On monday I was involved in a bike crash wherein the motorist was at fault. I have now entered the world of dealing with insurance companies…my injuries consist of a bruised up left side and a big gash on my knee, but nothing at this point that seems to have any lasting repercussions. It could have been a lot worse…The insurance company is paying for all the immediate bills and, it would seem, a new bike. They have also stated that they don’t want to go to court and want to settle it outside of court. That’s the situation. I’m going to ask for money for the race entry fees for the races I am missing, cost of plane ticket that I won’t use any more. I’ve never done anything like this before…anyone have any experiences/advice to pass on in dealing with insurance/waivers/money/etc? I’m aware of the necessity of not signing any waivers until absolutely sure that there wont be any more costs. Thanks very much.
I have never dealt with this personally…but I would say NO NO NO to mentioning racing.
I am not 100% sure, but insurance companies typically refuse to pay for things bike related once you mention the word “race.”
People say “racing bike” or “race wheels” to make it sound more expensive and end up getting screwed because often insurance doesn’t cover it if it is related to competition.
I second the “don’t mention ‘racing’” thing. I don’t know how auto ins. works, but my homeowners does not cover any items that are ‘racing’, my very nice recreational bikes are covered, however.
In California, you can settle on the bodily injury and property damage separately. I would settle the bike portion first (property damage) and then settle the bodily injury later. Plenty of lawyers listed in the back of both bicycling and triathlon magazines that specialize in this.
I used to work for an insurance company and still work in the financial services industry. The motorist’s property damage coverage on their auto insurance should cover your bike no problem - just as it would cover damage to your car if they hit your car. Your injuries should also be covered by their insurance without any problem. There’s really no reason why you should expect any less than full reimbursement on those. The other stuff - plane ticket, entry fees, etc., may be a bit more difficult.
Assuming you don’t think you’re going to have any long term affects from the injuries you realistically shouldn’t feel too bad if you end up with a partial reimbursement on the non-bike, non-injury claims. Although the insurance company will do what they can to avoid going to court, they’re not going to let you screw them (and courts don’t like it when people try to take advantage of a situation like this) so don’t get too greedy - just be realistic about what your losses really are and realize you may not get every dollar you think you should.
Having been through this last year, here are my tips:
- Honesty is the best and only policy since you may be asked to make several statements often they will be recorded;
- Be humble, lots of “I just want to get my bike back and body healthy so I can ride again”;
- Never tell the adjuster that its “his/her fault”, they already know that;
- Have a doctor look at you and check you out even if you do not appear to be hurt, it’s a lot harder to go back later;
- Save all the evidence, it may be helpful later.
With respect to your lost race expenses, you can bring them up since its the other side paying but I would approach it in this manner – wait until you have established the bike value and any compensation you will receive for pain and suffering, then bring up the opportunity costs but as after thought – e.g. its unfortunate that I got injured because no I can’t make this race that I paid $XXX for and bought a plain ticket to. They are much more apt to bite if they think you are being honest and not trying to take advantage of the system. I would not try and get a whole seasons worth of race fees paid back, focus on the big expense. That said don’t wine if they so NFW.
I got a small settlement that included my medical expenses, bike repairs, and some ‘pain and suffering’ (although most of my suffering was caused by dealing with the insurance co).
First, i would DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT. everything. have someone take photos of your injuries. take photos of the location you were hit at the same time of day you were hit (in my instance there was a debate about how much daylight there was at the time of the incident). take photos of your bike. then, get an estimate from your LBS that would cover everything. In my case, my bike was 3 weeks old, so I had the original sales receipt that I used since there was some substantial damage. I’d also get prices on replacing anything that was damaged like your watch, helmet, HRM, sunglasses, shoes, jersey, bike shorts, etc. If you got aspirin or bandaids or neosporin from the drug store, save the receipts and submit them, too. If you missed work, they also should compensate you x% of your salary for the days you missed - even if your work gave you paid sick leave.
SAVE everything you get from your doctors and from the hospital (if you went). You will want to save the write-up of their eval of your injuries. I waited a while to submit everything because I had 6-8 weeks of dr visits for a messed up wrist, and I wanted to make sure all the costs were included in what I submitted.
For ‘pain and suffering’ I would include the expenses you put out already for your race. The most they can say is ‘no,’ and there’s going to be some negotiation anyway unless they REALLY REALLY want to settle out of court and make you happy. But, if you put out money for races that you cannot attend because of this accident, I would include it.
