Let's say a young girl makes a fairly blind left turn into a parking lot. I'm coming the opposite direction doing 5, maybe 10 mph (this is just outside a mall), slam my brakes and essentially put the bike down to avoid going straight into the side of her SUV. I had the right of way. She gets out, and I do my very best to remain calm. She apologizes, says she did not see me coming.

SOmeone who see's the accident calls police, cop comes and writes down her insurance info for me as I'm a little dazed but takes no police report. I plan on calling her insurance in a few hours when they open but does anyone have any experience on how this will work when there is no damage to her vehicle? I was riding an older bike ('82 Kaw 440) which is probably worth no more than $2000 so there will be no major monetary claim or anything like that but my bike is probably totaled from an insurance adjuster's perspective. I did get minor injuries, but don't plan on attempting to receive compensation for them.

Basically, I just want the value of the bike so I can pick up another. Am I screwed here?

 

you can thank the typically lazy officer for not writing an accident report. Chances are you are getting nothing without an accident report.


Modified by MSchu at 5:51 AM 8/25/2008

 

OP... dont get another bike. it's just gonna get worse for you

 

No physical collision with her vehicle + no police report = less than stellar chance of getting anything from her insurance company, unless she's a rare honest person.

 

One clarification question: Is the girl hot?

 

You can file a police report within 48 hrs of the accident I believe. Don't quote me on that. Just go down to the police station in the jurisdiction the accident happened in and file a police report. Hopefully you got the officers name because he can serve as a witness. However, based on your description it happened in a parking lot which means it's private property.

Parking lot accidents + no police report + no witness + no officers name = ZERO compensation

I would just chalk this one up as a learning experience and move on. If it truly was a 5-10 mph drop the likelihood you totalled it is slim. That's not to say an insurance company won't total it. But again, it's unlikely you will get compensation based on the information you have listed. Good luck, I hope it all works out.

 

Thanks for all the input. I should be receiving a call shortly from the adjuster. I completely understand what you all are saying but I feel confident the accurate portrayal of events will lead to some sort of compensation unless the girl (not hot, btw) completely lies about what happened and I just don't see that happening as she was pretty damn freaked out about it. Forgot to mention that she did apologize several times and even gave me her business card (she's a store manager inside the mall). But we'll see. I'll post up with any updates.

 

Sounds like she's a fairly honest person then (extremely rare when it comes to dealing with collisions and insurance, in my experience), so hopefully they'll help you out. Good luck.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by camera obscura &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">slam my brakes and essentially put the bike down to avoid going straight into the side of her SUV</TD></TR></TABLE>

Did you or your bike hit the SUV?

 

Nope, didn't even touch it. Spoke with the adjuster a few minutes ago so now I've just got to hope she is honest when making her statement.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by camera obscura &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nope, didn't even touch it</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hate to say it, but its rider error. You got into a panic and grabbed too much front brake, too quickly. You should probably be talking to your insurance company instead of the drivers.

 

Well, a week and a half later, their insured has finally made herself "available" for a 10 minute phone call to tell her side. They are accepting full liability

They want me to take the bike by a shop and give them an estimate on repairs. Ascertaining value to 25 year old parts should be interesting. Hope it just gets totaled.

 

-kbb on your bike is less than $900.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wesvailco &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">-kbb on your bike is less than $900.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Ouch! That one stings a little...

 

Yeah, I'm more concerned with market value than KBB. If I can get $1500 I'll be satisfied.

 

Is the bike ACTUALLY banged up that bad, or are you just milking the situation?

 

You won't get more than blue book for it, that's for sure. Insurance companies couldn't care less about the market value - they're going to give you the very least.

Consider yourself lucky for getting anything.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You won't get more than blue book for it, that's for sure. Insurance companies couldn't care less about the market value - they're going to give you the very least.

Consider yourself lucky for getting anything.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly what I was thinking.