How To Make A Bike Accident Claim After A Road Traffic Accident

In this guide, we examine how to make a bike accident claim. There are specific criteria you must meet in order to have good grounds to claim for a road traffic accident. We look at these and what evidence you could submit to prove your cycling accident claim. To further illustrate this, we look at a few examples of accidents that could cause cyclists to sustain injuries.

You may like to know how much you can claim for a bike accident. We explain how compensation could be awarded for a successful claim.

Additionally, we look at the bicycle accident claim procedure. If you have good grounds to claim, you may want to have a specialist personal injury solicitor to help you with the legal procedure. We look at how a solicitor can support your claim on a No Win No Fee basis.

Direct any questions about how to claim for a bike accident to our advisory team. A friendly advisor can help value your potential claim and answer questions you have about the bike injury claim procedure.

To discuss cycle accident claims:

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Select A Section

How To Make A Bike Accident Claim?
Evidence Needed For A Bike Accident Claim
What Types Of Accidents Could Lead To A Cycling Accident Claim?
How Much Compensation For A Bike Accident?
What Is The Bike Accident Claim Procedure?
Why Use A No Win No Fee Solicitor To Claim For A Bike Accident?
Read More About Cycling Accident Claims

How To Make A Bike Accident Claim?

Road users, including cyclists, pedestrians, motorbike riders, and vehicle drivers, must navigate in a way that prevents injury and damage to others and themselves. This is the duty of care road users must adhere to. As part of upholding this duty, road users need to comply with the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. Failure to do so could cause injuries to other road users, including cyclists.

If you would like to make a bike accident claim, you must satisfy the eligibility criteria. To launch a personal injury claim for injuries suffered as a cyclist in a road traffic accident, you must prove that:

You were owed a duty of care.
This duty of care was breached.
Due to this breach, you suffered injuries.

What Are The Common Types Of Injuries Caused By Bike Accidents?

There are various injuries you could sustain if you are knocked off your bike. These include:

Brain injury.
Arm injury.
Facial injury.
Back injury.
Broken leg.
Road rash.
Broken bones.

Evidence Needed For A Bike Accident Claim

As part of the personal injury claims procedure, you will need to submit compelling evidence. This needs to prove liability for your injuries. Examples of what you could submit in a bike accident claim include:

Accident footage, such as from a dashcam.
Photographs. These can be the accident scene, your injuries, or damage to your bike.
Accident reports. For example, if the police attended the accident.
You can submit a copy of your medical records to help illustrate the nature of your injuries and what treatment you needed.
If you note the contact details of anyone who saw what happened, they can give witness statements later in the personal injury claims process.

Contact an advisor from our team to discuss what evidence could help support cycling accident compensation claims.

What Types Of Accidents Could Lead To A Cycling Accident Claim?

There are various ways a cyclist could sustain an injury while using the roads. However, in order to have a valid bike accident claim, you must meet the criteria discussed above. A few examples of accidents involving a bicycle rider include:

Vehicles reversing from parking or drive ways and not observing the road.
Car dooring. This is when a vehicle driver or passenger opens the door onto a cyclist.
Hit from behind by a speeding vehicle
A driver running a red light at a junction as a cyclist is crossing.

Can You Claim If The Other Vehicle Didn’t Stop?

Under the law, vehicle drivers are expected to stop after an accident that causes damage or injury to someone other than themselves and have appropriate insurance. Your bike accident claim will generally be made against the driver’s insurer.

In certain cases, where the driver doesn’t have insurance, or you suffered injuries in a hit and run, if the driver was at fault for the accident, you might still be able to claim. However, your bicycle accident compensation claim will have to be made through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB). The MIB can award compensation to those who have been injured by fault uninsured or fault untraceable motorists.

Contact an advisor to discuss the road traffic accident that caused your cycling injuries.

How Much Compensation For A Bike Accident?

If your bike accident claim is successful, your settlement could consist of two parts: general and special damages.

