The first step to making a bicycle accident claim is to contact us for a 30-minute initial consultation. This consultation is free of charge and you’re under no obligation to go any further if you don’t wish. We’ll discuss what happened to you and advise if you could claim, for how much, and how you could fund your claim.
If you decide to pursue your claim with us, we’ll start by collecting all available evidence. We’ll arrange for you to be examined by a medical expert, who can give independent supporting evidence for your claim. Other evidence we can use, where applicable, includes:
- Dashcam and CCTV footage
- Medical records
- Witness statements
- Photographs
- Police reports.
If the person responsible for your cycling accident accepts responsibility for your injuries, it’ll be much easier to settle your claim. If they admit liability early, we’ll try to secure you interim payments, which are early payments taken from your final compensation settlement and can be used to pay for ongoing treatment, rehabilitation, or loss of earnings.
We may need to start court proceedings if your opponent disputes liability or how much compensation we’re claiming for. If we need to do this, we’ll make sure you’re fully prepared and keep you informed every step of the way. We can often settle claims before going to court, even if the trial dates have already been set.
You’ll usually need to make a claim within three years of your bicycle accident, unless you’re claiming on behalf of a child or a loved one who lacks the mental capacity to claim themselves:
- You can claim for a child any time before their 18th birthday, after which they’ve three years to claim
- There's no time limit if you’re claiming on behalf of someone who lacks the mental capacity to claim
- If you’re claiming for a loved one who died because of their accident, you need to claim within three years of their passing or from receiving their post-mortem results.
There's no set amount you could claim for a bicycle accident. Your compensation settlement will take into account how seriously you’ve been hurt and what the financial costs of your accident are. Once we know the circumstances of your accident our solicitors will tell you how much compensation you could get.
When working out how much compensation you should get, we’ll look at:
- How severe your injuries are
- The costs of your current and future medical care. If necessary, we can seek a settlement that’ll pay for treatment for the rest of your life
- Any income you’ve lost or will lose through work absence or unemployment
- Costs of home or vehicle adaptation required as a result of your injury
- Damage to your bike or other property such as your helmet, clothes, phone or laptop.
Yes, although if your actions are seen as partly causing your accident or worsening your injuries you may receive less compensation. This could include signalling incorrectly leading up to an accident or suffering worse injuries because you were cycling without a helmet.
For example, if you’ve been hit by a reckless driver while cycling without a helmet, the driver is responsible for causing your injuries and you’re entitled to make a claim. But you may receive less compensation for your injuries if you weren’t wearing a helmet.
Get in touch with us online or call us on 0800 056 4110 to talk about your case and see if you’re able to make a claim.
Your claim will be against whoever is responsible for causing your injury. Often, this’ll be a motorist or another cyclist. However, you may be claiming against a local authority if your accident was caused by a poorly maintained road or cycle lane.
Your accident may also have been caused or your injuries worsened by a fault with your bike or safety equipment, such as your helmet or lights. In this case you could claim against the manufacturer.
While your claim will be against whoever is responsible for causing your accident, any settlement or compensation you get will likely be paid by their insurance company.
In rare cases, it may be in your best interest to take your claim to court, to get the most compensation.
However, in most situations we’ll work to keep your claim from going to court. This helps to keep the process as swift and stressless as possible for you.
We may need to begin court proceedings if the person responsible for your injuries either denies liability or disputes how much compensation we feel you need. In this situation, we’ll do everything we can to prepare you for court.
Even if court proceedings have been initiated and dates have been set, we can often still settle claims before actually going to court.
In any event, we’ll be by your side every step of the way. We’ll keep you informed throughout the process and give you the legal advice we believe gives your claim the best chance of success.
Even if you’ve been injured in a hit and run cycling accident you can still claim compensation. If we can’t find out who caused your accident then we can help you claim through the Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB), which has a fund to compensate victims of uninsured or unknown drivers.
Early compensation payments, also known as interim payments, are made in advance of any final settlement. They’re only made in an agreement with your opponent, if they admit that they're responsible for your injuries.
Interim payments can be used to replace loss of earnings, so you can afford to pay essential bills if your injury has meant you’ve been absent from work, as well as covering the cost of specialist medical care or mobility equipment.
We'll work hard to get an early admission of fault, and also to obtain early compensation payments to relieve any immediate pressures you’re feeling.
Your claim will be against whoever is responsible for causing your injury. Often this will be a motorist or another cyclist. However, you may be claiming against a local authority if your accident was caused by a poorly maintained road or cycle lane.
Your accident may also have been caused or your injuries worsened by a fault with your bike or safety equipment, such as your helmet or lights. In this case you could claim against the manufacturer.
While your claim will be against whoever is responsible for causing your accident, any settlement or compensation you receive will be paid by their insurance company.
We handle most cycling accident compensation claims on a no win no fee basis and there’s a good chance we’ll make your claim this way. If your case is successful, your opponent will pay most of your legal costs, with the rest taken from your settlement. If you don’t receive compensation, you won’t pay anything at all.
If no win no fee isn’t an option, there are other ways you can pay (such as legal expenses insurance, which may be included in your home or vehicle insurance plans). You can talk to one of our road traffic accident experts about the best way to pay for your case in your free initial consultation.
