If you were riding pillion when the accident happened, you almost certainly have a claim — and you almost certainly need a solicitor who is familiar with the politics of two insurers. The bike's insurance and the third-party's insurance may both try to push the bill onto the other. The pillion claimant ends up sat in the middle, waiting for something to happen and finding out nothing has.
You are almost never at fault
A pillion passenger has no control over the bike. Contributory negligence findings against pillion claimants are extremely rare and require specific factual circumstances (e.g. encouraging dangerous riding, knowingly riding with an impaired rider). The presumption is that the pillion is blameless.
What this means in practice: your claim is straightforward on liability. The complications are elsewhere.
The two-insurer problem
If the rider you were on the back of caused or contributed to the accident, you have a claim against the rider (and therefore against their insurer). If a third party caused it, you have a claim against the third party. Often it's both — and the two insurers spend months arguing about apportionment while your case sits still.
We don't tolerate this. We pursue both insurers from day one, force a position on apportionment, and where necessary, raise proceedings to compel it.
If the rider was your partner, family, or friend
This is the most common pillion-claim scenario and the one most often handled badly. People feel uncomfortable claiming against someone they care about. They shouldn't.
The claim is against the rider's insurance, not the rider personally. The rider pays nothing out of pocket. The rider's premium adjustment is the same whether you claim or not. And if you don't claim, the rider's insurer keeps the money that should be funding your recovery.
What you can recover
Same heads of loss as any rider claim: solatium, past and future wage loss, care, kit damage, medical costs, and so on. Riding kit (helmet, gloves, jacket, trousers) is fully recoverable.
We pay particular attention to lost services where the pillion was a parent of young children — the inability to lift, run, or play with kids is recoverable as loss of services and is often substantial.