Twunt knocked over my bike. Advice, pls

[iwilde]

Were you parked in a propper parking zone? If not you pay, end of story.

[Owl]

Were you parked in a propper parking zone? If not you pay, end of story.

I'll laugh and clap here as I"m guessing you are taking the piss?

[EnzoYug]

Get 2 quotes (or more) for full repairs. Take the average of these two quotes and present it to the guy.

*hint - if you tell the bike stores that the quote is for insurance they will put the price as high as possible, assuming that the insurance company is going to be feeding their kids next week.

Give the quotes and price you're asking to the guy in a letter this way if you go to court you've got documentation. Keep a copy for yourself. In the letter give the guy 10 working days to respond and either pay or being payments. Do not give him your bank details - you don't want him to start paying untill you've agreed on whats going to happen.

If the guy doesn't pay or respond contact him again and tell him he has 7 days to get his shit together or you will see him in court.

Start getting your paper work together and assume the worst.

The guy will either pay - or you'll go to court. If you do go to court ask for much higher damages than you would otherwise. Everthing you can think of - even money for catching the bus to uni and what not... the court will probably award it if you show that you gave him every chance.

At this point he'll either start paying, or you've got a legal debt logged against him. Offer him the option of getting a loan to pay for it or threaten to sell the debt to a debt-collector. this will help destroy his credit rating very quickly. Remind him of this.

If you keep paper work, always give him 7-10 days to respond to any letter and follow the proper channel - you'll be sweet.

Also check out this link:
http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/roa...e-driving.html
http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/roa...y/crashes.html

This is from the road code. Point this out to him. Your parking had NOTHING to do with the crash.

[YellowDog]

That sucks.
If you present him with a huge bill, he'll refuse to pay.
If you present him with a small bill, he may pay, or he may just never quite get around to it while making all the right noises and promises when you actually speak to him.

My advice: contact you insurance company and do it by the book.

This is good advice, but you will need a to have a witness.

You need to tell him that the guy you were delivering to saw it all.

If that was a baby in a pram he knocked over, would he be saying the same thing?

If he has an offensive vehicle with poor rear vision then he should either get a downward back mirror OR look behind the vehicle on foot, like the highway code says to do! What a tosser.

I had a similar experiece a few years back. Almost destroyed my bike. The insurance company chased them until their own insurance company admitted they were liable. Took 2 years. Lucky I was fully comp.

Good luck.

[YellowDog]

Don't they have full-face helmets in Devon?

[Cruisin' Craig]

When I was still at school (admittedly that's a few years back)), my bike was knocked over by one of the highschool teachers. Even a teacher (who is supposed to be setting a good example) refused to pay once she found out how much the bill was, and resorted to the same "it shouldn't have been parked there anyway" approach that we see so often. Seems to me it's just the same ignorant and selfish attitude again and again. In my particular case, the bike "shouldn't have been parked there" because it turns out only teachers were allowed to park on school grounds.

The thing people don't seem to get, is that someone parking in the wrong place doesn't mean that it's now O.K to smash their vehicle. Although I can see that there may be possible execptions when a vehicle is parked dangerously.

[Pixie]

Were you parked in a propper parking zone? If not you pay, end of story.

Bullshit
It doesn't matter if he was parked on the steps of parliament,it does not absolve a third party from damaging his vehicle.The only exceptions being if the vehicle is blocking emergency services and they damage it gaining access.

[iwilde]

Bullshit
It doesn't matter if he was parked on the steps of parliament,it does not absolve a third party from damaging his vehicle.The only exceptions being if the vehicle is blocking emergency services and they damage it gaining access.

Mate, I'm not taking the side of the prat that backed into the bike. I'm looking at it from the bloody insurance company side. Could have easily been my bike and I would have been out for blood.

[Swoop]

he said sorry mate, I didn't see it. I was highly gutted but didn't resort to abuse. He was a decent bloke WHO JUST DIDN'T SEE IT.

Perhaps he "just didn't look", which then leads into "didn't see it"?

[xwhatsit]

A'right. Went and got some quotes for the tank today.

Onehunga Panel & Paint came up with $528.75. $90 of that is for pulling the tank off, so that's gone, leaving $180 for fixing the dents and $200 for paint (plus GST). Really impressed by these guys, very professional (and were doing some beautiful work in the workshop). Apparently they've got some magic paint-matching machine that scans the paint and comes up with the appropriate brew.

Second quote was from Spot On Panelbeaters on Barry's Point Rd. $433.13.

Popped into Mt Eden MC and Cyclespot Honda and they said they send their stuff off to somebody in Huntly and Reflections respectively. Ran out of time to see Reflections (do they take out dents and stuff as well?).

Now to email the guy with the quotes and see what kind of abuse he meters out. Talked to him on the phone the other day, what an unpleasant man. I was being very polite (and trying even to be friendly), he was getting quite wound up and heated. Interesting, seeing as it was my beloved bike that he carelessly backed over *scratches head*

[Waxxa]

Go to the Small Claims Court. Have pictures and several quotes from bike shops to go with.

[ManDownUnder]

It's a lose lose bro. Take it on the chin - don't get too wound up about it and park on the footpath next time.

[sunhuntin]

Now to email the guy with the quotes and see what kind of abuse he meters out. Talked to him on the phone the other day, what an unpleasant man. I was being very polite (and trying even to be friendly), he was getting quite wound up and heated. Interesting, seeing as it was my beloved bike that he carelessly backed over *scratches head*

keep all emails, and if possible, record any future phone convos.

i quite often tuck onto the end of parks when theres heaps of room [ie, if theres only a mini in there taking half the space, i park on the far end, leaving heaps of room for them to move.]

[Renegade]

time to take a step back and look at what you are going to need in court.

-scene photos with time date stamp, including sign posting in area
-letter from boss saying you were making a delivery(obviously you were unable to park in the loading zone cos it was occupied)
-find out where they were eating, maybe they have footage of them eating, it will show they were parked illegally, if its relevant in relation to sign posting
-all LTSA info regarding parking thats relevant
-all quotes
-all costs of loss you have incurred
-all corrospondence with other party

thats all i can think of right now, some may say its going over the top, i say be TOTALLY prepared and play to WIN!!

when he turns around and says im not paying you say sure, whats your address so i can send you your court disclosure package so you are fully aware of the evidence i will be presenting against you in court when i seek full compensation for the damages and losses i have incurred.

[Phurrball]

XD - if you need any help preparing for Disputes tribunal, or want any info, PM me. Have just been through the process and am just about at the end of my law degree...

Ross.