As A Cyclist I Was Hit By A Car, Can I Claim Compensation?

By Stephen Moreau. Last Updated 15th July 2024. Are you a cyclist who was hit by a car? If so, our guide could help you understand how cycling accidents could happen and your rights involved following a cycling incident.

There can be a lot of complicated legal terms to decipher while looking into this topic. This article is here to help you to understand it all and to make you feel more confident about making a claim.

Our advisors are here to help you better understand how this process works. We may even be able to connect you with our panel of expert personal injury solicitors who have experience handling cycle accident claims.

The more we know about the circumstances surrounding your claim, the more accurately we will be able to help you. Get in touch with us today or read on for more information.

Injured cyclist hit by a car in an accident

Cyclist hit by a car claim

There’s more than one way to reach us, such as:

  • You can call us on 020 3870 4868
  • Chat to us using the live chat feature in the bottom right corner
  • Use our claim online form

Select A Section:

    1. I Was Hit By A Car As A Cyclist – Could I Claim?
    2. How Could A Cyclist Be Hit By A Car?
    3. What Evidence Do I Need To Claim As A Cyclist When Hit By A Car?
    4. How Much Compensation Can A Cyclist Hit By A Car Get?
    5. As A Cyclist I was Hit By A Car, Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim?
    6. More Information On Cycling Accident Claims

I Was Hit By A Car As A Cyclist – Could I Claim?

If you were hit by a car while riding a bike, you might be wondering if you could claim compensation. However, in order to make a valid claim, you first need to establish whether you were owed a duty of care.

Everyone using the roads, including vehicle drivers, motorbike riders, cyclists and pedestrians, owes a duty of care to others on the roads. Per this duty, they must navigate in a safe and responsible manner to avoid causing injury and damage. As part of this duty, anyone on the roads must adhere to rules and regulations set out for them within the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.

In order to have good grounds to make a cycle accident claim after a road traffic accident, you have to establish that:

  • Another road user owed you a duty of care
  • They breached this duty of care
  • You suffered injuries because of this

If you were hit by a car on a bike, contact our team of advisors today. They can assess your eligibility to take legal action, can offer more information on the cycle accident claims process, and may be able to connect you with a personal injury solicitor from our panel.

How Could A Cyclist Be Hit By A Car?

There are various ways that a cyclist could be hit by a car. However, to make a personal injury claim, you will need to prove that the driver of the car breached their duty of care and that this caused your injuries. Later in this guide, we will discuss the duty of care that a road user owes to others in more detail.

Some examples of how you could be hit by a car are:

  • A driver doesn’t check that the road is clear before opening their door, resulting in you being hit by the door and knocked from your bike.
  • A drunk driver doesn’t pay attention to the road, causing them to crash into you on your bike.
  • A driver fails to check for cyclists before pulling out of a junction, causing them to crash into the side of your bike.

In the next section, we will look at some of the injuries you could suffer if you were to be hit by a car.

Contact our advisors today to see whether you could make a claim as a cyclist in an accident. They could also offer you free legal advice regarding your specific claim or answer any questions you may have.

What Injuries Could A Cyclist Hit By A Car Experience?

A cyclist hit by a car could experience various types of injuries in a cycling accident, such as:

  • Facial injuries: The cyclist may hit their face when they collide with a car door, causing them to sustain a fractured eye socket or broken jaw.
  • Broken bones: The cyclist could be thrown off their bike causing them to sustain a severe broken back injury or neck injury.
  • Psychological harm: A cyclist may face psychological harm if they experience any life-changing injuries, such as paralysis or severe road burns that cause significant scarring.

What Evidence Do I Need To Claim As A Cyclist When Hit By A Car?

As discussed, you could be able to claim compensation if a driver breached their duty of care, leading to you sustaining injuries because you were hit by their car.

Supporting evidence is important in order to make a successful claim. You will need to collect evidence that shows how the driver was at fault and that you were injured.

You could collect evidence in the form of:

  • CCTV footage or other video footage available such as helmet cam footage
  • Contact details of witnesses to the accident
  • Photos taken at the scene of the accident
  • A medical record of your injuries
  • Photographic evidence of any visible injuries
  • Records of costs that you have incurred or financial losses that were caused by your injury.

