Have you been injured in a bicycle accident which was not your fault? Have you suffered serious or even multiple injuries? If so, you may be wondering whether you could claim damages and how much you could be owed. Our bicycle accident compensation calculator shows how settlements may be calculated.
In our guide, we also examine bicycle accident claim eligibility criteria and common types of injuries. We then provide information on how hit-and-run claims work and whether you could file a claim if you are partially at fault.
At the end of this guide, there is information on how to claim compensation and how a specialist solicitor from our panel could help.
To discuss your case or begin a claim, get in touch by:
- Calling 0800 408 7826.
- Click below to chat with us live.
- Completing our form to contact us online.
Browse Our Guide
- Use Our Bicycle Accident Compensation Calculator
- Am I Eligible To Make A Bike Accident Claim?
- Common Injuries That Come From Cycling Accidents
- Claiming As The Victim Of A Hit-And-Run
- Can I Claim If The Accident Was Partially My Fault?
- How To Make A Bicycle Accident Claim
- Make A No Win No Fee Bicycle Accident Claim
- More Information
Use Our Bicycle Accident Compensation Calculator
If you make a successful cycling accident claim, you will be awarded compensation. Your settlement may be made up of two parts. General damages are automatically awarded and compensate you for any pain and suffering caused by the accident. Special damages are not awarded automatically. These cover financial losses and we will discuss these further below.
Before we look at our bicycle accident compensation calculator, please be aware that any figures presented in this guide are for illustrative purposes. Cycling accident compensation claims are individually calculated, and how much you are eligible to claim may differ from the figures in this guide.
How We Can Estimate Cycling Accident Compensation
To estimate your compensation for pain and suffering, those evaluating personal injury claims may review your medical records and Judicial College guidelines (JCG). Legal professionals may use the JCG when evaluating general damages as it contains guideline figures for different types of injury.
Entries in the table below (apart from the first row) come from the JCG.
| Injury | Severity | Notes | Damages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple forms of injury | Severe | Where the claimant suffered multiple injuries and where significant special damages are also awarded. | Up to £1,000,000+ with significant special damages. |
| Paralysis | Tetraplegia - A | If the person is not in pain, compensation may be towards the middle of the bracket. | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Paralysis | Shorter duration - C | Where death follows (for an unrelated reason) in a short period of time. | £60,210 |
| Head/ brain injury | Moderately severe - B | Resulting in serious disability. | £267,340 to £344,150 |
| Neck injury | Severe - A (ii) | Serious neck fractures or cervical spine disc damage. | £80,240 to £159,770 |
| Back injury | Severe - A (ii) | Nerve root injuries. | £90,510 to £107,910 |
| Shoulder injury | Severe - A | Involving injuries to the brachial plexus. | £23,430 to £58,610 |
| Elbow injury | Severe - A | A severe and disabling injury. | £47,810 to £66,920 |
| Chest injuries | Simple injury - D | Such as a single, penetrating chest injury. | £15,370 to £21,920 |
| Ankle injury | Modest injury - D | Minor or non displaced ankle fractures. | Up to £16,770 |
Next, we look at how a multiple injury bicycle accident settlement calculator may work.
How We Calculate For Multiple Injuries
Serious road traffic accidents, such as cycling accidents, may cause multiple injuries. For example, you may have suffered a head injury and a broken collarbone. As these are two separate injuries, you could be compensated for both. In these types of cases, you would make a multiple injury claim.
How much you could be owed for each type of injury would still be calculated in the same way as if you suffered one injury.
Special Damages In Cycling Accident Claims
As outlined earlier, cycling accident compensation claims may comprise two parts. The second of these is called special damages. This part of a settlement is designed to compensate for financial losses.
You could claim for financial losses such as:
- Income lost due to taking time off work.
- Changes to your home or vehicle.
- Medical expenses and care.
- Care in the home such as domestic or professional care costs.
You must provide evidence of such financial losses, such as payslips to show loss of earnings or invoices for medical expenses.
Use our bicycle accident compensation calculator to learn more about how claims may be valued.
Am I Eligible To Make A Bike Accident Claim?
Having looked at how to use a bicycle accident compensation calculator, we next look at when you are eligible to make a claim.
All road users have a duty of care to one another. When using the roads, they must do so in a way which does not endanger themselves or others. They must use the roads in accordance with the Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1988. This duty of care is owed by motorists, motorcyclists, bicycle riders and pedestrians.
To claim for a cycling injury, you must show that:
- You were owed a duty of care.
- Another road user acted in a negligent way and breached this duty.
- You were injured in the road accident.
- You are within the bicycle accident claim time limit (more on this in one of the sections below).
If you are unsure whether your cycling accident claim is valid, our team can assess your case and connect you to a specialist solicitor.
Common Injuries That Come From Cycling Accidents
There are a wide range of injuries which could be caused by cycling accidents. You could suffer minor injuries such as lacerations, cuts and scrapes through to severe and even life changing injuries. In 2023, 87 cyclists died in fatal accidents, according to reported road casualty figures from the Government.
Types of injury sustained in cycling accidents could include:
- Road rash, cuts and bruising.
- Fractured and broken bones.
- Dislocated joints.
- Head injuries and brain damage. Such injuries may even be sustained while wearing a helmet.
- Soft tissue injuries such as tendon or ligament injuries.
- Back and neck injuries, such as those affecting the spine.
In addition to these physical injuries, you may also suffer psychological injuries. Road traffic accidents can leave victims with injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
If you are connected to a solicitor from our panel, they could organise a medical assessment of your injuries.
