We’ve covered (with links) checking for a vehicle’s tax, insurance and MOT.
Imagine you’re damage only (not injury) so retaining a lawyer is uneconomic (cannot recover legal costs unless have injuries to the value of at least £1000), so it’s you v The Insurer.
Ignore the Official Injury Claims Portal and the On-line Claims Portal. The former is for non-vulnerable road users (car passengers for example) whose injuries are below the injury small claims threshold of £5000. The latter is for claims professionals like lawyers.
You are stuck with the Small Claims process in the County Court in England and Wales and a similar though differently named system in Scotland. Make a court claim for money – mygov.scot
A fixed amount (eg replacement buckled wheel and tyre) is called a Liquidated Claim. The value will be based on what the replacement has or will cost. A receipt or estimate is needed. This amount may form the basis of a claim through Money Claims on line, a division of the County Court Make a court claim for money: Make a claim – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
If the claim is for an amount which cannot be quantified, it is UNLIQUIDATED and will be started with a Claim Form (Form N1) which when completed will be sent to the address in Northampton found in the link above with the necessary fee.
The booklet ex306 (available on line from HM Courts and Tribunals service) explains the procedure.
The Court process is short on investment and human resources. Don’t book a holiday in reliance on anticipated recovery.

Micromobility: E-scooters and other likely uninsureds.

If the collision or loss arises out of use by the Third Party of a vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads which turns out to be uninsured OR the driver/rider flees the scene, life gets complicated.
If the collision has involved an uninsured motor vehicle the Motor Insurers Bureau is ‘the insurer of last resort’. If the erring driver and their vehicle cannot be traced, the MIB is there as the safety net.
If as a legal cyclist you are injured by an e-bike or e-scooter rider who flees, what avenues to injury compensation are there?
A legal (but uninsured) e-bike does not fall within the MIB’s definition of a vehicle, so all conventional avenues are closed.
IF there was any evidence that the e-bike is outside the definition of a legal EPAC, then it falls within the definition of vehicle (moped) and the MIB may be liable. How on earth does the victim prove the negative? CCTV showing manner of progress or make/model? Witnesses? (An e-bike cruising uphill with little or no pedal input is unlikely to be legal). The Police ought to be interested.
Were the rider to do the decent thing and remain at the scene, establish name and address and record their description. Next, are they insured under a Home & Contents or Bike Policy? If not, then it’s just possible that You, the victim may have Unsatisfied Judgement Cover under your own Policy, but this is technical and a proper lawyer is needed.
E-scooters. Currently, anything NOT under a local authority hire scheme is illegal and technically a moped, so compulsorily insurable. The route is then to the MIB, uninsured motorists if the rider hangs around to give name and address, untraced if they disappear.
22% of all reported E-scooter collisions involve injury to another party, but the suspicion is that most E-scooter collisions are NOT reported. Again, the Police should take an interest.
The MIB is funded by a levy placed on Insurers who pass the cost on to all Policy Holders. So, the responsible are paying for the misdeeds of the uninsured and the illegals.
Someone is going to be grievously injured by a bandit e-bike or e-scooter and have an uphill struggle to gain any redress at a time they can least afford it.