Just know that the insurance company will be really really anxious to get you to settle as fast as possible and to keep this out of court. That gives you some leverage. There’s no need to rush. There’s no need to agree to anything right away. Just tell them you want to consider it. They will try to pressure you, but there is no rush. As long as you have the documentation for everything, you should be OK. If they really want to keep this out of court, then they know they have no legs to stand on.
I actually wound up getting an attorney. I had a pretty serious (medically) accident. Motorist at fault. I had surgery to repair my wrist and two additional procedures after the surgery. The guy who hit me had the bare minimum insurance, so I actually had to use my underinsured motorist coverage to get additional fees. There was some concern at the time of the accident that I could have a more permanent disability so that was a factor as well. I was paid for the time I missed work.I did not request money specifically for lost race fees. I don’t think I mentioned that at all actually. Having an attorney made a huge difference for my settlement as I was pretty emotionally and physically spent at the time and he was able to handle the stress of dealing with the insurance company much better than I did. Had it not been for the seriousness of the medical issues I probably wouldn’t have needed his help.
When I got my new, and very expensive bike finally built, I called my insurance company to see if it would be covered in the event of crash during training and racing. They said they would cover it under both circumstances. I’ve never made a claim, so I don’t know what they’re like once it actually happens. And don’t forget to add loss of consortium (loss of eh hem, partnership time with your spouse if you have one) to your claim.
I thank you all for the advice. I’ve only spoken to them once so far, we only talked about the cost of replacing the bike. Afterwards I started talking to people with more experience in this and saw just how critical it was what I said to them, as the conversation was probably recorded. They said they would pay me what I paid for my bike, not what it would cost to replace it ( i bought a used 2005 bike last year). I am going to ask them to pay for the cost of replacement instead…seems fair enough. Also, they will want to take my bike once they’ve forked over the money…but does anyone know if they’ll want the components as well? I was thinking of keeping those, since the vast majority were in good shape and undamaged. Can I get away with just giving them the frame?
Be careful when speaking with them. I’ve been through this myself was purposefully run over by a man whil waiting at a red light who said said all you f…king bicyclists deserve it. He left the scene but I got his lisence plate #. His uncle whose truck he was driving was real nice & said they’d by a new bike etc. Then later turned it over to the thier insurance co who recorded conservations, called repeatedly. Turns out if they can establish that I was at 51% fault then his insurance co doesn’t have to pay. They kept trying to twist what I’d say. It was upsetting & felt like getting hit it each time they called.
Hold off on anything initially. Silence is the best. They also try to get one to sign something fast for much lower than amount. I ended up contacting a bicycle lawyer for some advice. Then when received an insulting how about $500 threw out 5x that amount to settle. I also had a year of medical claim coverage for the neck issue.
This is a really good link to some bicycle insurance claims etc that you should check out. http://www.stc-law.com/bikearticles.html
Also I don’t see anything wrong with asking for the costs of ones fees for preentered events & plane fares. I know another woman who was hit by someone & the insurance adjuster asked if there were any of these such costa & reimbursed her for all of them. Her only regret on the bike was that she didn’t get it with DA instead of ultegra.
Barb
I would say the ins company has a choice of either replacing the damaged parts/labor to switch the undamaged parts over or replacing the bike in total. Bringing the bike to your LBS is a good way to determine which would be cheaper. If an appraiser from the ins company is going to look at your bike, do it at a LBS. They will likely not know much about bikes, and will be much less likely to argue with you when they see some $6k bikes up on the wall.
Whatever they replace, they own, so if they get you a whole new bike they own all of the old one. I assume you already paid for the entry fees and there is no refund? I would imagine the ins company would be willing to pay the fee to change your plane ticket to a different date but maybe not the whole cost of the ticket.
I’m pretty surprised they said they didn’t want to go to court, even if that is what they think.
The only communication you should have with the insurance company from herein is to tell them you have secured an attorney. The attorney does the rest.
I was involved in a bike vs. car crash a few years ago. Based on most folks’ advice, I would have settled for about $15K. As it turned out, I got enough to pay for my house, in full. I had severe nasal and sinus damage, a couple of compressed discs, and a ruined racing season. Years later I still have sinus problems from my face plant into the passenger door.
You don’t want it to go to trial either, most jurors are motorists, not cyclists, and they side with the motorist.
What state do you live in? Every state is different from each other as far as accident settlements.
I was nailed by an idiot in college who destroyed my bike and smashed my elbow. Like a fool I signed a release for a new bike plus my medical expenses at the time and $500 in beer money. 15 years later the stupid elbow still give me fits about twice a year. Looking back I should have gotten an attorney, but when your a college student a new bike and $500 looks like you won the lottery.
I would be very cautious about what you say and write to anyone about this, including right here in ST if this goes to court you never know what show up as evidence.