MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT CLAIM

Picture the scene: you were a passenger on a motorcycle and you were involved in an accident with another vehicle and have suffered personal injury as a result. Can you make a successful motorcycle accident claim for damages?

Sadly instances such as this are highly prevalent on Britain’s roads. One survey, produced by the Department for Transport suggests that there are over 20,000 motorcycle accidents in Britain every year – almost 7% of all accidents each year.

To make a successful motorcycle accident claim it is necessary to show that the other driver was negligent and failed to take reasonable care for the safety of other road users. If an accident occurs in this situation, which causes personal injury, then a claim for damages can be made up to three years after the accident. Even if both drivers were each partly to blame for the accident it is still possible to claim however damages will be reduced by whatever percentage each driver contributed to the cause of the accident.

It is also worth noting that if a passenger is injured and the driver of the motorcycle on which the injured passenger was travelling was negligent then a claim can still be made against the driver even if that person was a spouse or other close relative.

Even if the third party or even the driver of an injured passenger is not insured or is untraced or unidentified then a claim for compensation can be made to the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) which is a government fund, set up to pay compensation to the victims of uninsured drivers however in the case of hit and run drivers our normal terms and conditions relating to payment of compensation will be modified.

You may have heard the claim that you will receive 100% of any compensation won and been sceptical. But if your claim is valid and you have appropriate documentation, then this is absolutely the case. In addition if you win, then your legal fees are likely to be paid for by the losing party, although this arrangement would be different if an untraced driver was involved and a claim was made to the MIB. Claims in Scotland are also a little different.

In some cases a motorcycle accident claim can be settled quickly, often in just a few weeks if the opposing party accepts responsibility for the accident and agrees to pay compensation. Nonetheless valuing a personal injury claim can be difficult because of the numerous variables involved which include :-

• the nature and severity of the injuries
• recovery time
• whether the injuries are visible
• gender and age
• loss of income or other employment problems
• financial loss
• effects on lifestyle

If you’ve been involved in an accident, try to make meticulous notes of the circumstances and other information. It will help your case to obtain :-

• contact details of driver and owner of the other vehicle
• notes on each vehicle involved and the damage sustained
• exact location of the accident: photographing this location would be ideal
• contact details of the witnesses to the accident

Our solicitors deal with road traffic accident claims on a no win no fee basis and pay compensation in full. We do not ask you to fund or finance your claim as it proceeds and will never ask you to pay any legal expenses. We absolutely guarantee that all road traffic accident claims handled by specialist solicitors are completely risk free.