Car Insurance Claim - Advice please

ds2 · 13 March 2009 at 12:37PM

Hello and thanks in advance for reading,

I was involved in a car crash 2 years ago (feb 07), when a third party lost control and crashed head on into me, we were both travelling at 60mph. The driver of the other car died on the scene, and I was taken to hospital with a broken foot. The police came to my house the following day and took my statement and confirmed that it was not my fault. My car was written off but I still had to pay for the insurance and hp costs for another 3 months, as the car was held by the police for 2 months and then I had to push for a total loss payment, this covered what was left on the hp. As the break was very bad I was unable to work for 6 months (oct 07) and when I did get back to work I was still in a lot of pain. It took until dec 07 for the third party to accept liability. In feb 08 I went for a medical arranged by the insurerers and the report was full of errors, so I disputed the errors and the report was updated, but still had errors in it. In apr 08 after consulting with my gp and an ortho doctor, it was agreed that I required an operation to fix my foot. I have now had two operations on my foot, the second which I am recovering from just now.

The problem is that although I have now recieved two interim payments totalling five thousand, I have had to survive without any income for six months and on a reduced income over the last two years and I am in loads of debt and am about to start missing loan payments as I have no money coming in. I have spoken to the bank to try and increase my loan, but because I am self employed, they have said no, I have also spoken to the solicitors who are dealing with the claim and they have requested a further interim payment, but I have been told that the third party insurers do not have to help and it is only courtisy that they do. Are there any companies that will lend to someone in my situation, or is there something I can say to the solicitors to make the insurers help me.

geri1965_2 · 13 March 2009 at 1:28PM

Insurers are often reluctant to make interim payments as I think they are concerned they might end up paying more than the claim is worth. What is the situation with the medical report and is it now agreed? If they refuse to make another interim I believe your solicitor can apply to the court for one. There are solicitors on here who will be able to advise you better than I can, as I only do work for insurers.

ds2 · 13 March 2009 at 1:56PM

The medical report was written in feb 08, and the doctor assumed that I was ok and would be walking without any problems within a year, (this is not the case) I have been told by the solicitors that the doctor will require to write another report, once I have recovered from this operation, but the recovery time for this operation is about a year.

Atermis · 13 March 2009 at 2:01PM

id be more concerned about the fatality and the poor persons family rather then chasing £££££.

ds2 · 13 March 2009 at 2:22PM

I will always be concerned about the fatality and the loss the other persons family has had to go through and have had counselling and therapy to try and help me through this. I wish I had never been there and the accident had not happened, I am not chasing ££££'s as you say, but I have been out of work for over a year now and am about to be declared bankrupt, which I realise is nothing compared to losing a loved one, but my life has been destroyed by this accident and if I don't get help soon, I will lose what's left, so thanks for your kind words.

BodyShopBabe_2 · 13 March 2009 at 2:34PM

Hi

Sorry to hear about your accident.

Do your solicitors know the extent of your situation? I would suggest you contact them again and fully explain the situation. If you are suffering financial hardship you are entitled to an interim payment from the insurers as liability has been admitted in full.

Whilst the insurers have to be mindful about not making interim payments higher than the claim is worth, it sounds as though they have room for manouvre as they have only paid you £5k.

Your solicitors are getting paid for acting in your best interests and I think my first port of call would be them.

Good luck.

geri1965_2 · 13 March 2009 at 3:09PM

Atermis wrote: »

id be more concerned about the fatality and the poor persons family rather then chasing £££££.

That is not helpful. The other party was at fault, tragic as it may be that he paid the ultimate price for it and lost his life. The claim is against his insurers, so will not affect his family in any way.

I recently had a claim from a man whose wife was killed in an accident - unfortunately I had to write to his solicitors and tell them, in the nicest way possible, that I thought he was at fault for the accident.

It's never easy, regardless of who is at fault, when you are dealing with a fatal accident.

Quentin · 13 March 2009 at 3:24PM

Atermis wrote: »

id be more concerned about the fatality and the poor persons family rather then chasing £££££.

Totally irrelevant, shameful and uncalled for.

Crazy_Jamie · 13 March 2009 at 3:43PM

ds2 wrote:

I have been told that the third party insurers do not have to help and it is only courtisy that they do.

This is not entirely true. Whilst in practice interim payments are usually made willingly by the Insurer, your solicitors can make an application for the court to order an interim payment. If you're in real financial difficult as a result of your injuries and the Insurer is not willing make an interim payment, then your solicitors should be looking at the possibility of making an application to the court to order them to make one. You certainly shouldn't have to take out loans and such. Talk to your solicitors about this, and ask about the possibility of applying to the court to make an order for an interim payment to be made.

Atermis wrote:

id be more concerned about the fatality and the poor persons family rather then chasing £££££.

What a disgraceful comment. You should be ashamed of yourself.

ds2 · 13 March 2009 at 4:08PM

I had to take a loan out for 10k before liability was admitted, so that I could get a car and get back to work. I had contacted the solicitors before I went in for my most recent op and got a reply from the 3rd party that they would not help at that stage and needed more info, I have sent bank statements, loan repayment schedules, rent payment details, business account details and they have submitted this to the 3rd party about 2 weeks ago - I have a loan payment due next week and rent the week after, so before I start selling my possessions, I was kinda hoping that there was an alternative, or a way to put pressure on the 3rd party.

Thanks for your advice Crazy Jamie, but how long would it take for the court to order a payment and how long should I wait for a reply from the 3rd party.

As it is, if I juggle my finances and skip the loan payment, that will hopefully let me pay my rent, but then that's it.

Thanks for your help people.

Crazy_Jamie · 13 March 2009 at 4:21PM

ds2 wrote: »

Thanks for your advice Crazy Jamie, but how long would it take for the court to order a payment and how long should I wait for a reply from the 3rd party.

Did you send that information to the other side directly, or did it go through your solicitors? Given how urgent your situation is, if I were your solicitors I would be ringing the other side and speaking to the fee earner in charge of the case directly. They've had two weeks to respond to documents that you've submitted, and whilst things often do drag a bit in personal injury claims, when an urgent situation like this crops up it should be dealt with with a comparable amount of urgency. The Defendant Solicitors will probably then need to take instructions from the Insurer, but again due to the urgency I wouldn't be giving them more than a few days to make a decision.

The procedure for securing an interim payment from the Court will first involve your solicitors filing an application for interim payment. The Court will then set a date for the hearing. In terms of how far in the future that hearing will be, it depends on the Court timetable and when they can fit the hearing in. However, it will be at least two weeks (because you have to give the other side 14 days notice of the hearing), and will probably be longer than that. After the interim payment is ordered, the other side will generally then have a further 14 days to pay it to you. So it is not instant by any stretch of the imagination, and by far the better option here is for an interim payment to be paid willingly by the other side.

Car Insurance Claim - Advice please

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