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Hi there. Let me make this brief.
- Older brother was riding his cbr600.
- Got hit by a car head on. Damaged the bike from the front quite heavily but thank God was ok himself. Car sustained minimum damage.
- Brother did not have insurance or even an M1.
- Told other party he had both and tried to settle out of insurance. The other party initially agreed to pay $1000 for damages.
- Brother gets called today by other party who says he hired a private investigator and found out bro has no insurance and license.
My question is....what can my brother do at this point? Is he at risk of facing insurance fines if the other party goes thru insurance? Any help/input appreciated!
I'd be looking for a lawyer if I were him. If these guys report the accident and go through insurance/police, wouldn't he be into a bunch of tickets including driving without license and without insurance? Who was at fault at the accident? If the other party wasn't at fault, then it's even worse, since they will have no drawbacks of reporting the accident.Originally Posted by kingsha
In my mind, the driver of the car has no intention of filing a claim with their insurance company (they do not want an at-fault claim on their record). They called the brother to basically call his bluff, and they have no intention of paying the settlement. This is the preferable outcome for your brother - if I were him, I would 100% completely drop the incident.
If it progresses any further, he's going to get charged with riding without a license and riding without insurance. I'm not sure if the insurance industry would track his lack of his insurance at the time seperately. Being convicted of driving/riding without insurance is a major red flag for them, however. All that together will make it difficult for him to ride or DRIVE anything for the next five years. If he was riding without insurance, I don't see him paying for a lawyer, so if this goes even one step further be prepared to be giving him lifts for the next few years.
Last edited by TwistedKestrel; 03-22-2012 at 12:24 PM. Reason: Correction, made a mistake about fault
1996 Kawasaki ZX11D - "When I'm on the road, I'm indestructible. No one can stop me ... but they try."
so much missing here...albeit your brother is screwed since the accident wouldn't have happened had he not been riding, since he should not have been on the road in the first place...does the other person have valid insurance and ownership too? how exactly did the accident occur? has he paid any money to the other party? and yes, lawyer up, and if they hired a P.I, he might be reading this post, assume anything posted online is being gathered...
The other party was 100% at fault. I wont post details but there were even witnesses at the scene of the accident.
My brother does have valid car insurance however. I am unsure if that will help at all.
Im guessing I should have my brother talk it out with the other party. Everyone repair their own damage and drop it for good kind of thing. But then again, there is no proof for the other party wont report to insurance.
It doesn't really matter that the other party was 100% at fault. Your brother was riding illegally. If your brother continues talking to the other party things will only get worse - the best he can accomplish is a pyrrhic victory where the driver gets an at-fault accident on his record. If the other driver has any sense, he won't pay your brother a cent as they have all the cards.
1996 Kawasaki ZX11D - "When I'm on the road, I'm indestructible. No one can stop me ... but they try."
sorry to say, but your brother is in trouble.
best thing to do is not push the driver, regardless of where the fault lies for the accident. He was on the road illegally.
hard lesson, but he's gonna learn it.
2007 Lotus Exige S ~ the grocery-getter
2004 ZX6R ~ the daily commuter (sold)
2005 GSXR 1000 ~ the scary thing in my garage (sold to my insurer lol)
2007 GSXR 1000 ~ the newer scary thing in my garage
You're brother also runs the risk of being subrrogated against by the insurance company after they pay for the damages. Not to mention paying insane insurance premiums for the rest of his life
there is nothing he can do, the moral of the story should be, don't ride without license and ins
Yeah, the other party is only at-fault because your brother illegally put the bike on the road. If the other party is going to make something of this, your brother is up ****-creek. You said he also has auto insurance, and subsequently a drivers license. Those are going to take a beating.
The cager has your brother by the curlies. The present and future ramifacations to him are so severe that the cager could demand or blackmail him into fixing the car as well and he would be financially ahead to swallow the whole mess. It depends on how big of a prick the cager wants to be. He could even demand payment for the P.I. He has ALL the cards.
Your brother faces:
$5000 fine for no insurance
Driving w/o licence charge
Blackballed for who knows how long by the insurance company for the above
If this crosses over to his car insurance it could go through the roof or into facility
Was the bike fraudulently plated? If yes add another nail.
If the cager threatens action that could be taken as blackmail maybe your brother could use blackmail / extortion as a counter threat to stop the bleeding.
I'd say get the knee pads and cheque book out... and do his best to settle with the other driver.. off the record! He's better off paying off the other driver than having this go through the system!!!
check to see if the other driver is insured as well and a has a proper drivers license, if there is something amiss there, then you will have some luck...but if all their paperwork is in order, then your brother is screwed, essentially the law sees it as your brother should not have been on the road, and therefore the accident would not have happened...
Hi again guys. Ty for the advice.
Bro met with cager. He was indeed threatening and trying to get bro to pay for his damaged front bumper.
Bro refused and told him to go thru insurance of hes gonna play that card. That way he can deal with an at-fault accident on his record and enjoy having an accident on his vehicle Vin too.
Long story short, they verbally agreed to end this here. Both parties pay for own damages. Hopefully the cager sticks to his words otherwise it'll be time to lawyer up!
First of the other driver wouldn't have an at-fault accident on his record as it was your brothers fault for being there uninsured and it will go threw as an uninsured driver claim.
Second once the other parties insurance finds out your bro was uninsured they might go after him in court/or let the police deal with the matter.
I would never had accepted a verbal agreement as it s impossible to prove if court comes, I would have definitely had both parties write it down and agree on paper.
So if it escalates from here for any reason:
Other party: Pays deductible for uninsured motorists and rates stay the same.
Your bro: Get that vaseline ready because its gonna hurt for a lonnnnnnnng time.
2001 CBR F4i
" they say at 100mph water feels like concrete ,so you can imagine what concrete feels like " - Nicky Hayden
I'm unsure if a written agreement to not go thru insurance would even help in the court of law if the guy does go thru insurance. In addition there is no police report of the accident. He won't have proof of the incident.
Anyways, I hope it ends here nonetheless. I'm looking into repairing the bike.
Personally I wouldn't have settled with your brother, I would have taken him to the cleaners.
2004 Suzuki DRZ400
1986 Honda Shadow 750 - Sold
If ur a scumbag cager who drove in the opposing lane while texting and took out a biker head on....u probably should settle. What if he killed or severely injured my brother? Forget about insurance and all for a second. Is there still something called morals? If I knocked out an uninsured biker I would never dream of reporting them. I would also however not be willing to pay for their damages tho but I would surely help them as much as I can.
Anyways, both parties should learn their lessons. My bro got license and full insurance earlier today. And I hope the cager is more aware of bikers on roads now.
I said I, not that that guy should.
I would not do what he did.
2004 Suzuki DRZ400
1986 Honda Shadow 750 - Sold
Part of those morals is making sure you have everything you need to legally use a vehicle on the road. This worries me, how prevalent is this driving without insurance mularky?
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