Successful claimants are awarded general damages to compensate for physical pain and mental harm caused by the cycling accident. Those responsible for valuing this part of a personal injury claim may refer to the compensation guidelines for different injuries published by the Judicial College (JCG).

The top row contains a figure for how personal injury compensation could be awarded for multiple severe injuries and special damages. This figure was not taken from the JCG. However, the rest of the table contains compensation guidelines from the 16th edition of the JCG. As all compensation claims are different, this table is only intended as guidance.

Injury	Severity	Notes	Compensation Guideline
Multiple Severe Injuries and Related Costs	Very Severe	Settlements may compensate for more than one very serious injury and incurred costs, including lost earnings and nursing care.	Up to £1,000,000+
Brain Injury	Very Severe	Full time nursing care is needed due to severe cognitive and physical disabilities.	£282,010 to £403,990
Back Injury	Severe	The claimant suffers disability and severe pain with a combination of serious symptoms like bladder and bowel impairments.	£91,090 to £160,980
Leg Injury	Severe(i)	These injuries are so serious that they may be treated similar to an amputation injury, such as extensive degloving.	£96,250 to £135,920
Facial Scarring	Very Severe	The effect is very disfiguring and the psychological reaction is severe in relatively young claimants.	£29,780 to £97,330
Arm Injury	Permanent and Substantial	This bracket includes serious fractures of one or both forearms that result in significant residual disability that is permanent in nature.	£39,170 to £59,860
Wrist Injury	Significant	These injuries cause a significant and permanent disability, but there is some useful movement remaining.	£24,500 to £39,170
Ankle Injury	Moderate	Ligamentous tears and fractures that cause less serious disabilities, such as difficulty walking for long amount of time or standing.	£13,740 to £26,590
Facial Injury	Multiple	The claimant suffers with some permanent deformity due to multiple facial fractures.	£14,900 to £23,950
Damage To Teeth	Serious	In these cases, the claimant lost two front teeth or suffered serious damage to them.	£8,730 to £11,410

Additionally, you might be compensated for your out-of-pocket expenses under special damages. For a bike accident claim, you could be reimbursed for money spent on:

Medical expenses.
Caring costs.
Home help.
Adaptations to your home.
Lost earnings.

As part of the claim procedure, you will need to submit proof of your costs. This can include your payslips, receipts or invoices.

Consult one of our advisors about what you could claim under special damages and the evidence needed.

What Is The Bike Accident Claim Procedure?

When you make a bike accident claim, you will need to follow the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims. These are a series of steps taken as part of the cycle accident claim procedure. They include:

Letter of Notification. The claimant sends notice to the defendant to inform them that a claim is likely to be made.
Rehabilitation. Both parties decide what medical treatment the claimant requires.
Letter of Claim. This is the formal notification that a claim is being made against the defendant. It should summarise the facts of the case.
Response. The defendant is given 21 calendar days to respond to the Letter of Claim and then 3 months to investigate.
Disclosure. Disclosing relevant documents can help resolve the claim.
Experts. Expert reports, such as a medical report with injury details.
Negotiations. If liability is admitted, a Part 36 offer could be made, which permits claimants and defendants to make offers to settle pre-proceedings.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Both parties will try to resolve the claim. If a resolution is not reached, the claim will go to court.

Direct any questions you have about the Protocol to a member of our advisory team.

Why Use A No Win No Fee Solicitor To Claim For A Bike Accident?

If you are eligible to seek compensation, you may wish to instruct a solicitor to help with your bike accident claim. One of the cycling incident solicitors from our panel could support your case. Typically, they do this on a No Win No Fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

This means that your personal injury solicitor:

Won’t ask you for an upfront payment for their services.
Don’t take ongoing payments.
Take a success fee from your award only if your cycling accident claim is successful. This amount is a legally limited percentage.
Won’t take this fee if your claim fails.

If you have any questions or would like to get a bicycle accident compensation claim started, speak to an advisor from our team. If you have good grounds to claim for your bike accident, you could be connected to one of the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel.