Need to vent spleen....

[Headhunter]

I’m really fecked off at the moment re my non-fault accident – car rear ended my bike when I was stationary in traffic.

Just spoke to Rider Support re my insurance claim (had to go through RS, as I’m 3rd party TFT and want my bike dealt with by a Ducati specialist and not some approved Joe Kawasaki shop as posted before).

Anyway, if they want to, the 3rd party insurers can take up to 3 months to investigate the claim. Unlikely but that's the law apparently. Is really fecking annoying, as I just want to get my bike back on the road and even when I do get the all clear it's still probably going to take 3 weeks or so to get the bike on the road because parts take time to arrive etc. Plus, I’m sure Ray/Marcus are getting fecked off with wheeling me bike out every day.

Okay, I could have let Joe Kawasaki play with it and then leave it to the insurers to argue, so guess I am paying the price for my bike to be dealt with by a Ducati specialist and not going fully comp, but am fecking p*ssed off nonetheless.

Darry, Benson and other lucky recipients of a number plate up yer arse…how long did it take for your claims to be sorted – appreciate you may have been fully comp etc.

Rant over.

On a separate note anyone who moans about Ducati clutches need to ride a Suzuki 650s from a rental firm. My left arm will never be stronger than my right while pics of Anne Widdecombe are freely around, but it’s catching up quick!

My mate had a similar problem when his RSV Factory got knocked over by an idiot driver in WoT High Street. The driver didn't sort out anything until the last day of the 3 months.

My mate was all up for a court battle too!

Hope it gets sorted soon

I'm really sorry to hear of this - and yes, third party insurers drag their heels at the best of times.

I was fully comp (as I am old - say NOTHING...) and Bikers Legal Defence got straight onto the claim for me. Within 72 hours I had a Bandit 1200 delivered and on loan for over a month (costing more than a new bike no doubt...). The bike part of the claim took ages though in terms of me getting my excess back - over three months and I have an outstanding bill for physio which I hope will be settled before too long but the accident was the end of July - not exactly speedy but there you have it I'm afraid - I reckon on buying a large gun to blast idiot drivers off the road with.....

Originally Posted by benson

I'm really sorry to hear of this - and yes, third party insurers drag their heels at the best of times.

I was fully comp (as I am old - say NOTHING...) and Bikers Legal Defence got straight onto the claim for me. Within 72 hours I had a Bandit 1200 delivered and on loan for over a month (costing more than a new bike no doubt...). The bike part of the claim took ages though in terms of me getting my excess back - over three months and I have an outstanding bill for physio which I hope will be settled before too long but the accident was the end of July - not exactly speedy but there you have it I'm afraid - I reckon on buying a large gun to blast idiot drivers off the road with.....

Sounds pretty much like my claim back in 2005, I had to wait six months for the stupid bint that hit me to even ADMIT liability and then had to wait another nine months for the repayment of loss of earnings and my physio.

Nightmare.

Thank god we have chocolate and gin... Not necessarily in that order. Headhunter - are there any bits any of us might have in the garage that you need???

[CK & AK]

Get the lads at Rosso to do a quote for you & send it to your insurer anyway, then tell insurers that if they need more quotes, you can get them - then ring (if you have to) a couple of fully authorised dealers in the SE - like Pro-Twins & W.M.Snells.

I'd keep on at your insurance company on a daily basis in the mean time - nothing like reminding them who you are

That said - AK was 3rd party F & T when he got damage by a 3rd party &had to make a claim - via Carole Nash, and all was settled in just over 5 weeks, but that was getting on for 9 years ago now........

[Headhunter]

Cheers guys for your advice/experiences. The estimate has been done and waiting for the engineer's report, so thank god that's out of the way.

I wish there were bits peeps could lend me, but it needs things like a new rear shock etc which I imagine will take yonks to fit. Thanks anyway though.

Fingers crossed for a quick turnaround and am now gonna crack open a beer or two to calm down with.

Cheers guys.

Jon.

[crust]

hi Jon

sorry to hear about your woes

my 2p

if the amount is within the small claims courts jurisdiction:

In the past I've given up on the insurance co and sent the person a letter demanding the money within 28 days or I'll commence court proceedings.

They then say - "ooh but our insurance co are dealing with it"

To which you reply "no they're not, they're sodding me around so I'm blowing them out and sueing you direct. In view of their attitude I refuse to deal with them, they're not my insurance co, they are yours, you deal with them."

The other route is to tell their insurance co you are hiring a bike and its going to cost them, you've got a Ducati, so to avoid being disadvantaged by the accident, you're going to hire one.

Good luck

crust

ps I'll hire you mine for £500 a week

Claim for my 749 took 2 weeks. Insurance were spot on. Sent out an assessor within 4 days and paid out in a further 7. . Admittedly mine's a write-off but I kept the salvage and its back on the road already. Perhaps you should ask for it to be written off so you can get a brand new one. As I knew the claim was going against me, I asked Ducati to max out the work. They quoted for brand new parts for everything that needed fixing rather than for the cost of repair. That put the repair bill at £5700. Insurance paid out £3100 and I kept the bike. Result!!

If you're claiming against the other party, go for a new bike. It won't affect your NCB. By the sounds of it, yours took a right old beating and you're within your rights to tell the insurance company that you don't want the bike back. Insist on a replacement instead.

Just my tuppence worth.

Phil

[jerry]

yep get your own quotes and also mention small claims court if nothing happens quickly .the quotes are useful when arguing the insurer over costs.

On one of my previous claims(non fault) someone decided to pull from stationary traffic in the left lane to the right hadn lane which was free and went stright into the side of my bike sending me over to the right, 6th sense told me it was going to happen and I was as far over to the right as possible with finger on horn but nothing I could do. Later on the driver did say she did hear a horn but didn't realise it was next to her. £2400 damage to my GPX600R which was only 2 years old, her front bumper was trashed and her car was undriveable. I didn't even bother with my insurers dealt direct with hers and they were spot on. The only issue I had was the main dealers (Kawasaki) wanted to write the bike off. The assessor didn't agree and it was sent to another local dealer (non kawasaki) who did the repairs to the cost above.
One problem I have seen with a lot of Franchise dealers is that due to their high costs bikes with what you think is bolt off bolt on damage tend to be write offs. My 4 month old S2R1000 which highsided was estimated at 6K. Such a shame as I had already racked up over 4500 miles on it by that time.

Good luck, keep a record of all out of packet expensives. Don't forget to claim for all calls, letters etc.

Two things I have learned - one: when you eventually get the name of someone in an insurance company who knows about your claim ring and ask for that person Every day until something happens. Two: Small claims are dead easy to file and if the other party doesnt respond you win anyway, plus a summons tends to focus peoples attention.

[Headhunter]

Cheers guys. It looks like I will have to threaten action throught the small claims courts.

Well hope it doesn't take as long as my claim after the Landy got shunted up the bum. That was July 06 and I'm still waiting for physio etc. Clive was sorted last year after waiting a year. The car was sorted pretty quickly within three weeks but she is fully comp and the driver had to admit liability due to us being stationary when he hit us. I get the feeling they are hoping I'll forget about it and go away!

[Headhunter]

Still ongoing, Gremlin.

It's with the solicitors and is currently at the pre-action protocol stage - basically means they have 3 months to put a case together to argue my claim. Two months to go and I'm b**dy counting!

Annoyingly the "ha hum" who went into me isn't (allegedly) responding to his insurer's attempts to contact him, so it looks like it's going to go the whole 3 months. Not exactly sure what will happen if he doesn't respond once the 3 months is up. Assume, well hope, 3rd party insurers will pay up.

Witness and police report should do the trick.