Recently I was the victim of a road rage incident involving a cyclist.

I reported this incident to the police as a road rage incident.
The cyclist made a false allegation of hit & run.

The police investigated the matter & decided that in view of the conflicting stories from both party's they were not taking any action against either party.

The investigating officer commented " Given the demeanour of the cyclist. I made the right decision not to stop at the scene of the incident "

When i last spoke to the investigating officer, I was advised that after 4 days had passed the cyclist had now decided he was injured & his cycle had been dammaged.
He was seeking my insurance company details.

The officer was concerned about the cyclists inconsistent statements, his attitude & the fact that the cyclist rode over 5 miles on a supposedly broken cycle before reporting the incident.
I was advised that the officers concerns would be written up in their final report.

The cyclist contacted my insurer & made a 3rd party claim for a shoulder injury & damage to his cycle.

To my horror, my insurance company's loss adjuster decided to accept full liability.
Registered an at fault claim against me & knocked my NCD back 2 years.

Basic facts of the case

No witnesses or video evidence from either party.
Third party is unrepresented & is handling the claim personally.
Cyclist did not require or seek any medical attention & no time lost from work.
The loss adjuster could not be bothered to obtain a copy of the police report citing that it would take too long & he needed to settle the clam quickly.

Other than an email confirming that liability has been accepted ( This cited for economic reasons )
I have not been able to get any details of this fraudulent / vexatious claim.

I am gutted that my unblemished 45 year insurance record has been destroyed in this manner.

Very confused as to why my insurer is so quick to decide I am at fault & pay such a claim so easily.

Just out of interest, I googled the name of the loss adjuster.
It was unsurprising to find out that the loss adjuster is a keen cyclist of the Lycra brigade.

Some very interesting information on the net, this includes proof that he is the loss adjuster working for the company dealing with the claim against me.
That sucks so hard.

Surely there must be something I can do to challenge this situation.

insurance ombudsman or similar, sounds like the adjuster is biased...good luck.

There was a bit of an obscure law passed (about 10 - 15 years ago IIRC) which kinda screws you in this. Basically it's a bit like this. As far as insurance claims go between a car and a bike, the car is ALWAYS at fault. You can be sitting in your car at a junction waiting to get out in a rain storm, a cyclist comes down hill on the foot path and crashes into your car. The cyclist had his head down and was riding fast because of the rain. Guess who gets lumbered with the insurance bill. YEP the motorist because he has insurance. BANG welcome to the modern real world. The society of litigation.


You could always take PROPER legal advice on this, but, I think you'll find it will be VERY costly and no nice outcome.


Personally I would love to sue the badger that ran across the road and wrote my car off. But nope I claim and up goes my insurance policy.

JMTP'sW.

I'm not sure that the law was changed as a couple of years ago the Cambridge MP Julian Hibbert was trying to get the law changed saying exactly the same ? He was the guy that had his bike pinched from the Houses of Parliament. Made my day! If it could be proved the loss adjuster was biased then it might be worth pursuing? Best of luck

My advice would be : get a copy of the police report along with the facts as you have stated and contact the ombudsman, saying the car driver is always at fault is crazy , what if a cyclist ran into a stationary unmanned police vehicle would they be at fault.

Good luck.

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Originally posted by Myke 2463
My advice would be : get a copy of the police report along with the facts as you have stated and contact the ombudsman, saying the car driver is always at fault is crazy , what if a cyclist ran into a stationary unmanned police vehicle would they be at fault.

Good luck.

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I had to get a copy of a police report for an accident where someone ran into me on a blind bend. If you phone the station, they will send yo a copy, but it will cost you £70.
The one I had wasn't actually that useful and basically all I could do it read the statement they took from me saying one thing, and the other drivers statement saying they 'couldn't remember' what happened, and a sketch similar to mine. There were no useful comments saying that the positions of the cars/skid marks showed the other person was on the wrong side of the road or anything like that. If there are no witnesses, legally both statements have to be taken as equally likely to be true.
The insurers want to go knock for knock as the report isn't conclusive enough, which is actually recorded as the fault accident of BOTH parties, so a great win for the insurers.
Good luck
Hugh

Also, as I found out recently, if the company insures both parties, there's no overseeing authority, they just make it knock for knock, take both excesses and do their best to minimise their outlay. Absolutely no interest in finding out who was actually at fault - when I finally found out (by pure coincidence) and called them on it, waived my claim and repaired my car FOC.

My wife had someone run across the road infront of her at a crossing a few years back. The crossing was clear when she approached it and not a pelican crossing etc either! Despite many witnesses to back this up, she was still at fault regardless. Our solicitor said to just admit liability as the punishment would be less from the court and they would find the pedestrian not at fault anyway! that was the exact findings in court, despite witnesses making their accounts etc!

next time, just run them over, back-up and check it was a proper job, same outcome at the end of the day!

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Originally posted by ttalps2000

...next time, just run them over, back-up and check it was a proper job, same outcome at the end of the day!

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Originally posted by Angel Acevedo

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Originally posted by ttalps2000

...next time, just run them over, back-up and check it was a proper job, same outcome at the end of the day!

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Sad but true...
Here in Mexico started as a joke.
But now more and more people are doing this...
Or leaving the scene befor somebody notes their plates....

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So how did this end?

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Originally posted by 02GF74
So how did this end?

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This is so annoying to read, insurance companies are such rip off dodgy buggers.

I was told I had a claim at fault against me years ago, when I asked for a NCD certificate, I had reported the incident and had WRITTEN proof from him at fault. They ignored the facts, called it knock for knock and then refused to tell me for how much!

So, every time I renewed, I had to disclose an incorrect claim of a guessed amount! What rubbish.

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Originally posted by bonzoronnie


Going to leave it until a year has passed then make a freedom of information request for full details of the claim.
Don't hold out a lot of hope that any information will be forthcoming though.

Edited to correct insurers name

[Edited on 20/1/19 by bonzoronnie]

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