ok.. i drive a mk3 polo coupe 1.0.. totally standard except for i have a rocco interior.. i had just started doin some work on it (repairing a damaged arch.. sortin out the engine etc) and last night i had an accident.

i was drivin on a duel carriageway strip down a hill about 55 and there were two cars in front of me and a car and a bke behind. i decided to overtake the two cars in front so i looked in the mirror and the bike and car were still behind so signalled and moved over into the right hand lane.. then crunch! i felt my car hit something, i looked right and slowed down and the motorcyclist was scraping against the side of my car then he drove on and pulled over so i did the same.

i was rally shocked as nothing like this has ever happened to me before, I'm 21 and have only been driving 2 years.

the other car behind pulled over and was like the most eager man in the world to offer himself as a witness.. myself and the motorcyclist were both fine and dandy thankfully.

i spoke to the guy today and he was quite reasonable about the whole thing, at first i thought it was really bad and blah blah but now I'm a bit calmer and have spoken to him (he wants to make a claim) I'm a lot more chilled. the only thing is.. is that I'm sure it wasn't totally my fault. i checked my mirror, signalled and moved out? after speakin to him he said that bikes can go very quickly and you cant see them coming but that isn't my fault right? i dunno

I'm guessin the damage done to my little polo is going to be a write off.. the drivers side rear arch is all smashed and scratched..

my question is.. what will happen when my car is written off? do i have to buy it off the insurence company or something? and will my premiums go up loads or does that depend on how much it costs him to repair his bike?

I'm thinking its nobody's fault more than the other. i could have checked harder but he must have been going wicked fast to try and overtake three cars and for him to move out of my mirror to beside me in a matter of seconds. but i could be wrong.

any advice on what do next would be great as i have never had to do anything like this before

cheers guys :-)

Il have a go at answering a few of your q's....

First, if your car is written off. It depends if you are 3rd party or fully comp, and on your insurance company. You should be fine to ask them. They will either write the car off and take it away. Or give you the option to either keep it for nothing, repair and put back on the road, or buy it back off them, for a small fee (usually like £100 or something). Like i say tho, you would have to check which of the three they would do if you were written off.

As for the claim, i would say it probably was 50/50. But, and correct me if i am wrong, but he was in the wrong for overtaking so many cars. If he wants to put it thru the insurance, let him. I wouldnt be half suprised if your insurance argues the case that he was to blame and not you. If that is the decision then your policy wont be paying out, so your no claims etc wont be effected.

If you decide to go 50/50, or you encd up shouldering the blaim, you will loose your no claims and have to declare it on future policies as either no fault or fault depending on the outcome. and that will bump you premium up a bit. (or maybe a lot!)

Glad everyone is ok tho!

thanks alot mate thats very helpfull! I'm third party fire and theft which i imagine isnt the best policy when dealing with a crash.. though i wasnt really thinking that when i bought it. regarding the claim i would agree and at first i was doubtfull but now I'm happy to let it go through the insurence.. and if it gets written off il just have to see what happens i guess

as you say the main thing is that nobody got hurt

cheers

if the man admitted bikes go very fast and you dont see them coming id say it was hes fault not your and it was him with due care and attenction not you id fight it its basically the same as if somone hits the back of your car id try claiming off him m8

I'd fight it tbh, i once had a guy that hit me, then as we were exchanging details he says quite happilly

'i've only had this a week, i flipped my other car last week' Things you shouldn't say after crashing into someone

Edited 14 March, 200917 yr by H@wK£R

flipping cars is an area i defo dont wanna get involved in.. and if it were i wouldnt go tellin people i crashed into haha..

i do hear what your all sayin and i agree.. i believe he was just as in the wrong as i was so i intend to counter claim (if that would be the correct term?)

will he issue his claim then i counter claim or do i have to issue a seperate claim?

safe

flipping cars is an area i defo dont wanna get involved in.. and if it were i wouldnt go tellin people i crashed into haha..

i do hear what your all sayin and i agree.. i believe he was just as in the wrong as i was so i intend to counter claim (if that would be the correct term?)

will he issue his claim then i counter claim or do i have to issue a seperate claim?

safe

i think you just report this to your insurance and tell them what happend and ask where you stand with claiming for your car as you belive he was not there and that he was speeding wen he hit you

never say you checked and it was all clear...they would turn around and say you obviously didnt check well enough!

regarding your insurance going up, I don't think it will go up much, mine went up £40 a month when I had the smallest bump ever! and my insurance company payed out £4.5k

You could try talking to him and say you dont think it was your fault and see if he will pay for his repairs and you pay for yours (not through the insurance) so it doesnt put both of your insurance up. From the storys I read your insurance will proably go up quite a bit if you got a claim against you

i'd claim against the motorcyclist too. Most of them ride too fast and then claim they're hard done by when involved in an accident!

You'll have to fill in a claim form stating what happened so state that he was quite a distance behind when you began to overtake and then it'll look as though he was speeding.

You could see if he's willing to pay for his own repairs although he may think that you may be trying to cover something up or you dont want to admit liability.

As you have third party insurance your only way of getting any money to repair your car is to claim from his insurance. As it's a MK3 Polo it will almost certainly be written off by his insurance company if they admit any liability. You aren't going to get much for it as a write off so you need to decide if you'd just rather keep the car and sort it out yourself.

I don't see that it's your fault any more than his; if you checked before manouvering, there were no vehicles in the other lane when you checked, you indicated, then you can't do any more than that. The motorcyclist doesn't have more right to overtake than you do and was 1 car behind (if he was directly behind then he should have seen your indicator anyway). Unless your witness says anything different (like the mototcyclist was in the outside lane all the time) I would think they will do a 50/50 on the blame.

hmmmm.. this is all helpfull info.. regarding my premium going up i did a confused.com search and included a claim into the mix and my insurence was in some cases lower than what i pay at the moment!! i guess it could be something to do with the recession and companys fighting for busines.. i think i read a thread on here regarding that...

i also agree that my car will be written off sadly.. i have receipts and stuff for having the breaks rebuilt and other work etc so if my claim is a success i might at least get some of the money back

i also agree with whoever it was who said the motorbike was going to fast.. i mean seriously do you buy like a 1000cc superbike to drive sensibly? or do you buy it to go wicked fast in a "super hang on" style...

tbh i checked, signaled, moved out.. there is nothing more i could have done really. its suuuuch a haslte though..

cheers :)