Came off Sunday, doing less than 30, won't go into details but basically the front end tucked under as I made a quick manoeuvre, got cracked ribs (jeez, it's f***** painful) otherwise OK. Bike is in Wolverhampton at recovery depot but will be delivered back to me in Watford on Thursday. Couldn't have picked a better place to crash, two St Johns Ambulance instructors were a few yards away who handled everything, checked me over, got passers by to move the bike, got chair from the pub next door to sit me on until ambulance arrived, etc etc, top blokes. I was well winded when it happened and also knew within two minutes that I'd done some damage to my ribs, could hardly breathe and within five minutes they were hurting like f***. I was wearing other leg, shin, elbow protection, kevlar jeans, all of which worked great, not a scratch except for the ribs. (Torso protector now on my list). Didn't really look at the bike at the time, was in no condition to do so, but noticed as I was helped across the road the r/h/side fairing was grazed, indicator smashed, brake pedal snapped. Never seen the bike since then so don't know if there's any more serious damage or not. Police were called but they were happy it was just a simple accident and I'm officially informed they consider the matter closed. I've not informed insurance company yet, I don't know if there's a time period in which I must do this. I have a £500 excess. Not sure what to do, if it's only cosmetic damage prob' not worth claiming? There may be other implications I've not considered though. Should I inform/claim?
I'd get a quote for repair before considering to claim. As well as your £500 excess, you will also lose your NCD and you will also have to declare it for the next 5 years. I don't think that you are obliged to inform the insurance company. The Police are not interested and no-one else was involved.
To claim or not depends on how much it will cost you to fix it yourself vs real costs of your claim (excess + higher insurance afterwards on all your vehicles as you have to declare it for 5 years). At this point you don't know what the damage is so I doubt there is anybody with a crystal ball on here to give you advice. Losing front end at less than 30mph in warm and dry conditions.. it sounds like a story to tell lol
Cheers. Yeah I was thinking along those lines. I'm hoping when I see the bike it will be 'obviously' just cosmetic in which case not reporting/claiming is ok. If however, its more than cosmetic (I'd be very surprised if it was) then I'd have to balance any loss of NCD over a few years against the insurers paying for repairs, but I'd still have to pay the £500 excess. I'm leaning towards not claiming.
Yeah, pretty much what I was thinking. I was riding a bit 'enthusiastically' just before the off, it was about 30 by the time I slowed down.
Oh shit! Yes like everyone said, do a search first about fixing the bike and if you can afford it i would suggest do it. The NCB will be affected if you call them or should i say disappear! Hope you recover well though
Hi, Don't ring the insurance company and tell them you were thinking of claiming, or not. As realized recently when some wanker crashed into the back of my wifes parked car and drove off, and rung the insurance company, they said that if we claimed or not, it was in the terms and conditions that you HAD to declare any accident regardless of fault or claim and it was be recorded against you and bump up your insurance in the future. So..... only tell the insurers when you have decided what to do. ( I refused to give them the car registration number after I got this advice and hung up )
I had a total loss in 2013 when I binned my 1st Gixer Thou. No-one else involved but basically the bike not a panel left in one piece, tank ripped off, forks pushed thru yokes, subframe snapped and back wheel with a massive V in it..........although the engine was still oil and water tight! Claimed for the total loss and due to the fact I had full NCD and it was protected, they paid out, left my insurance running which I then transferred onto my next Gixer thou for the following 11 months (I had a 15 month policy that year with MCE) and upon this years renewal last September I was thinking this is gonna hurt! MCE just said no problems, you just won't gain a years extra NCD on last years price. It pretty much cost me the same this year to insure, which i then transferred onto the Blade in February so not all bad news. Panel damage and £500 excess isn't worth it in my opinion. Total loss, deffo.
Funny enough the police at the scene said I shouldn't inform the insurers either unless I wished to claim as it would affect My NCB for years and prob' wouldn't be worth it. Thanks geezers, you've all pretty much confirmed what I thought.
