A CYCLIST has won £17,000 in damages following a dispute with a van driver who pulled out in front of him.
Walter Hamilton, of Edinburgh, suffered a serious knee injury and cuts to his face in May 2015 when a white van, which had been sitting stationary in the middle of the road waiting to turn right, suddenly pulled across his path causing a collision.
His damages claim was knocked back three months later though after the driver gave his insurance company, Aviva, a different account of events which lawyers for Mr Hamilton say included submitting "staged photos" of the scene.
Aviva Insurance insist that the photos were "recreated transparently" at a subsequent date based on their client's recollection of events, and they had always made it perfectly clear that they were not pictures of the actual scene.
Mr Hamilton launched court action against Aviva Insurance.
The case was due to be heard on June 14 but has now been settled out of court.
Among the evidence were photographs taken at the scene by Mr Hamilton which his lawyers say supported his case and would have been used to suggest the driver was falsely covering his tracks to avoid losing his no claims bonus.
Mr Hamilton’s Solicitor, Jodi Gordon of Cycle Law Scotland, said the case was typical of the way cyclists’ claims are handled.
The firm is spearheading a campaign to introduce presumed liability legislation in Scotland which would hold drivers automatically responsible for damages in a crash with a vulnerable road user, such as a cyclist, as long as the collision was unintentional and the cyclist was not at fault.
Ms Gordon said: “Walter’s case highlights the experience of many cyclists and shows the weakness of our current fault-based system. Instead of this being a straightforward case on liability with recompense going to the injured party, we have a situation made worse with drawn-out litigation.
“Introducing a system of presumed liability in Scots civil law would simply mean that a driver’s insurance company would have to prove fault on the part of the cyclist to avoid paying compensation.
"Presumed liability would enable vulnerable road users to be compensated quickly and fairly and without resort to litigation.”
Mr Hamilton said: “I couldn’t believe it. The driver was very apologetic at the time and instantly admitted that the collision was his fault.”
A spokesman for Aviva Insurance said: "We're committed to paying honest claims quickly and fairly.
"Last year we had 815,000 claims worth over £2.2 billion.
"But we also have a duty to listen to our customers."
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