That is until a week ago when I high-sided whilst going around a gentle right-hander. I wasn’t doing anything silly and it was a dry day. It appeared to be just a freak accident.

However, when my mate picked up my bike from the Police, he noticed a weird puncture hole through the exhaust, underneath the engine where the three pipes go into one. I wonder whether something could have flicked up off the road, got stuck in the exhaust and flipped me off.

The hole wasn’t there a couple of days before the accident, as I did an oil change. The possible explanation seems so random. Even if that is what happened, I don’t see how that helps me bring a claim for my broken leg and being off work.

Answer

It’s not the weirdest case I have ever heard of. I had a chap who fell off in similar circumstances. You may be able to bring a claim against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB). Every time we pay for insurance, some of the money goes into a big pot, which the MIB uses to pay for claims involving untraced and uninsured drivers.

You may be able to bring a claim under the Untraced Driver’s Agreement, but only if you can prove on the balance of probabilities that the hole was caused by something from a vehicle that should be insured to drive in the UK; and that in turn caused you to fall off.

In the case I dealt with years ago, his dad returned to the scene and found a bit of metal that fitted the hole perfectly. An expert confirmed it was a piece of leaf spring from a truck, and he won his case.

My advice is go back to the scene, and see if you can find anything that could have caused the hole, and then go from there.

Andrew ‘Chef’ Prendergast

Motorcycle Monthly March 2019