Any one here has been injured by car

John Col

Hello,

A few months ago I was injured by a car that struck me when I was riding my
bicycle. The driver admitted fault and the driver's insurance accepted
liability. I suffered serious physical injuries. Now that my physical
recovery seems to be getting to a point when I will be able to go back to
work and a normal life, I face all the trouble of fighting the insurance to
claim loss of wages, compensation, etc. (This is what insurance companies
call a "Third Party Claim (CTP)".)

I have no experience in these matters, and I feel very lost and stressed at
this moment. Therefore, I would like to contact other people that have
suffered similar situations in order to get some ideas, advice, etc.

I can be contacted via johncol@hushmail.com.

Thanks!

TimC

On 2007-10-30, John Col (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> Hello,
>
> A few months ago I was injured by a car that struck me when I was riding my
> bicycle. The driver admitted fault and the driver's insurance accepted
> liability. I suffered serious physical injuries. Now that my physical
> recovery seems to be getting to a point when I will be able to go back to
> work and a normal life, I face all the trouble of fighting the insurance to
> claim loss of wages, compensation, etc. (This is what insurance companies
> call a "Third Party Claim (CTP)".)
>
> I have no experience in these matters, and I feel very lost and stressed at
> this moment. Therefore, I would like to contact other people that have
> suffered similar situations in order to get some ideas, advice, etc.
>
> I can be contacted via johncol@hushmail.com.

What state are you in?

--
TimC
I admit that X is the second worst windowing system in the world,
but all the others I've used are tied for first. -- Paul Tomblin

John Col

TimC wrote:
> On 2007-10-30, John Col (aka Bruce)
^^^^^^^^^^^
If you say so...

> What state are you in?

Sydney, NSW

Zebee Johnstone

In aus.bicycle on Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:01:44 +1100
John Col <johncol@hushmail.com> wrote:
> TimC wrote:
>> On 2007-10-30, John Col (aka Bruce)
> ^^^^^^^^^^^
> If you say so...
>
>> What state are you in?
>
> Sydney, NSW

I'd say get yourself a lawyer.

Fighting insurance companies is a hard job and they have plenty of
lawyers.... At the very least you have to know what you can demand and
how to phrase your correspondence and what records you need.

Grab a copy of Australian Motorcycle News at the newsagent, and go
through the display ads at the back. There's a lawyer who usually
advertises there, Mark someone I think. He's good with traffic
problems, and motorcycle cases aren't that different to bicycle cases.

You could go to http://www.acls.org.au/ and talk to them about what to
do next. Get qualified advice, even if you do find people who have
had similar problems you need to address your situation not theirs.

Zebee

ray

John Col wrote:
> Hello,
>
> A few months ago I was injured by a car that struck me when I was riding my
> bicycle. The driver admitted fault and the driver's insurance accepted
> liability. I suffered serious physical injuries. Now that my physical
> recovery seems to be getting to a point when I will be able to go back to
> work and a normal life, I face all the trouble of fighting the insurance to
> claim loss of wages, compensation, etc. (This is what insurance companies
> call a "Third Party Claim (CTP)".)
>
> I have no experience in these matters, and I feel very lost and stressed at
> this moment. Therefore, I would like to contact other people that have
> suffered similar situations in order to get some ideas, advice, etc.
>
> I can be contacted via johncol@hushmail.com.
>
> Thanks!
Yep, I was cleaned up by a UAV (Urban Assault Vehicle) some years ago
and take the asshole to court as neither she or the insurance company
would accept a claim. One Reynolds 531 touring bike destroyed: `Bike?
You buy those in K-Mart for $99' In that case the quote was from the
police officer who took my statement (!) They settled out of court when
they realised I wasn't going to back down.
I'm not sure of the situation in other states, but in Victoria, you're
screwed in this type of incident as you're not covered by TAC (Traffic
Accident Commission) insurance or compensation as you're NOT driving a
Licenced Vehicle (thank former premier Kennett for that one). Which is
why when I was crunched again in 2002, I didn't bother as being a
conspicuous waste of time. By the way, I still ride!
Cheers,
Ray

John Col

Thanks for the advice Zebee.

