Ouch

[Blobcat]

Today I had the pleasure of meeting the Wales Air Ambulance crew, and a finer group you could not meet. I did not plan to meet them today, however a silver mondeo decided to turn right just as I was passing him just outside Machynllyth.
As there wree no regular ambulances available they despatched the Air Ambulance from Welshpool. Both the police and I were quite surprised to see the helicopter as I was walking wounded rather than anything more serious.
I must say that the emergengy services were excellent today from the police at the scene to the air ambulance and the nurse and doctor in the small A&E the police took me to. The Air Ambulance would have flown me to Aberystwyth general however the police offered to take me to Machyllyth walk in clinic were I was seen straight away.

I would also like to recommend Crowtree Leathers, Arai Helmets, Joe Rocket Gloves, Alpinestars Boots and forcefield Back Protectors. Without the above I doubt I would be typing right now. I have only some soft tissue bruising where I was trapped under the bike.
Not my best day on the bike to say the least and my 13yr old pride and joy is looking very second hand :cry:

 

[SLinKyjoe]

glad you are okay.

 

[C220GJS]

Sorry about your accident,glad you're ok,a bit of sawdust and duct tape and the bike will be as good as new . Did the police charge the car driver?.
Hope you're not too sore.
Geo.

 

[television]

So pleased you are OK, the shock is the worst, as C220GJS , if sawdust and tape does not help, I could see by the sign post thyat you would not have far to take it

malcolm

 

[turnipsock]

I always wondered what the welsh was for "Bulky Household Waste".

Judging by the top sign, welsh is just a case of rearranging the words.

I once got a ride in a helicopter during the ambulance strike in 1990. I had my pelvis broke by some clown that t-boned me on the dual carrage way and put my across the other carrageway and into a field. That was a scarey ride. The helicopter was a breeze after that.

 

[littlebrooklyn]

Glad you are okay, sounds a pretty awful ordeal you had there.

 

[Myros]

Blobcat

keep smiling mate. I'll lend you my An-124 while you're a bit tender, and I'll run your SR-71 about to keep it from jammimg up.
Least said, soonest mended.

 

[Blobcat]

Thanks all for the messages, they are appreciated.

Still fairly sore today, I ache in places I didn't know I had!

The bike is cosmetic damage only. The problem I see is that as it is 13yrs old the cost of replacement plastic will be greater than the value of the bike . I do not want it written off :cry:.
I have not been down this route before so don't know the procedure for either buying the bike back from the insurance company or arguing that it should be repaired.
As I was knocked off, am I entitled to have the bike put back into the same condition it was prior to the accident?
I have a personal plate on the bike, if the insurance company say it is to be written off what do I need to do so that I don't lose the plate?
Any advice on the above appreciated, Honda dealer is picking it up tomorrow so I will know by the afternoon what the state of play is.

 

[television]

Basic rules apply to you

Always be nice and polite (they have more money than you)

When you get an offer, you write back very nice saying that your bike was special to you.

offer still not enough, you ask them to find you a bike in the same condition as yours was.

The private plate is yours and nothing to do with the insurance company, since a number can only be kept from a Car/bike that exist, it must be retained by you by contacting DVLC now

You cant get more than it was worth and fault does not come into it, yes you can buy back the wreck.

Be nice, it will pay you.:cry:

malcolm

 

[Veridian]

Glad to hear youre OK, and many thanks for taking time to answer my insignificant problem.. compared to what youve been thruough.
I know its all a pain the rear but hopefully you'll get the right outcome.. I take it you have legal cover to pursue the other guys insurance..
My other half found it invaluable when she came out of work to find a dead tree that her employer should have cut down was lying on top of her car.. Ok it WAS only a Mondeo but it was most definetly Tree 1 - Mondeo ( and the car next to it) 0 Morale of story.. look up when you park in public car parks!

Keep smiling
Steve

 

[Blobcat]

An update, assessors have decided the bike is a Cat C write off, not the Cat D I thought it would be so maybe they think there is some structural damage.
They have valued the bike at £1,700 so I am now in the 'negotiation' phase. I have sent them 6 or so adverts for real bikes in worse condition and with more miles on with prices ranging from £2,000 to £2,500. £2,500 is really what I'm looking for.
Intersting thing from the assessors is that they have just called me saying I can have the salvage back along with a £1,300 settlement, this works out at £1,700 less £250 excess and £150 for the salvage. If I can get the £1,700 up to £2,500 then although I will not be happy at least I won't be financially worse off.

