Near Miss Accidents
Any cyclist knows that you don’t need to be hit directly to be “knocked-off” your bike.
Near misses can cause accidents in a number of ways, from passing too close or too fast, to pulling out causing a rider to swerve dangerously, without ever coming into contact with the vehicle that caused the accident.
We have brought many successful near-miss cases and know the best ways to win your claim.
FAQ's
Can I claim for a near-miss accident?
You can. You don’t have to be hit to make the claim. The accident, no matter how it occurred, just needs to have been materially caused by the negligent driving of another road user and your reaction has to have been reasonable.
Reasonable in this case doesn’t mean having Tour de France level bike handling skills, it just means that in normal circumstances you can safely brake and steer the bike.
Do I need the vehicle's details?
You don’t need to have the vehicle’s details, though depending on whether you do, will inform who the claim is made against. If you have the details of the driver then you can claim against their insurer, if you don’t then we will claim against a body called the MIB.
Who are the MIB?
The Motor Insurers’ Bureaux, or MIB, is effectively an insurer of last resort for accidents where the driver who caused it is either untraced or uninsured. It’s funded by a small contribution being paid out of every motor insurance policy which is bought in the UK.
Does it matter that I was the one that swerved?
No, it doesn’t. If the reason that you had to take evasive action was that a hazard was caused by someone else, then they are liable for the effects of your emergency response.
Your response does have to be reasonable, but the court will give you a lot of leeway in what it refers to as an “agony of the moment” response. Importantly you don’t have to have chosen what was, in hindsight, the best response for it be reasonable.
What evidence do I need?
Witness details from anyone who saw what happened are the best though this may not be possible if you’re on quieter roads. Photos of the accident location are useful too.
Should I call the police?
Yes, you should. Depending on the circumstances, the police or an ambulance may attend the scene but if they don’t you should definitely call the police. It’s a crime to leave the scene of an accident, even if it is a non-contact accident, and the MIB will check if it has been reported as such when considering whether to accept your claim.
What if I’m not injured?
The purpose of the MIB is to compensate injured people, not to pay for financial losses where there’s no injury.
Unfortunately, this means that while you can claim for damaged to your bike if you are injured, if its bike damage only, and you’re not injured, then you can’t.