Whilst travelling in a motorbike convoy with four friends in France, our client was suddenly hit by an uninsured driver who pulled out from a side road and knocked him off his bike in a motorcycle accident.
The driver at fault had not been paying attention to the road or where she was going when pulling out of the junction before hitting our client.
As a direct result of the motorcycle accident, he sustained soft tissue injuries to his shoulder and knee which took over 18 months to heal. The rest of his holiday was affected and largely ruined by the injuries suffered.
The motorbike crash occurred on 3rd September 2018 when our client was travelling around 15-20 miles an hour on his Harley Davidson motorbike.
The uninsured driver of the Mercedes appeared cooperative at the scene of the accident, provided her insurance details at the time and all parties went their separate ways. At this point, our client attempted to continue with his holiday but found he experienced significant pains in both his neck and knee for the remainder of the trip due to the motorbike accident.
Once back home in the UK, he attended his GP and was referred from there for physiotherapy.
The pain continued and as a direct result of the collision in France, full recovery was not made until 18 months after the motorcycle accident.
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Motorcycle accident claim process – the Legal Case
This case was referred to Hudgell Solicitors specialist travel litigation team in Manchester by the client’s insurance company and Lucy Hughes handled the client’s accidents abroad claim.
It was soon clear that the other driver had provided incorrect insurance details when exchanging information. Lucy therefore presented the case to the Motor Insurers Bureau who stand in the shoes of an insurer to compensate victims of uninsured motorists.
In France, when an accident occurs an agreed statement of facts (constant) should be completed by both parties which will later help resolve any disputes. In this case, a constat was not completed and therefore the Motor Insurers Bureau denied liability at an early stage of the claim.
Lucy was then required to issue proceedings.
The other driver’s solicitor said they had been unable to get instructions from the other driver and had been attempting to gain authority to settle the claim. The other driver did not dispute the claim, they just remained silent and unhelpful.
Due to the other driver’s conduct, this matter had to proceed to trial and was heard at the County Court at Cardiff.
The motorcycle holiday accident claim was successful at trial, and the judge awarded the Claimant £3,170.20.
Hudgell Solicitors Comment from our expert motorcycle accident lawyers
Travel Litigation specialist Lucy Hughes said:
Our client was knocked off his motorbike by an uninsured driver through no fault of his own and was very lucky to escape with minor injuries.
These injuries had quite an effect on our client’s life causing 18 months of pain and suffering and ruining the holiday he was so looking forward to. We were pleased we were able to secure some sort of relief that may help our client to enjoy a further holiday in the future.
