Hit by cyclist with electric bike

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the value of your car will not be impacted if the repair is carried out properly; nearly every car on the road has been repaired at some stage.
 
What if the old guy hasn't got the money to pay? Consider this as a court may find in your favour but only require him to pay you a few pounds a week. He may pass on way before his debt is paid. You may therefore be better off going through your insurance. I would check out his address to get a feel of his ability to pay.
 
The bike he was riding retails at about £800 so I guess he could sell that to pay. I will be writing to him in the next couple of days. I will also suggest he contacts his home insurance to see if they will pay under the public liability section as over the age of 18 most will pay for instances like this.

My insurance company now say I can go to any repair shop, a change since tuesday when I first spoke. they also say I may not get a hike in premiums depends on the market forces next Jan when I come to renew, but there could be a 15% levy based on the cost to repair. They also said that I would have to recover all the costs before they would class it as non fault, so I would have to recieve every penny in court ot lose this years NCD.

I will give him the chance to pay the lower quote first and then see what happens
 
here's a pic of the type of bike he was riding. I am not sure if he, the bike oir the battery pack actually hit my car. but the bike it self was unmarked, and the wheels looked fine. suggesting that the front wheel didn't make contact.
 

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Rather academic surely? But my guess would be the rider, to create a 'big' dent.
 
Just to say... If the dent can be fixed without replacing the panel, that would be your best bet. Changing a panel is quite involving an the car may never be 100 percent again - I had a rear quarter panel changed by the dealer (not MB car) on a 10 months old car and with best intentions the shunt lines will never be factory-perfect again.

On some make of cars this will be un-noticed because the original quality would have been poor anyway... But on a precision built car this will be easy to spot by an experienced viewer.

I do appreciate however your concern about matching the paint though...

Sorry for your damage.
 
here's a pic of the type of bike he was riding. I am not sure if he, the bike oir the battery pack actually hit my car. but the bike it self was unmarked, and the wheels looked fine. suggesting that the front wheel didn't make contact.

Sorry. I thought it was one of those mobility invalid electric bikes. Not a bike bike if you see what I mean.
 
I would concur with what has been said already - no need for any form of insurance let alone compulsory Road Traffic Act cover. He may have been offered third party and accidental damage cover by the retailer otherwise if negligence is established (little doubt here) he is liable for the damage and if he does not have insurance via the bike, or his household contents you can sue him or your insurer can sue him.

If your insurers feel that the chances of recovery are non-existent/difficult then they may decide not to bother especially if there's no insurance in force. This will then affect your NCB or one of your lives will be lost. You can't claim off the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) for an uninsured incident as you have wisely taken out comprehensive motor insurance.

Claims for vandalism and damage caused by uninsured drivers, under some polices, do not affect NCB although this is quite a recent development.
 
the quote does sound ridiculous... is the paint infused with diamonds?
 
wouldnt personally bother past sending him a bill for the repairs, if he doesnt pay try the small claims court. Will cost about £40 from memory, insurance is academic for you, it is his responsibility on how to pay it

Only thing that may worth be checking (difficult I know without having the bike) is if it is road legal. There are many bikes out there with more than the max allowed wattage of motor (and I think speed) Do a quick google come up with answer and give this to cops and see if they follow this up. He could be commiting an offence by having it on the road

If they dont follow it up, theres not much you can do apart from small claims
 
Thanks all for your comments.
I called my insurance company yesterdy and the car is now at their repairers. The work started today, they also agreed that replacing the panel was pointless as they prefered to keep the original seals. they have found some scratches on the bumper and will repair those too. total cost to the insurance, and then me I guess £1174 so pretty close to the second quote I got.

I have written to the cyclist and let you all know the outcome
 
After a long wait I can now update this story.

After getting the car repaired, I contacted the cyclist to say that I held him fuly responsible and was seeking to have my excess repayed. A few days later I got a phone call from a police officer saying that they had decided it was not in the public interest to prosecute the cyclist and that I should also refrain from contacting him directly as it was harrassment.