Absolutely agree, don't tell the insurance company a thing unless you are definitely 100% claiming, they get really funny about ANY accident, be it your fault or not, or money paid out or not. The "theory" is you "should" tell them, but "many" would hide that under the carpet if they can. It does normally state "ANY" accident, claims or convictions, no matter the reasons. If it were me, "by the sounds of things" I doubt I would be claiming, just fixing it myself. If its way over a grand, then it might be worth considering a claim. you wont know till you see it properly.
Standard colours and bodywork means you can trawl thru eBay and hopefully find the same stuff cheap enough.
Mike, With £500 excess and damage to one or two panels, there is absolutely no point claiming or informing insurance hyenas! I have made a mistake and called Bennets last year to get the advice on claiming or not from my wife's insurance (she collided with my bike and we both had a crash at very low speed). I have never proceeded with the claim but those fu...ing hyenas made the report to their 'insurance database' and when I was renewing the insurance for my car this year I was surprised by other insuerer (Admiral) that... allegedly I didn't inform them about 'my claim' in October last year related to the motorbiek incident (!!!). I would however advise you to take care of your ribs. The A&E will only bother to do the X-ray scan, if they suspect puncture to the lungs, or if the cracked ribs are dislocated. BUT the dislocation might be tiny and yet hurt like hell for weeks and heal for months, often leaving a 'bump' on the rib. So, do try to take scan and make sure the ribs are in the right position. The scan will also show if the ribs are bruised, or cracked or completely broken.
I'm with Bennetts myself, I'm decided now that unless there is obvious fork damage I won't bother claiming. The ribs are at this moment hurting like f***, takes real effort to stand let alone walk. I can feel the rib/s moving a bit sometimes, feels horrible. I had x-rays and a scan from which they confirmed cracked rib/s (don't know if one or more, feels like one, but wtf do I know). They kept me in for a few hours for observation as the cracked rib/s are over the liver and they thought there might be bleeding from the liver, but I was let go after about seven hours in hospital. They were pretty good overall.
Sounds professional. I had two ribs broken due to a sport injury two years ago. I could not only feel but see both ribs moving, went to A&E, spent 3 hours... only to be told 'there is no puncture to the lung, go home, take paracetamol, we don't do X-rays in such case, it will heal in 6 weeks'. Probably very cost-effective, but not very professional IMHO, neither reasurring to the patient. I could feel my broken ribs moving for... 4-5 weeks. Imagine the pain ;-)
Some good advice with ribs, don't laugh, cough, stand up, sit down, lay down or roll over in bed. That covers the basics, but there is loads more which you will find along the way, mine hurt for 4 weeks quite badly, then another 2 weeks on and off after that, I hate broken ribs When ever anyone says they broke their ribs, I squirm a bit even now thinking about it
Hi, Don't tell the insurance, don't even think of claiming, you need a virtual total to be worth it, or the insurers will reel in any money they spend in spades with increased fees over the years. Hope the ribs heal quick, it's a painful business. Good Luck, Mike.
Sorry to hear about your spill. Out of interest, who sorted the bike recovery ? I always wonder if recovery firms share/sell on details...?
Coughing, standing up, sitting down, lying down, getting up, even trying to bend down, even lifting your arm up, yep that covers just about everything that hurts enough to make you shout out in pain. I'm dreading going to bed tonight, you know what I'm talking about right? Tried to sleep in a chair last night OMFG. The beers in the fridge are gonna get it tonight. Seriously folks, get a torso protector, always thought they looked a bit OTT, a bit robocop, a bit like you're trying to look macho, 100% will get one before I next get on a bike. Also had a pair of superb Dianese knee/leg protectors and a pair of allstars strap-on elbow protectors, both worked great. Got graze marks on my Kevlar jeans and jacket in both those areas but not a scratch on me. If you ain't got these then get 'em.
MMS of Wolverhampton, don't know them, they were the company called by the cops while I was waiting for the ambulance. I was just happy to accept their recommendation at the time, bit pricey but they seem professional enough,