 

[blassberg]

Another one bites the dust - glad you're ok and therefore amused that the welsh signposted the fact that your bike is now bulky household waste so quickly.

 

[Blobcat]

It's down but it isn't out . I have it back and have already stipped it down. The only part I need is the fairing bracket so I'm searching the breakers and ebay at the moment. I have all the plastics already, it won't be as pretty as it was but it will go just as well and have a few 'hero scrapes'.
Insurance have written back asking for service history so that they can re-asses the value. So it looks like they are moving a bit on the valuation .

 

[television]

It's down but it isn't out . I have it back and have already stipped it down. The only part I need is the fairing bracket so I'm searching the breakers and ebay at the moment. I have all the plastics already, it won't be as pretty as it was but it will go just as well and have a few 'hero scrapes'.
Insurance have written back asking for service history so that they can re-asses the value. So it looks like they are moving a bit on the valuation .

With insurance companies,Always be nice to them, they have got more money than you and I, one can always get more by stating things like, OK you find me another one with the same spec and condition.

malcolm

 

[Blobcat]

I RCVD a letter from the insurance co on Saturday saying that if they don't hear from me in the next 7 days they will close the claim! I spoke with them on Saturday and again today, my wife cannot understand how sickly sweet I was to the insurance co something about why am I not always that nice...
The insurance co had forgotten that they had allowed me to keep the bike so were awaiting the V5, MOT & Service History. I have reminded them that they had previously allowed me to keep the bike, they even managed to find it on their file. Faxed them a copy of the V5 and they said they will be looking to revalue the bike. I have all the bits now to repair it. Fairing bracket is all I required and that was £52 delivered from ebay.
So fingers still crossed I should see an end to this before Christmas.

 

[Shambolic]

more ouch!!!

Wife picked me up yesterday after the footy and was face to face with a Nissan almiera on a narrow lane , she reversed to let aforesaid car by, but sadly reversed into low level wall!!!!!:evil: :roll:
Happily the car looks as if she only needs a rear mudguard as it was this that scraped up the wall and not the lovely silver blue paintwork!!!
She is still not speaking to me as i used a few expletives at the time in her direction (though I did apologise right away !!!):Oops:
So I now feel guilty about her crashing the car!!
Women trained phsycologists eh!!

 

[Blobcat]

Update - Mucho thanks to kth286 for recommending contacting the Financial Ombudsman Service.
I wrote to Hastings Direct 2 weeks ago advising them that due to the length of time it was taking to deal with this claim I would be taking my case to the FOS. Nothing heard from Hastings so this week I spent quite a lot of time on hold with them until I finally spoke with a lady in the total loss department who was very helpful. She did exactly what she said she was going to do and phoned me back three times this week with updates. She said they were waiting on paperwork from the assessors, (the assessors viewed my bike on 21/07/06) so it took them quite a lot of time to provide the necessary paperwork.

The original valuation was £1,300 this was revised to £1,700 then at the start of this week revised to £2,300. The lady in the total loss department reviewed my claim and revalued it at £2,500 which is what I requested originally. Today I have a cheque for £2,100 and my bike in the garage

I have all the bits to repair it (£52 from ebay) so I can now bolt it all back together. It won't be as pretty as previously but it will still go as well and have the "hard man" battle scars on the fairing.
I have now changed the crying face in my signature to a neutral one. It will stay like that until I repair it and put it back on the road.

It has taken nearly 8 months to sort this out and to be honest I was really getting depressed over it. I had no contact from Hastings since November 06, they ignored all my letters and phone calls until this week. The overriding message when dealing with insurance companies has to be - Don't take the first offer and if you think you are justified keep on until you get the right result.

 

[Hanz]

Insurance companies are bastards when it comes to wanting a claim, but yet they're really happy to take the money of you when you need insuring...

When my claim on my Clio took ages to come through (some idiot reversed into me, not once, but twice in a pub car park..:| )

I complained, then threatened to take them to the media to expose their uselessness...Anyway I got my money + £50 compensation for my trouble

 

[angus falconer]

Insurance companies are bastards when it comes to wanting a claim, but yet they're really happy to take the money of you when you need insuring...

Insurance Sales Department; hundreds of keen sales people at their brand new desks, fancy PC's and shiny new phones fighting over each incoming call.

Insurance Claims Department; empty portacabin in the carpark with a phone that rings off the hook dawn to dusk....

 

[C220GJS]

Congratulations on your result Blobcat, says a lot for your perseverance, well done.