car insurance claim, been offered a settlement do i take it?

stolt

Hi there, I was involved in a accident last july and its been back and forth between insurers and i finally got a interim payment of £600 last month but today i recvd this email from my solicitor and i dont know what to do?

to keep it short a car in front of me a dual carriageway breaked and bashed into the car in front of him, i see all this and stopped about 3feet away, but then everyone piled into the back of my car. There was arguments between the other cars insurers abotut if the first car to hit me skidded into me or was pushed into me by the car behind her.

heres the email....
I can confirm that the court hearing has now been re-listed for the 13th October.
To avoid the hearing and to settle the litigation, the other driver's insurers have made a settlement offer in respect of your injury claim.
Their offer is the sum of £2331.96, they have also agreed to meet the hire and repairs to your vehicle. They have advised that this is their final offer and that they will proceed to trial should you reject this amount. Should you accept you will receive the sum of £1731.96 as you have previously been paid an interim of £600.00
They will not meet the cost of the train season ticket arguing that the cost of the train ticket is offset by your savings in taking the car to work.
I would advise you that I value your injuries at more than this offer given your ongoing problems, however in order for me to successfully pursue a better settlement at court I will need updated medical evidence which will involve you attending a further appointment with a medical expert.
I therefore advise you to reject the offer made.
However I appreciate that your daughter is poorly and you have advised that you wish to get this claim settled and out of the way.
I therefore leave the decision as to whether to accept the offer up to you.
If you wish to discuss this offer with me further, please do not hesitate to contact me. Otherwise please confirm your instructions regarding the offer if possible by 5pm Wednesday 8th October.
I look forward to hearing from you.
''


now its true that myself and my wife have been p and down from great ormand st with our youngest daughter so i was hoping it would all be sorted out and i will have to go to more appointments, but i do have a ongoing problem with a muscle in my back, can be fine for weeks but if i do anything heavy in the garden or lift something heavy then it can go and i'm at a funny angle for 10 days or so and i ahve paracetemol etc and its fine.
But i dont know what to do for the best, if i get offered more i'd really like to take the faily on a nice trip so we can put this year behind us. Do you think i'm being greedy and should i just accept it and move on.

mum2one

I dont think your being greedy at all, from reading your solicitors email it seems that he does not agree with the settlement.

I apologise if this sounds awful, but in a way you have to put yourself 1st, you are obviuosly injured, and by getting a further medical assesment it may be helpful in your recovery. I can guess haveing your daughter under Great Ormond Street, is a big part of the equation and obviously a concern to both you and your wife, and can fully see where you want to get it over and done with.

The other thing is "full and final settlement" is just that, there is no going back, and from what both you have wrote and ur solicitor, then it looks like your injury has not got better in the allocated time and that if indeed there may be the question of what is wrong, and how this impacts on your life.

Your in a very strong position that liability has already been admitted, and that you have had an interm payment.

I may come across as money grabbing, but mine is from experience, I had a car accident in 1998, although the driver was found quilty of the accident in 1999, it was all between solicitors, unfortunately I had the misfortune to of been involved in a write off in 2000, but as the 1st was going through, my solicitor advised a quick settlement, as the driver admitted liability, I was still in discomfort from 1st accident, but by then it would of been more difficult to prove what injury etc went with which car accident, and as the 2nd accident was a write off, I needed a car, so took a settlement 6mths later, my 1st accident was settled in 2001, unfortunately, when I fell pregnant in 2002, my back could not cope becoz of the accidents, factors like this should of apparently been taken into account and but becoz I was not planning a family in 1998, it was brushed aside. Unfortunately I have now been on crutches since 2002, have lost 90% of mobility, and registered disabled. All through the misfortune of being involved in car accidents, where both were none fault.
x

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Is the settlement offer fair, or not?

If the former, accept. If the latter, do not.

stolt

mum2one wrote: »

I dont think your being greedy at all, from reading your solicitors email it seems that he does not agree with the settlement.

I apologise if this sounds awful, but in a way you have to put yourself 1st, you are obviuosly injured, and by getting a further medical assesment it may be helpful in your recovery. I can guess haveing your daughter under Great Ormond Street, is a big part of the equation and obviously a concern to both you and your wife, and can fully see where you want to get it over and done with.