I therefore started a proceeding through the small claims court. The cyclist then out in a counter claim for compensation for his injuries. Due to this I contacted the Insurance company and they took up the case.

After several long months of little info from the cyclist, he claimed to have a witness but wouldnt give the insurance company any details and no statement. I think he thought I would back down.

Then a few weeks ago they wanted to go with a 50/50 offer, this I declined as I would still be with a fault claim against me.

Today I have been informed that the cyclist has withdrawn his counter claim and will pay my losses. Lets see how long that will take!

This goes to show that it is not always the driver at fault and perseverance prevailsm and dont just give in when you know you are in the right.
 
Good news then.

Even if the cyclist does not actually pay (though let's hope he does), it was still worthwhile because at least from the insurance point of view it has now been accepted that it you were not at fault.
 
Instead of cuts we should make cyclists pay a (nominal, like 10 quid a year, I'm not Hitler) road fund licence and get some kind of public liability insurance the same as you would operating any machinery in the presence of the great unwashed. They share the space with other road users so I am not adverse to CBT the same as scooters.

But then I think they should instigate national service for the unemployed and fox hunting hounds should be retrained to track down Burberry.
 
I doubt the Uninsured Drivers scheme will want to know as insurance is not required for these vehicles.

Actually the law on these electric vehices isnt so straight forward. Depending on the power of the motor, my understanding is that it may well be classed as a motor vehicle and come under the same laws as a moped (i.e. require insurance, MOT and tax).

200W is the magic number for electric bicycles I believe.
 
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That was my thinking also - right back at the beginning of this thread .
 
from WIKIPEDIA so all caveat's apply. ;)
EEC
European Union directive 2002/24/EC exempts vehicles with the following definition from type approval: "Cycles with pedal assistance which are equipped with an auxiliary electric motor having a maximum continuous rated power of 0.25 kW, of which the output is progressively reduced and finally cut off as the vehicle reaches a speed of 25 km/h or if the cyclist stops pedaling.” This is the de facto definition of an electrically-assisted pedal cycle in the EU. As with all EU directives, individual member countries of the EU are left to implement the requirements in national legislation.
European product safety standard EN 15194 was published in 2009. The aim of EN 15194 is "to provide a standard for the assessment of electrically powered cycles of a type which are excluded from type approval by Directive 2002/24/EC".
UK
Despite the more recent EU directive and standard, the UK’s Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983 (SI 1983/1168) have not been rescinded and still apply. These require that the motor has an average power output limited to 200 W (250 W for tricycles and tandems), weight limited to 40 kg (60 kg for tricycles and tandems), and a maximum speed when power-assisted of 15 mph. For electric cycles meeting these requirements, the vehicle does not require registration or periodic road worthiness assessment, and operators do not require a licence or insurance. (Operators must be at least 14 years of age.) However, since 2006, when Statutory Instrument 2935 brought EU Directive 2002/24/EC into UK law, vehicles that don't meet the EU definition of an electric cycle have required type approval. This overlap of requirements has certain effects, as described below.
The following features of a EU-definition electric cycle are not legally available in the UK:
* upper power outputs between 201 W and 250 W on bicycles
* maximum speeds between 15.01 mph and 15.53 mph
* weights above 40 kg for bicycles and 60 kg for tricycles and tandems

The following features of a UK-definition electric cycle make a vehicle subject to type approval:

* the application of motor power without use of the pedals
* the application of motor power without progressive reduction to zero at 15.53 mph (meaning that at the maximum UK speed of 15 mph some residual supply of power is permitted)
There are no known cases of enforcement of the requirement for type approval. This could be because compliance with type approval is declared when a vehicle is first registered for use on the road, and UK-definition electric cycles are exempt from such registration by the 1983 UK regulations.
 
...we should make cyclists pay a (nominal, like 10 quid a year, I'm not Hitler) road fund licence and get some kind of public liability insurance ....

This has already been discussed in another thread, and it is not doable... current national mood is to encourage cycling, any form of red tape will not even be considered I'm afraid....
 

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