If you were hit as a cyclist by a car and would like to claim compensation for your injuries, please reach out to one of our advisers to check your eligibility.

Car Hitting Cyclists – What Is The Claim Time Limit?

If you are a cyclist who was hit by a car and injured, you may be wondering about how long you have to claim. With personal injury claims, you generally have 3 years to begin the claims process. You can find this time limit in the Limitation Act 1980. There can, however, be exceptions.

If a child is injured due to being hit by a car, then they cannot make a claim themselves until they turn 18. Before then, their time limit is suspended. However, a litigation friend can be appointed to do so before this time.

If the injured party has a reduced mental capacity, their time limit is also suspended until the date they are deemed capable of claiming for themselves. As with claims on behalf of children, a litigation friend can also be appointed to claim during the suspended period.

If you are a cyclist who has been hit by a car, get in touch if you have any queries about the limits involved regarding claiming. Our advisors could also help you if you are a motorist with questions such as, ‘what happens if a cyclist hits my car in the UK?’.

How Much Compensation Can A Cyclist Hit By A Car Get?

If you’ve been hit by a car while riding a bike, and your claim succeeds, there are two heads of loss that you may receive compensation under. These are:

  • General damages: compensation for physical and psychological harm caused by the cycling accident.
  • Special damages: compensation for financial loss incurred by your cycling injuries.

When calculating a general damages figure after your bike was hit by a car, solicitors and others responsible for valuing claims can refer to you medical evidence, alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This highly detailed publication list guideline compensation figures for various injuries. A relevant selection of these figures, with the exception of the top entry, have been used in the table below.

Compensation Table

Please be advised that this table has been included for guidance purposes only.

InjurySeverityAmount
Multiple Very Serious Injuries With Special DamagesVery SeriousUp to £1,000,000+
Brain Damage Very Severe (a)£344,150 to £493,000
Moderately Severe (b)£267,340 to £344,150
Chest Injuries Total Removal of One Lung and/or Serious Heart Damage (a)£122,850 to £183,190
Some Continuing Disability (c)£38,210 to £66,920
Knee InjuriesSevere (a)(ii)£63,610 to £85,100
Moderate (b)(i)£18,110 to £31,960
Neck InjuriesModerate (b)(ii)£16,770 to £30,500
Hand InjuriesSevere Fractures To Fingers Up to £44,840
Elbow InjuriesModerate or Minor (c)Up to £15,370

Can I Claim Special Damages After A Bike Accident?

Like we said earlier in the section, you can be compensated for financial losses under special damages. As well as awarding for cost incurred immediately following you accident, you can also be awarded ongoing costs for future losses and the impact on your day to day life. If a car hits a cyclist, those impacts can be very serious.

We have given a few possible examples of what costs you could recover here:

  • Loss of earnings.
  • Care costs.
  • Travel expenses.
  • Accessibility modifications to your home.

Remember to keep hold of any documentation (your payslips, tickets, receipts) as proof of the losses you sustained.

As every claim is assessed on its own facts, we cannot make any guarantees about the value of a given claim here. To inquire further about what you could claim after being hit by a car on a bike, call our advisors today.

As A Cyclist I Was Hit By A Car, Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim?

If you have valid grounds to claim for being hit by a car while cycling, then we recommend getting help from an experienced solicitor. Our team of advisors can review your potential claim, and if they determine you have a strong case, they could connect you with one of the experienced No Win No Fee solicitors on our panel.

Our panel of solicitors can support a cyclist hit by a car claim under a type of No Win No Fee agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement. When claiming under such an arrangement, you won’t need to pay your solicitor for their services either upfront or while the claim is being processed. You also won’t need to pay your solicitor for their work if your claim proves unsuccessful.

If your claim for injuries suffered when you were hit by a car on your bike is successful, your solicitor will take a success fee from the compensation awarded to you. The success fee is a percentage subject to a legislative cap.

To learn more about claiming for a cycling accident on a No Win No Fee basis, contact our advisors today by:

More Information On Cycling Accident Claims

We’ve included some helpful links to aid your understanding of this and similar subjects.

Thank you for reading our guide on making a cyclist hit by a car claim. If you have any further questions, please call the number at the top of the page.