Aaaarrrggghhhhh!

[johnnystorm]

Just got off the phone with the kind policeman who carted my dead motorbike out of the road last night. Lets have a guess who wasn't insured to drive their vehicle on the road. Hint: Not the bloke who took in his documents this morning and has a ****ed Ducati in his garage. He rang to ask whether I wanted to go ahead with a prosecution of the driver who knocked me off. He also mentioned that the reason that they did intend to pay for the damage. So, prosecute, they get the hump and my bike stays broken OR they do the decent thing, it gets fixed and she'll still get done for being uninsured.:Furious:

[Scotty]

you need an expirt, and that i aint

does it not depend just how fooked the bike / you neck is ?

[Bodybag]

Your bike will still get fixed. Your insurance is as high as it is because we all pay a bit over the top which goes into a centrally held pool to allow for claims against uninsured drivers to still be processed. I'm sure somebody else will be able to shed more light on this but don't worry. And make sure they get properly screwed for driving illegally. Its people like them that keep our premiums high!!

Good luck.

Phil

[Vincent Jones]

you need an expirt, and that i aint

does it not depend just how fooked the bike / you neck is ?

I totally agree. Perhaps professional help and expert advice is the way forward.

[gary tompkins]

I had a feeling the other driver wasn't insured, after you said they rang you to try and pay for repairs without making it official. If you are fully comp you could get the bike fixed on your policy, but suffer loss of NCB and higher insurance premium year. If only TPFT you may have to fix bike out of your own pocket and sue them for damages and unisured losses through the courts. Either could take a long time to settle and it's worth getting legal assistance.

Make sure the police follow up un the prosucution for no insurance ASAP. A mate got knocked off by a U turning unisured driver a few years ago, writing his triumph off and putting him in hospital. Despite the police saying they were going to prosecute at the time, they took so long to present any evidence to court the CPS dropped the case!

[nik_the_brief]

Not sure if Bodybag is correct actually.

The MIB (Motor Insurers' Bureau not Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones) used to only really bother with personal injury claims as opposed to damage to vehicles and other such losses.

Times may well have changed in this respect - their website suggests that they do cover other costs now - but only if you have a CCJ against them which they haven't settled. The website address is --> http://www.mib.org.uk/MIB/en/AboutMIB/Default.htm

I'd push for prosecution. If you do need to follow the legal route it will be far simpler for to obtain judgement for their tortious liability in the County Court (ooh get me sounding all legal) on the lower standard of proof (on the balance of probability) required by the civil courts if you already have proof of liability of a criminal offence (beyond reasonable doubt).

Besides uninsured drivers really boil my p1ss and deserve everything they get.

[gary tompkins]

...Besides uninsured drivers really boil my p1ss and deserve everything they get.

Amen to that!

[bigredduke]

Definitely prosecute, if he is found guilty, the chances of a successful civil action are so much higher. On the downside, it will take time.

Uninsured drivers are scum, imagine if your child was so seriously injured (god forbid) that they needed constant medical attention for the rest of their lives yet there was no insurance company to pick up the bill?

[russ77]

This is terrible. At least the Police seem to be cracking down on uninsured drivers. I've been pulled over twice this year because my car is on a company policy so its number doesn't show up on their database. The penalties for driving without insurance are a bit lame from what I've heard though. The government's own figures for uninsured vehicles are truly shocking

Why can't they do something similar to the DVLA's road tax evasion scheme? Motor insurers are regulated by the FSA and could be required to give a list of all vehicles insured by them. A giant sinister computer could then collate the insurance policies, road fund licences, MOTs and drivers licences. All these cameras watching us go about our daily business could then be equipped with lasers to melt engines... This is the twenty-first century, right? We have the technology.

The motor insurance industry cheeses me off. Of course it makes complete sense to require it, but the fact that it is mandatory, while being supplied by competing companies is just silly. Why can't the government offer a minimum cover and then road users could purchase further cover from independent brokers? I believe a similar system operates in Australia.

No wonder there are so many adverts for ambulance chasers on the TV these days.

Give a reputable solicitor a ring for some advice - not that loud fat bloke in the breeze block office "With nothing taken from the damages YOU'RE awarded..."

Glad to hear you're OK. Sorry dude.