The other thing is "full and final settlement" is just that, there is no going back, and from what both you have wrote and ur solicitor, then it looks like your injury has not got better in the allocated time and that if indeed there may be the question of what is wrong, and how this impacts on your life.

Your in a very strong position that liability has already been admitted, and that you have had an interm payment.

I may come across as money grabbing, but mine is from experience, I had a car accident in 1998, although the driver was found quilty of the accident in 1999, it was all between solicitors, unfortunately I had the misfortune to of been involved in a write off in 2000, but as the 1st was going through, my solicitor advised a quick settlement, as the driver admitted liability, I was still in discomfort from 1st accident, but by then it would of been more difficult to prove what injury etc went with which car accident, and as the 2nd accident was a write off, I needed a car, so took a settlement 6mths later, my 1st accident was settled in 2001, unfortunately, when I fell pregnant in 2002, my back could not cope becoz of the accidents, factors like this should of apparently been taken into account and but becoz I was not planning a family in 1998, it was brushed aside. Unfortunately I have now been on crutches since 2002, have lost 90% of mobility, and registered disabled. All through the misfortune of being involved in car accidents, where both were none fault.
x

thanks, thats sounds really awful and like you say you never know in the future what could happend and in as in your case there is no further help. My wife is under the belief that this is just a low offer and they will make another one shortly after it as its all a game. And thats the problem, since last september i havent been to any further physio or appointments as we just havent go tthe money, all my work holidays have been taken up with hospital appointments so my girls havent had a holiday (would have been our first for the family) but i dont have private medical insurance so without it sounding like a sob story for symphany if i get offered more then at least that will cover train fares, taxi fares to and around london plus we could get a holiday as family next year (although my wife said it mighty be better putting it away for university or something like that for them). As my wife says they didnt offer any money for me to get help early on and its been a year before they finally sent a cheque for £600.00 to help with treatment. Only three weeks back i was cutting the lawn and my back just went out of shape, i took some photos because the muscle goes and i cannot straighten my back.

everyone keeps saying turn it down and they will offer again. But i dont want to regret accepting it and then knowing they took me for ride and would have offered more.

stolt

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Is the settlement offer fair, or not?

If the former, accept. If the latter, do not.

I dont know whats fair to be honest, i've never been in this situation before. is it fair to me, i dont know whats fair! Is it fair that they have left me for a year without any means of paying for treatment, its just a game to them.

mum2one

After the 2nd accident, I bent down to pick up a set of keys I dropped on the floor, worst mistake..........I spent 6 weeks on the sick...... my back had gone.

The 1st offer is usually an opening offer, to get the ball rolling, ur solicitor wouldnt recommend not accepting if he didnt know that the offer was too low.

I would suggest ur GP, the thing is you shouldnt have to pay for private physio, theres less people now with private health care etc, and ask for a referral for phyiso, I dont know what ur surgery is like, ours has an in house physio, quicker than going via the main NHS route.

badboybill

Go with what your solicitor advises, here's why;

If the case goes to court and the Judge awards you compensation £1 less then the offer then you are liable for the costs of the case. So your solicitor is best placed to make a call like this because he/she knows whats best for you. "I therefore advise you to reject the offer made"

In his email he is following legal protocol because he cannot make the decision for you. Your wife & friends are also right in advising you to reject the first offer.

hope this helps

stolt

hi thanks, i did reject the offer. And 4 days later they increased their offer by £1400.00 which i took so just waiting for my chq so hopefully i can start with some physio now.

Stephb1986_2

Take your solicitors advice at the end of the day they know what they are talking about. If they didn't think there was more in the claim they would tell you to settle. If you have really had enough and are not bothered about the money then settle.

Good luck

Steph xx

TiTheRev

stolt wrote: »

hi thanks, i did reject the offer. And 4 days later they increased their offer by £1400.00 which i took so just waiting for my chq so hopefully i can start with some physio now.

Sounds like it's worked out OK then £600 to £2000, joke! :rolleyes:

Conor_3

TiTheRev wrote: »

Sounds like it's worked out OK then £600 to £2000, joke! :rolleyes:

Its even better than that, £2331 to £3731.