Advice on accident involving a dog

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
pompeyreece
Posts: 8
Joined: 8 Sep 2014, 11:35am

Re: Advice on accident involving a dog

Post by pompeyreece »

Psamathe wrote:Just a thought (and I have no idea of the legality of it all and it must all depend on the dog owners insurance cover, if any), but if the dog owner has no insurance cover and you feel they are already financially stretched then maybe work out your increased premium through loss of NCD, claim on your own policy and ask them to pay your premium increase due to loss of NCD (remembering it might affect your premiums in subsequent years as you re-build-up an NCD). However, some policies have NCD protection built-in so a single claim might not affect your premiums. I'm unsure about this route as it's a bit like you deciding who will pay for damages when it is really up to the insurance company to make such decisions.

With regard to the bike, it is unfortunate but availability is a separate issue from who pays for the bike. I guess you could be in the same situation has somebody stolen the bike, or many other potential 100% write-off possibilities. Difficult situation but try to avoid confusing the two issues (who pays and availability) as payment is designed to cover losses. Can you hire such a bike (or something similar) and will whichever insurance company cover hire costs until the comparable model is available ?

Ian


Thanks Ian. The owner lives in a cottage in the South Downs, probably at lease £400,000-£500,000 house so although no indication of disposable wealth but they've clearly had some :D My policy does not have a protected NCB however my insurance company has said if I claim, they may pursue to recover costs and then my NCB would remain in place. But it's a big if...

I could hire a bike but again I'm at the mercy of the insurance company but again a pain. Would they pay me the cash and let me buy something when it comes available? Who knows?

However I'm expecting a quote back sometime this week and I now have a terrible dilemma - if I make a successful claim do I go for a 2015 Giant Defy Advanced Pro 0 or a Cannondale 2015 Synapse Carbon Ultegra Di2? :mrgreen:
Psamathe
Posts: 17650
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Advice on accident involving a dog

Post by Psamathe »

pompeyreece wrote:I could hire a bike but again I'm at the mercy of the insurance company but again a pain. Would they pay me the cash and let me buy something when it comes available? Who knows?

Only way to find out is to ask them. Maybe check you can get a letter about availability from a bike shop first and then call the insurance company to discuss.

pompeyreece wrote:However I'm expecting a quote back sometime this week and I now have a terrible dilemma - if I make a successful claim do I go for a 2015 Giant Defy Advanced Pro 0 or a Cannondale 2015 Synapse Carbon Ultegra Di2? :mrgreen:

Make sure you don't give the insurance company any impression you are using this as an opportunity to "upgrade" (I don't know about such bike so cannot know if better/worse than your broken one). Or, if you do want to upgrade, get letter stating cost of direct equivalent (but "not available until ..."), then find a reason why it is in the insurance companies interest to allow you to exceed spec (e.g. no hire costs if you can buy now) or that you will put in the extra money and they gain 'cos the better model is e.g. available now. On the few occasions I've claimed against an insurance policy they have paid against invoices/receipts and I've never been given a cheque to spend on whatever I want. But I've not claimed for many years so maybe things have changed.

I'm probably a cynic but I believe insurance companies will only work in their own interest. That might be to keep you happy or it might be to minimise their costs. But always in their interests not yours.

All above is my opinions - what I might do in a similar situation. I am no expert and am sort of "thinking aloud".

Ian
pompeyreece
Posts: 8
Joined: 8 Sep 2014, 11:35am

Re: Advice on accident involving a dog

Post by pompeyreece »

Psamathe wrote:Make sure you don't give the insurance company any impression you are using this as an opportunity to "upgrade" (I don't know about such bike so cannot know if better/worse than your broken one). Or, if you do want to upgrade, get letter stating cost of direct equivalent (but "not available until ..."), then find a reason why it is in the insurance companies interest to allow you to exceed spec (e.g. no hire costs if you can buy now) or that you will put in the extra money and they gain 'cos the better model is e.g. available now. On the few occasions I've claimed against an insurance policy they have paid against invoices/receipts and I've never been given a cheque to spend on whatever I want. But I've not claimed for many years so maybe things have changed.

I'm probably a cynic but I believe insurance companies will only work in their own interest. That might be to keep you happy or it might be to minimise their costs. But always in their interests not yours.

All above is my opinions - what I might do in a similar situation. I am no expert and am sort of "thinking aloud".

Ian


No upgrades going on, both bikes above are the same price or less than the one that was damaged.
Postboxer
Posts: 1929
Joined: 24 Jul 2013, 5:19pm

Re: Advice on accident involving a dog

Post by Postboxer »

Is it a new for old policy though? If there is a liability insurance policy covering the dog, they'll only be willing to pay a market value for your used bike.
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