Actually I got an attorney to represent me as soon as I got out of the
hospital for the first time. I don't think many people choose to face alone
situations like these.

However, I feel this attorney shows a significant lack of interest. I have
been thinking of changing, but how can I know if I will go from bad to
worse. Also, I feel that nothing is happening or things move extremely
slowly. But maybe it is normal in these cases, and maybe at the end of the
day this attorney is not so bad.

That's why I'd like to get in touch with other people that have been in
similar circumstances, to learn a little bit about their experiences with
attorneys, time frames, difficulties, and so forth.

Jock

you ought to have started the ball rolling with the CTP thing already and
you need not have spent your own money for any treatment either.
You will need records of all your expenses if any out of pocket and keep a
record of all calls to insurance folk - date/time/ who spoke to you what was
said etc. It's easy to lose track but a diary is gold.
CTP covers personal injury and all treatments, their insurance (automotive)
covers your bike, clothing etc from the accident. Look up Graham D Jones in
the city - he is an expert on this CTP stuff.
www.grahamjones.com.au

Good luck with your recovery.
Jock

TimC

On 2007-10-30, ray (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> Yep, I was cleaned up by a UAV (Urban Assault Vehicle) some years ago
> and take the asshole to court as neither she or the insurance company
> would accept a claim. One Reynolds 531 touring bike destroyed: `Bike?
> You buy those in K-Mart for $99' In that case the quote was from the
> police officer who took my statement (!) They settled out of court when

Funny how universal disinterest from police seems to be a fundamental
law of nature.

> they realised I wasn't going to back down.
> I'm not sure of the situation in other states, but in Victoria, you're
> screwed in this type of incident as you're not covered by TAC (Traffic
> Accident Commission) insurance or compensation as you're NOT driving a
> Licenced Vehicle (thank former premier Kennett for that one). Which is
> why when I was crunched again in 2002, I didn't bother as being a
> conspicuous waste of time. By the way, I still ride!

The TAC is still very good for hospital bills for collisions involving
motor vehicles. They repaired me at the cost of about $4000 or so, so
far. They only paid part of my transport fares though despite
claiming to cover all such incurred expenses, so I was still very much
out of pocket.

--
TimC
I admit that X is the second worst windowing system in the world,
but all the others I've used are tied for first. -- Paul Tomblin

John Col

Thanks for your notes. It seems to correspond with how things are happening
for me.

Donga

On Oct 30, 3:05 pm, TimC <tconn...@no.spam.accepted.here-
astro.swin.edu.au> wrote:

>
> Funny how universal disinterest from police seems to be a fundamental
> law of nature.

That's twice today I've disagreed with you, Tim. In most/all of my
interactions with police, I can only praise them.

Donga

SteveA

Sometimes you have to make them interested and that can be a challenge in itself.

And unfortunately, they make snap decisions based on how you look. A middle aged complainant with a conservative haircut in a suit gets better service than a joung bloke with a ponytail in jeans and a t shirt.

SteveA

flyingdutch

FWIW, that's simply not true.

Your injuries and consequent medical injuries ARE covered by TAC.
Claiming for damage to one's bike is an issue between you and the other party. This gets covered by their 3rd party property insurance; lacking that they have to wear it as an individual.
If a reg'd vehicle was involved you get covered. TAC is simply a insurance Co, after all.
What Jeff changed was the limitation on damages claims and the time limit within one could make this claim. For better or worse it's why we don't have parasite lawyers gunning for ridiculous claims here over the fact that someone cut you off in traffic.

John, as Tex Perkins said "Get a Lawyer, Son. Better get yerself a REAL good-won". It ain't 'that' hard; you just have to play the system to get a just result.