Claiming As The Victim Of A Hit-And-Run
Road users are legally required to stop at the scene of any road traffic accident under section 170 of The Road Traffic Act 1988. A hit and run accident is where another road user caused you to suffer a cycling accident and did not stop.
If the driver either failed to stop or was uninsured at the time of the accident, you could claim compensation through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB). This organisation is funded by the insurance industry and backed by the government. Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, all motor insurance companies must be members of the MIB.
A solicitor from our panel could help you to claim compensation through the MIB. Please get in touch with our team for further information on what you claim could be worth.
Can I Claim If The Accident Was Partially My Fault?
Accident victims could still make cycling accident compensation claims even if they were partially at fault. A cyclist may be found to be partially at fault if they fail to observe traffic signals, such as a red light. They may have entered a junction into oncoming traffic, which had the right of way over the cyclist.
Similarly, a cyclist may have contributed to the severity of their injuries (called contributory negligence) if they failed to wear a cycling helmet. By not wearing a helmet, the cyclist may have made a head injury worse than it would otherwise have been.
In cases where a cyclist is deemed to have been contributory negligence or partly at fault their entitlement to compensation may be reduced. The reduction may be in line with the degree to which the cyclist is said to be at fault. For example, if you and the other party are found to be equally responsible, your compensation may be reduced by 50%. Similarly, if it is found that a failure to wear a helmet made your injuries worse, then there could be a reduction in the compensation you receive.
Contact our team to learn more about how being partially at fault could impact your cycling accident claim.
How To Make A Bicycle Accident Claim
Whether your bicycle accident claim is straightforward or more complex, there are steps you could take to increase your chances of being successful. In this part of our guide, we examine the claims process and show how a personal injury solicitor from our panel can help you.
Gather Evidence – Dashcams, CCTV, And More
When claiming for any bicycle accident, you must clearly show that you have a valid claim. You could collect the following evidence to do so.
- Details of the other parties involved in the road accident. You should collect their name, address, contact details and details of their insurance company.
- Details of any parties who witnessed the accident take place. A statement can be taken later if needed.
- A copy of the police report setting out the cause of the accident. This should include the police crime reference number if relevant, such as in a hit-and-run cycling accident claim.
- Video and photographs of the accident. This may come from a dashcam, CCTV or photos taken showing your injuries and the scene of the accident.
- Your medical records. Your records will contain information on your injuries, how they were treated and their impact on you. You can obtain a copy of these from the NHS.
If you choose to claim with a solicitor from our team, they could assist you in collecting evidence.
Time Limits On Road Traffic Accident Claims
Claimants typically have three years to make a road traffic accident claim. This period may begin on the date the accident took place or the date they became aware of their injury. Generally, the time limit to start a claim is within three years, and this comes from the Limitation Act 1980.
There are certain exceptions to this.
- Child accident claims. Someone under the age of eighteen cannot bring a claim themselves. An adult may act as a litigation friend and claim on behalf of a child at any point before they turn eighteen. If no claim is made, the three-year time limit begins on the child’s eighteenth birthday.
- Reduced mental capacity. The time limit does not apply whilst an injured person lacks the mental capacity to claim. The time limit will be applied if the victim regains their capacity, and the three year time limit to start a case begins when capacity is recovered. A litigation friend can be used to claim on the injured person’s behalf whilst the time limit is paused.
The three-year time limit also applies to claims made via the MIB.
Considering A No Win No Fee Agreement
You could limit your financial risk by claiming on a No Win No Fee basis. A solicitor from our panel could review your case, and if they think your claim is valid, they could offer to take your case on via a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
By claiming in this way, you do not have to make any payments for the solicitor’s work till the end of your claim. Additionally, you would only pay for their work if your claim is successful. This is called a success fee. This fee is a set percentage of your bicycle accident settlement. The percentage is limited under law, so you will keep the majority of your settlement.
How Long It Takes To Get Bicycle Accident Compensation
A case for personal injury can be settled in a matter of months, although sometimes cases taken longer. How long it takes to get compensation may be dependent on several factors. These could commonly include:
- Whether the other party has accepted/ accepts they are liable for the accident.
- What evidence you have gathered demonstrating that the other party is at fault.
- The severity and complexity of the injuries and how much medical evidence is needed to assess the prognosis.
- Whether you can agree upon a settlement.
- If a claim needs to go to court.
Please get in touch with our team for more information on how to claim compensation for an injury.
Make A No Win No Fee Bicycle Accident Claim
Our team can help you make a No Win No Fee bicycle accident compensation claim by putting you in touch with an expert personal injury solicitor. If you contact us, our advisors will be ready to review your case. If they think you have a valid claim, they could connect you to a solicitor from our panel. The solicitor could provide you with legal advice and could take your claim on under a CFA.
Find out how we could help you by:
- Calling 0800 408 7826.
- Clicking our live chat below.
- Contact us online.
More Information
In this final part of our guide, you can find additional resources related to using a cycling accident compensation calculator.
- In this guide we look at how much compensation you could claim if injured in a car accident.
- A back injury could include severe injuries and this guide provides more information on that topic.
- A cycling accident could cause a broken nose. Learn more about these claims here.
Further resources
- Read about cycling road safety in this guide from Think, produced by the Government.
- Read what to do if you have a head injury or concussion in this NHS guide.
- Learn more about Statutory Sick Pay in this government resource.
We hope our bicycle accident compensation calculator has helped to show how your claim may be valued. Please contact us for more information.