Dear Mr. C———,
I acknowledge receipt of your claim dated 1 December. In order to complete your file, kindly provide a more detailed description of the accident (by e-mail), and a "croquis" indicating where the accident occurred. (You could download a map of Geneva from internet, marking both the accident site and your hotel.) If your doctor prescribed sick leave, kindly also provide a copy of the certificate, indicating clearly the end-date of your incapacity.
I will notify you upon confirmation of the reimbursement by our Accounts Department.
Many thanks, and best regards.
F——— P———
Dear Ms P———,
I enclose a map showing the location of the accident (Place Montbrilliant) and of my hotel (Torhôtel, Rue Lévrier 3), and a sketch
showing how the accident happened. Which was as follows:
I had just ridden away from some traffic lights after they turned green
and was in front of the other traffic. Ahead of me the road had been dug
up and there was not much space between the barrier around the roadworks
and the centre line of the road. A tram line coming from the left curved
around to follow the road up to the point where it had been dug up. In
trying to leave enough space to my left for the cars to pass me I hit
the tram line at too small an angle and my front wheel caught in it. The
front wheel moved quickly to the right while the rest of the bicycle and
I carried straight on on a downwards trajectory. I landed on my left
side, reaching the ground so quickly I didn't even have time to let go
of the handlebar. My left shoulder and left thigh hit the hardest. The
shoulder was squashed in towards my chest and neck, absorbing most if
not all of the forwards as well as the downwards momentum of my upper
body. When it had reached its limit of movement my head continued moving
until it hit the ground and bounced. My glasses flew off and landed
about a metre in front of me.
The post office van behind me skidded to a halt about a metre behind me
and the driver jumped out. I sat up carefully, picked my glasses up and
put them on, then checked my head for damage and checked that I could
still move my left arm. Since I could, I assumed that no serious damage
had been done, so when the van driver asked if he should call an
ambulance, I said no thank-you.
I left the site of the accident on foot, pushing the bicycle, then rode
it the last hundred metres to the hotel. About an hour and a half later,
when it was clear that there had been a reduction in the mobility of my
arm, that this was not getting any better, that my left collarbone was
in the wrong place, and that I was in considerable pain and probably
shock, I took a taxi to the hospital.
I did not take any sick leave, although Dr. H——— did say the next
day that I would have been justified in so doing, particularly given the
amount of blood I had lost into the impressive haematoma on my thigh.
I hope this is sufficient.
Kind regards,
J——— C———
Dear Mr. C———,
Thank you for the description and attachments. I will be buying myself a bike helmet on my way home from work today!
Kind regards,
F———