Still waiting for the Police Options

[Noodles71]

I was cycling home back from work at the start of August and got rear-ended by a pizza carrying moped driven by a teenager employed by a multinational chain. This was pretty much my view when it happened, albeit I was further to the left in the bike/bus lane cycling straight ahead in a straight line doing between 18-19mph Google Maps(). I don't think I could have done anything to avoid the accident as the first I knew what was going on I was hit first on the back wheel hub before their wheel hit my right leg and then I was catapulting over my handlebars.

I was lucky in a sense that two detectives door knocking on a separate matter across the road saw the aftermath of the collision after turning around to the sound and seeing me rolling down the road. They called the ambulance and a standard squad car to come and deal with it. The ambulance arrived and patched me up and I was borderline needing to visit A&E. By this stage 2.5 hours had passed without the squad car arriving. The detectives took down our details and after another 30 minutes I took up the offer of the Paramedics to give me a lift home as I was unable to walk more than a few metres by this stage and the bike was unable to even be pushed. All of us decided to give up on the squad car not arriving by this stage. I was unable to write down the details of the other rider due to injuries to both hands but saw these details being written in the detectives notebook.

The detectives had our details but it seems to have been booked to a different CAD number than the one now being used for the investigation and the case officer can't find them. The Pizza Shop says they have told the Police the identity of the driver and provided insurance details but when I contact the person in the Traffic Accident team they say they don't have them. The original detectives notes are unable to be located as well. It's now nearly 5 months on and I'm yet to get this information from the person investigating it. I don't want to cause a fuss about them being slow as they seem to be the ones who ultimately decide liability as well. They said had I waited for the squad car it would have been better. I am however out of pocket for the bike, have what seems to be a permanent finger injury and a knee that makes clicking noises when fully bent.

How can I get the person working the case to pass me the details of the rider and more importantly the insurance company so I can start recovering the costs I know about? I was told the form naming the rider was due back Oct 28th but something has gone wrong with either the company or the Police as these details are still not available. I'd rather not get the accident compensation trolls involved and sort it out myself. Is there a six month limit for the case officer to decide who was at fault and to proceed with whatever action they deem necessary? If it goes past 6 months without further action am I at a disadvantage? Can a multinational play hard ball by saying they don't know who the rider was and therefore it goes nowhere?

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[The Rookie]

Yes, for most offences they have 6 months to prosecute.

A prosecution or not will have no effect on any claim you have, often a criminal prosecution will have no realistic chance of success for a specific offence but you just have to prove some negligence to get the claim resolved, being hit from behind isn’t usually contested.

Just keep on at the Police, ring every other day, sometimes you need to be enough of a nuisance they want shot of you.

[dacouc]

The Police do not decide liability with regard to your Insurance claim

[peterguk]

I don't want to cause a fuss about them being slow

And therein lies your mistake...

[Noodles71]

Thanks everyone above for their help.

I've managed to get a response from the Police. It appears that the investigation has come to a conclusion with no liability decided by the Police due to the rider denying they were the rider nominated by the company. As the rider nominated by the company says they were not involved no further action will be taken by the Police.

Would it be possible to take on their insurers to recover damages if the company does not give the correct details to the Police and no collision report is available?

[DancingDad]

........Would it be possible to take on their insurers to recover damages if the company does not give the correct details to the Police and no collision report is available?

Don't see why not, assuming it is company insurance ?

[Noodles71]

Yes, the registered keepers details seems to be the multinational concerned and not an individuals. I'm worried though that with no investigation or report by the Police as to who is liable this might become difficult.

Considering this is them running into the back of me in a bus/bike lane that motorbikes were not signposted for do you think I should proceed by myself or get one of the accident vultures involved? The liability is never really going to be in question, just that the bike seems to have been ridden by a ghost now.

[southpaw82]

If liability isn’t in question a police report isn’t required (and the police don’t decide civil liability anyway). Not knowing who was driving makes a claim harder but not impossible, so long as it was being ridden on company business the company will be liable and you can claim against their insurance.

[Noodles71]

This just gets even more comical. I questioned the case officer why they were unable to confirm the rider when one of the detectives that rushed over to help recorded the rider's details in their notebook and could identify them by sight. I also provided them with a photo of the rider I took. This time they actually checked with the detective and he confirmed the details that the company provided about the rider.

The case officer said it seemed strange the rider would deny it was them on their Section 172 form as they had insurance and a license and supposedly nothing to hide. That false declaration however isn't being followed up and the only sanction they have put on the rider is "a warning as to his manner of driving". It certainly puts the £30 fine they give you for dangerous practice of riding off a bike path onto the road across a metre or so of shared pavement in perspective. This guy was speeding, smashed into the back of me in a lane they were not supposed to be in and caused injuries that required an ambulance and they get away with £0 owed, even with lying on their S172 form. And then they have the cheek to say I need to pay £106.40 to get a copy of their reports even though they have made little effort to investigate.

[cp8759]

This just gets even more comical. I questioned the case officer why they were unable to confirm the rider when one of the detectives that rushed over to help recorded the rider's details in their notebook and could identify them by sight. I also provided them with a photo of the rider I took. This time they actually checked with the detective and he confirmed the details that the company provided about the rider.

The case officer said it seemed strange the rider would deny it was them on their Section 172 form as they had insurance and a license and supposedly nothing to hide. That false declaration however isn't being followed up and the only sanction they have put on the rider is "a warning as to his manner of driving". It certainly puts the £30 fine they give you for dangerous practice of riding off a bike path onto the road across a metre or so of shared pavement in perspective. This guy was speeding, smashed into the back of me in a lane they were not supposed to be in and caused injuries that required an ambulance and they get away with £0 owed, even with lying on their S172 form. And then they have the cheek to say I need to pay £106.40 to get a copy of their reports even though they have made little effort to investigate.

If you feel like making a fuss you could point out that there is prima facie evidence that the rider has given false information under section 172, and also perverted the course of justice. Whether they will follow it up is down to how much of a fuss you make, how busy they are, and whether the matter gets looked at by someone who knows what they're talking about, but don't ask, don't get.

[DastardlyDick]

Most Pizza places are franchises and some of them have unusual Insurance - a few years ago, a pizza delivery rider was stopped and during subsequent enquiries it was he was on Company Insurance from the shop to the Customers house, but his own Insurance back to the shop!
Because his own Insurance didn't cover business use, his bike was seized, and he got done for no insurance.

[notmeatloaf]

My experience is that if you get a copper than cycles they will follow it up for you.

In the event you don't they will just assume you must have been at fault in some way and NFA it.
]
In my last accident a BMW accelerated hard out of a parking space at the side of the road and then ran me over. At the scene he gave false details and left me injured at the side of the road, it was only because there were witnesses I got the real ones. But the police still NFAed it with "stern words" to the driver because he said he didn't see me.

I got one of (as you say) vulture claim companies, best thing I ever did. All the medicals etc arranged for me with private consultants. Everything chased for me. Obviously they charge a fortune but as a cyclist why should you be wasting hours of your time trying to fix the lies of a dishonest company or driver?

This post has been edited by notmeatloaf: Wed, 24 Jan 2018 - 12:06