Hi all, just wondering if anyone had any tricks or even contacts of a lawyer who can help.
Basically, was involved in a head-on collision with a car last year while on my bike. Stacked it, and went flying across his bonnet and bounced off the windshield. Car was insured, I was not.
Fast forward 12 months later, I'll got a $10k bill in the mail from the other party's debt collection agents. Expensive I know… Audit TT or something like that..
Lay off the weed.
You're dreaming mate, absolutely a cyclist can be at fault in a road accident.
Look at Khan legal solicitor, ring him he only deals with this kind of situation.
Beware the Wrath of Khan.
if the car were stationary and the bike went into the side of it does that still make it the car drivers fault??
Your logic is flawed.
If you are a road user then you must play like one in all aspects.
Thanks
But in this case car is not stationary and does not apply here.
I think it is worth a go .
What do you have to loose.
Cheers
What do you have to loose.
Your dictionary?
Hopefully this isn't interpreted as an attack, but it looks as though you've been burying your head in the sand up until this point - debt collectors don't just show up, they're engaged by the creditor after their attempts to settle the debt with you have not been successful so there would have been plenty of written correspondence and phone calls prior to this point.
This probably won't be the most popular answer in the thread but in my opinion if you've done the wrong thing then you should pay up, if you've been involved in a head on accident and you're the at fault party then I think it's reasonable to suggest that you were headed in the wrong direction at the time and are therefore liable for any damages incurred as a result of those actions.
What kind of damage did you do to his car by flying into it? I would imagine you'd be worse for wear than his car. You got any photos of his car?
Just curious… what a debt collector can do if you didn't pay the bill?
Will they eventually write off the debt if OP is not responding?
Nope they will be persistent and press for charges if you continue not to pay the debt.
Then if you still don't pay it they will open a court case for it
and unless you declare bankruptcy, they will get the money after the court case.
At that time you can see any credit history go down the drains and get a criminal record under your name.
This means later you will be near impossible to get any loan or credit cards, and any jobs that checks for criminal record
You won't get a criminal record. This is a civil debt.
10k for another chance at life, you got a good deal. Ride safely next time.
I am just curious what happens if a kids bicycle hits a parked car ?
It will probably leave a scratch.
i'm not a lawyer.
but…
if you inform the debt collectors that you dispute the debt and are not accepting responsibility, then they have a choice of either pursuing the matter in court (which they won't - a $10k debt probably cost them $3000 to purchase and the legal fees will exceed that), or dropping the matter.
I was taken to local court for damages of $2300.00.
by a debt collector?
Just wanted to close this off for future generations of unfortunate cyclists:
I was covered for public liability under my Home and Contents insurance. So appreciate all those that have advised me to steer that way, as otherwise, I would not have gone there. It took many attempts to get through the first few barricades of insurance claim agents, but I finally got to speak to the right person. Did not even need to pay the excess, as it was a separate type of claim.
But I learned a lot from this, from being a more careful cyclist, and also clued up on the debt collections process and the fall back solutions should the need be escalated to small claims court. Thanks all!
Good result-well done.
Years ago, I had a similar situation (with a car, not a bike) with a similar amount requested by the insurance company. I told them I had $4000 I could pay immediately and that I was unemployed (which was true, was straight out of uni) and they could take that or leave it.
The offer was accepted. I think sometimes they have to weigh up whether it's worth taking it to court etc. Of course YMMV.