Insurance is compulsory for a reason

Lucy was riding as a pillion passenger on her husband’s Kawasaki ZRX motorcycle.

They were riding in the Edinburgh area and entered a road that was blocked off, so Lucy’s husband decided that he would freewheel back down the hill slightly in order to then turn. He went to put his foot down, but due to the camber of the road, he was unable to steady the bike and the bike toppled over.

They both fell to the left hand side. The bike fell on top of her husband but he was uninjured. Lucy immediately felt very sick and faint and had pain in her left arm.

She was taken to The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and seen in the Accident and Emergency Department where they informed her that she had fractured her left elbow. Her arm was put in a cast and she was told it would need to remain on for around 4-6 weeks.

A week later she received a call to say that the fracture was much worse than they first thought and she would need an operation early the next morning. She underwent surgery to her left elbow with screws and pins inserted. She was told she would have a minimum 6 month recovery period.

Lucy contacted Motorcycle Law Scotland to see whether she might be able to intimate a claim against her husband’s insurer seeking compensation for her injury and inconvenience. After all, she had done nothing wrong. She had simply been riding as a pillion passenger and, as a result of an unfortunate incident, had subsequently sustained a serious injury to her elbow.

Lucy’s husband did not intend to lose his balance and subsequently drop his motorcycle on its side but it had happened. That’s why you have to have, as a minimum, 3rd party insurance for your motorcycle.

The claims process should have been relatively straightforward but the insurer dragged their heels over some medical reports, refused to settle the case and, in the end, following litigation, it took almost 24 months of battling from the date of intimating the claim for Lucy to receive her payment.

Her settlement was £25,000 as unfortunately her elbow will never be the same again and she will never have full movement.