And that is exactly what I did two weeks ago. I duly dropped the bike off and whilst I was there the sales manager said I could take out a new Gold Wing. I duly signed some paperwork. I confess I did not read it properly as I was excited to get out on the iconic six-cylinder beast I could see gleaming on the forecourt. I have since read the paperwork and I did sign saying I am liable to pay an excess if I had an accident.
This thing had all the bells and whistles and whilst it was massive, it carried its weight low down, so it was super-easy to ride and manoeuvre. Unfortunately, I only got to ride it for about 30 minutes as some blithering idiot decided to pull straight out in front of me from the left. I tried to swerve and avoid her, and nearly made it, but she kept coming and clipped the rear left of the bike. That sent me into a wobble, whereupon I ended up falling over to the right. And that is where I stayed until the ambulance turned up as I had hit my knee on the curb and shattered it. Not good.
So, I am writing this from a hospital bed. I have lots of problems to deal with, as you can imagine, but the first one is the dealer excess. The paperwork I signed makes me liable to pay a £4000 excess and they are chasing me for it. I have politely told them I am not paying for it, and they need to speak to the car driver, but they seem very reluctant to wait. Is the dealer right to ask me? And what happens if I ignore them?
Answer
I am really sorry to hear about the accident and your injuries. That sounds bloody painful, and I wish you a speedy recovery. I have good news and bad news. Starting with the good, from what you have described, you are going to win on liability, i.e. because you were on the main road when the woman pulled out of a side road and collided with you. Therefore, you should be able to recover compensation for your personal injury and losses from the woman and her insurer. This takes me on to the bad news. I suspect these ‘losses’ will include the £4000 excess, if the dealer will not hold off. I say this because you signed the paperwork making you liable to pay an excess if you had an accident, whether it was your fault or not.
Therefore, I am afraid the dealer is right to ask you. As for ignoring them, perhaps nothing will happen. However, if you do not pay the dealer, they could take you to Court and they would win. My advice is to continue to speak to the dealer and ‘keep them’ in the loop. At the same time, you need to get a specialist solicitor to start your claim ASAP. Therefore, if you do have to pay the £4000 (which you may have to if the dealer will not wait, and you do not want to get sued) you can ask your solicitor to request an interim payment from the other side, so you are not out of pocket too long hopefully. If the other side will not pay, then your solicitor can start Court proceedings and make an application to get an interim.
Andrew ‘Chef’ Prendergast
More Bikes – July 2025