[johnnystorm]

An apologetic partner came round this evening so that the local bike mech blokey could tell him what it costs to fix. Thankfully it seems that the damage is limited to a bar end plug, one exhaust can, brake pedal and abrake lever. From the brief chat we had it would seem that she (the driver that punted me off) did exactly the same thing in her previous car into the back of a Fiat (must be an italophobe) at the same junction. "So I had to get her a new car" he says....."You ought to have got a new woman" says the mechanic as he looks my bike over.:D

Some people clearly aren't cut out for driving and should stay at home knitting, then again, they'd probably just kebab themselves with the needles.

The good news is that it looks like the bloke is going to foot the bill and the mechanic suggested that it might be nice gesture to buy me a pair of nearly new Viper exhaust cans rather than spend the same money on one new OEM Ducati can. :) So provided my back/neck and now aching wrist clear up this sorry episode might have an agreeable, if not totally happy ending.

[Nonnie]

Hey Johnny, anything to get out of organising a meet eh?

Anyway, sorry about your off but you're OK it seems. I am having trouble with this woman not being insured. OK so her partner comes over and offers to foot the bill, how about he just buys her insurance? I can't fathom it out.

Look after yourself.

[MilesB]

Why can't they do something similar to the DVLA's road tax evasion scheme? Motor insurers are regulated by the FSA and could be required to give a list of all vehicles insured by them. A giant sinister computer could then collate the insurance policies, road fund licences, MOTs and drivers licences. All these cameras watching us go about our daily business ...
This system does in fact exist - as you can now renew your tax disc on-line or over the phone. As there is no way they can inspect your Insurance Certificate or MOT remotely, they rely on the database...

Of course, if the car isn't taxed either, then no-one is going to check if they are insured :worried: .


The motor insurance industry cheeses me off. Of course it makes complete sense to require it, but the fact that it is mandatory, while being supplied by competing companies is just silly. Why can't the government offer a minimum cover and then road users could purchase further cover from independent brokers?
'Silly' ? - It's insane :banghead:

[RANT mode on/]
It's a legal requirement to have insurance, but it's a 'commercial' purchase. Insurance companies offering to undercut other companies quotes to get your business - what is this? Insurance has a cost, based on bike type/power, age/experience of the rider, etc., but sometimes you get the feeling it's more like 'Ahh, you live in such and such a post code, so you can probably afford this much...'
[/End RANT] :nash:

Johnny

Hope you are OK, and get it all sorted to YOUR satistafaction - that's the important bit :thumbsup:

Miles

[DesmoDog]

An apologetic partner came round this evening so that the local bike mech blokey could tell him what it costs to fix. Thankfully it seems that the damage is limited to a bar end plug, one exhaust can, brake pedal and abrake lever. From the brief chat we had it would seem that she (the driver that punted me off) did exactly the same thing in her previous car into the back of a Fiat (must be an italophobe) at the same junction. "So I had to get her a new car" he says....."You ought to have got a new woman" says the mechanic as he looks my bike over.:D

Some people clearly aren't cut out for driving and should stay at home knitting, then again, they'd probably just kebab themselves with the needles.

The good news is that it looks like the bloke is going to foot the bill and the mechanic suggested that it might be nice gesture to buy me a pair of nearly new Viper exhaust cans rather than spend the same money on one new OEM Ducati can. :) So provided my back/neck and now aching wrist clear up this sorry episode might have an agreeable, if not totally happy ending.

Oh well thats that sorted then, and to think they'd done it only once before. maybe next time she'll kill herself and that will be that. I know, get payment then prosecute. How does that sound?

[neilp]

Oh well thats that sorted then, and to think they'd done it only once before. maybe next time she'll kill herself and that will be that. I know, get payment then prosecute. How does that sound?
Perhaps I am being a bit ignorant here, but is it not part of the role the Police perform to prosecute someone who they know to have broken the law?

[johnnystorm]

Perhaps I am being a bit ignorant here, but is it not part of the role the Police perform to prosecute someone who they know to have broken the law?

I think what he was getting at, now I have spoken at length, is that at the end of the day it's up to the CPS to prosecute. If I say I don't want to assist then as I'm the main witness their prosecution might be worthwhile.