Beware of the shysters...
By Team TMX on 14th Nov 18
Im ringing about the accident you had, sir, said the emotionless voice at the end of the line.
About bloody time, I uncontrollably bawled into the handset as an endless river of luminous green snot gushed from my nose and tears of pain streamed down my cheeks.
It was absolutely terrible
By my reckoning theres only one way to deal with those cold callers who try and coerce you into making a no-win, no-fee claim and thats waste their time for as long as possible while entertaining those around you.
In the past month or so Ive told countless lies to people who randomly call me from call centres until theyve realised that Im actually full of sh*t. And thats when they resort to insults I love it...
But on the flipside of pleasing my childish side immensely, these organisations are actually as dangerous as theyre despicable and carry a very real threat to the things
we love.
Fortunately, we live in a place where rules are strictly adhered to and the majority of clubs/promoters operate at a level where our safety is considered first and foremost and measures are put in place so that we can enjoy riding our ridiculously powerful bikes in relative safety.
Id say that 99.99 per cent of all dirt biking injuries that happen at events or legitimate practice tracks/areas in the UK will stand up to any scrutiny by anyone whos hell bent on making a quick buck which is what these shysters are all about.
But while thats a highly positive thing, all the measures in the world wont protect an event organiser from the costs a lawsuit may create. What invariably happens in this situation is that someone gets a call. That person then says yeah, I cracked a fingernail at whatever race and I couldnt work for six months.
Between the rider and his newly-appointed legal team they come up with some half-arse reason that the accident was the fault of the event organiser the track was too dirty or too much fun to ride or something crazy like that.
The reality is that no court in the land is ever going to be able to uphold such a claim and so the claimants always drop the case when its clear thats so but it doesnt matter because its no-win, no-fee, right?
Certainly the guy who cracked his nail got away with it but the alleged defendant definitely didnt and whatever costs that were amassed in fighting the non-case no matter how ridiculous still have to be paid for by someone.
Ultimately, thats us! Yep, thats one of the reasons entry fees, series registrations and race fees are on the increase because not only is the promoter/organiser out of pocket in a case like this but their insurance costs will have risen as a result too.
And beware because there are even cases where Mr Cracked Fingernail or someone like him has picked up his own teams costs based on the fact he didnt give some important piece of information that inadvertently caused the case to fall down. Check out those T&Cs closely peeps
The best thing to do is use your noggin though before, during and after you ride your bike. Also, keep in mind that nobody forces you to go riding its always your choice to do so and the responsibility lies with you.
