Long story short, we were riding along a lovely little B-road in the Lake District, when a lad in a car didn’t stop at a crossroads and drove straight into my right-hand side. To be clear, I had right of way as I was on the main road. How he didn’t see me I will never know as I was on a bright orange bike and wearing a bright orange jacket.
The result of the lad’s blindness was a broken humerus and shoulder and very sore wrists. My son was directly behind me and caught the whole thing on his Insta360. so I reckoned it would be easy to prove it wasn’t my fault. In addition as I was leading, I have my other two buddies who witnessed the whole thing in front of them.
However, I have subsequently found out that my bike insurance ran out the month before the accident (I am an idiot and misread the date and entered it into my diary wrong). The police offered, and I accepted, a fixed penalty of six points and £300. As a result of this, the lad’s insurer reckons that, as I was riding illegally without insurance, I am automatically to blame for the whole collision. My solicitor tells me they are talking cobblers and has just issued court proceedings. What do you think? I am super worried and it’s keeping me awake at night.
Answer
It’s an easy thing for me to say as I sit at my desk, but try not to worry. The collision didn’t happen because you didn’t have insurance. It happened because some dipstick didn’t see you on a bright orange bike with a bright orange jacket on, and drove into the side of you, whilst you were established on the main road.
Your solicitor has got this absolutely bang on and gone on the offensive. My advice is to go to court and light this. I suspect that once this gets into the hands of a solicitor for the defendant (rather than his insurer) liability will be admitted. If not, I don’t think the judge will be too impressed if the defendant tries to argue this at trial as he will go down in a ball of flames.
To put your mind at ease, in England and Wales, you as the claimant need to ‘prove on the balance of probabilities’ that the lad has been negligent, and because of that negligence you have suffered a loss. If you do that, you will win your claim. Therefore, bearing in mind you were established on the main road when the lad pulled out of a minor road and collided with you, and that you have it on video, and you have three witnesses (plus there is you), well, you can see why the fact you did not have insurance is irrelevant. If the lad’s defence team do try and make the point in front of a judge it won’t land because. quite simply, it’s a bad point.
Andrew Prendergast
Adventure Bike Rider – Jan / Feb 2025
