Advice on claiming property damage from insurance after being hit by car?

[victorhooi]

I had an incident recently where a driver attempted to overtake me from behind in a single-lane, but ended up side-swiping me off the road and running me into the median strip.

The driver has admitted fault, and the police have also charged them.

I'm currently trying to sort things out with their third-party insurance agent - I was riding home at the time and I had a backpack with a laptop, tablet, phone, BT keyboard and my other electronics in it. After 2.5 months of my hassling them, the insurance finally got back today to say that they're refusing to cover any electronics damaged in the accident, as they say I can't prove they were damaged in the collision. (There are photos of dings/scratches, and some of the electronics won't power on, or has issues - e.g. screen is faulty or touchscreen doesn't work)- however, I believe they're trying to argue that they don't believe the collision was hard enough to cause any damage.

Question is - has anybody else been in a similar situation, and what did you do? Any resources you'd recommend, or general advice?

And are there any law firms in Sydney that specialise in this sort of thing? (Most law firms seem to do personal injury - I was injured in the collision - but the insurance for that seems to have been far easier to deal with).

[Cycleops70]

The Wife works in insurance. She advised signing a stat dec to say that the items were on you at the time & why (work related travel/commuting).

And get them assessed by an electronics repairer, & write up a report that would say the damage was consistent with impact.

Edit;

If you have your own insurance, you may be better off claiming on that (you may get new for old, rather than market value from 3rd party). And your own insurance company can chase the 3rd party to recover costs.

[uart]

I had an incident recently where a driver attempted to overtake me from behind in a single-lane, but ended up side-swiping me off the road and running me into the median strip.

Just out of interest, did they try to overtake you on the left in a single lane?

[victorhooi]

Nope, they tried to overtake me on the right hand side. It's Darling Drive, near Sydney Darling Harbour.

Since it's only a single lane, it's possible there was oncoming traffic, and the driver panicked and just ended up swiping me clear off the road into the concrete median. (Although they claim they originally thought there was enough room - I was riding in the middle of the lane though, so I'm not sure how that works).

There's a concrete median to the left, as there's another road running parallel to this road (I think it's for some exhibition centre thing).

[Nate]

I'd take the driver to small claims (court) & claim the damage.

You've got all the proof & evidence - if he wants to recover it from his insurer, then let him do it.
Its pretty straight forward, you provide a letter of demand to the driver - if they refuse to pay then you apply to have it taken to court.

Insurers are experts of dodging paying out, dont allow that to be put upon yourself.
The driver is the one that is responsible - thats your focus. Let them recover what they want from their insurer.

[human909]

I'd take the driver to small claims (court) & claim the damage.

You've got all the proof & evidence - if he wants to recover it from his insurer, then let him do it.
Its pretty straight forward, you provide a letter of demand to the driver - if they refuse to pay then you apply to have it taken to court.

Insurers are experts of dodging paying out, dont allow that to be put upon yourself.
The driver is the one that is responsible - thats your focus. Let them recover what they want from their insurer.

THIS is the end game path. As Nate said your claim is with the driver not with the insurer.

But for me in a similar situation the insurance ombudsman worked for me. It might be faster than letter of demands and small claims tribunals. Also, only deal with the insurance party in writing. Don't deal with them on the phone.

[nemo57]

Cycleops 70's advice is sound.
human 909 is correct in saying that your claim lies against the driver, not directly against the insurer. (Trust me: I'm a lawyer.) It was the driver's negligence that resulted in your loss; the insurer merely stands behind him, promising to indemnify him against liability he might have to you.
A small claim in your local court seems to be the way to go (I'm not a NSW lawyer, so I'm not 110% positive about this). This link may be helpful if you substitute "bike" for "car" appropriately:
http://www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au/Pages/r ... dents.aspx

[AUbicycles]

This is good advice - a question is whether you contact the driver and try and settle with them before the court as the driver is unlikely interested in going to court either and themself may not be disputing your claim.

Insurance companies are notorious for this and it should not be your problem, burden, debt.