured either. Phoned police and said this is fraud, he gave me false details, he is an uninsured driver (have proof) and photos of him and company details on van. They told me to bugger off !!!! Not getting involved. Insurer says as we had third party insurance tough **** ... so 8 months later one written off car and no £1,000 agreed valuation from insurer.

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You want to push that with the old bill the guy commited criminal offences there not civil ones they should be on it. If they keep ignoring you write to the police and crime commissioner, I did that when they stonewalled me on some stuff they seized from me and was due back, within a week of sending the letter they were phoning me asking when I would like to collect my stuff (that was after them giving me the run around for a year prior).