Ok, so here’s a brief summary of what happened as the whole process still winds me up!
Case went to court, with the first thing me knowing about it was a call from the officer linked to the court to clarify the value of the bike. She said they were about to hear my case and they needed a copy of the bike report and that I was still claiming via insurance. The PC who dealt with my case was supposed to have told me and had also promised me they would do so.
Anyway, I wasn’t required to be attend. The guy turned up and pleaded guilty to everything and got 8 points, court costs, 180 hours of unpaid community service and ordered to pay a token amount of compensation in weekly instalments.
That’s result number one. Pretty happy with that tbh, considering how shoddy they were in even getting to the point of interviewing the guy!
Learning point for anyone reading is to be absolutely steadfast in pursuing the Police to get what needs to be done. Don’t be afraid of moving higher up the ranks if you don’t get any joy, and ask about making a complaint if need be.
More importantly, always remain calm and polite when doing so, even if you feel anxious and aggrieved inside as I genuinely believe this is why I was eventually listened to and taken seriously.
With respect to the bike claim, after months of chasing Leigh Day to keep the pressure on the insurer, they finally made an offer that I feel is acceptable. This is also very frustrating, when the insurer doesn’t stick to what they promise from a timescale point of view. Not blaming Leigh Day, as overall I am very happy with their service, but politely asking them to chase the insurer certainly helped.
The insurer knocked some money off for my damaged Sidi shoe and the associated cleat, as I had given the RRP for them and they shopped around and found them cheaper. I can live with that as have now bought from the supplier they found that price for. They knocked some money off the personal injury element, which I assume is fairly standard.
What they didn’t do is knock any money off the bike claim. I posted in a different thread recently, although forget where, but I believe the key to this was having a good chat with the engineer doing the bike report with regards to your bike being your pride and joy (assuming it is, like mine was). The bike was spotless prior to the incident and I wanted him to include plenty of photos showing this alongside the areas that were damaged. I also made sure every upgrade was photographed and gave them a detailed spreadsheet on exact parts and their pricing. The engineer was diligent in covering the price of a replacement bike, plus the upgrades, but also removed the price of the parts that I took off. All prices were at RRP, but they did knock off 10% depreciation for each of the 2 years that I had owned the bike for. I honestly think that this genuine discussion, and subsequent effort of the engineer in completing his report with every possible area covered, was key to them paying out in full for the bike.
That’s result number 2. Cheque is still to arrive, but I have been assured that it’s all agreed and should take a maximum of 21 days to arrive.
I genuinely hope that the guy has learned a lesson here and he won’t do this to anyone else. Might be naive of me maybe? Who knows?
I know that I have learned a lesson and I no longer confront anyone for bad driving or for getting to close to me. They may be in the wrong, but it’s just not worth it. I now just smile instead and often people get the message anyway.
My final word, to reiterate what I have said above a few times, is to keep pushing hard to get the result you need! It’s frustrating and time consuming but well worth doing. Try not to let it consume you, but it will at times and don’t let that get you down as I think it’s only natural.
Cheers to everyone who helped me early on with advice too!!!
@classic33 especially.