Personal Injury for a Road Accident - help?!

MissDee78

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this so please direct me if I'm wrong.

A month ago I was crossing the road, when a car that had been standing at a red traffic light suddenly reversed into me at speed (i'm hoping it was nothing personal!).

I normally hate the idea of those personal injury claims but after trying to go into work and carry on with my life, I am now finding that I have been sitting at home for a month, unable to work. I'm not sure how sick pay works but I can't imagine it's much. Also I work in Sales, so if I'm not there, I'm not making money, plus I am losing contacts that I have spent 2 years making.

My PMI covers me for only 10 Physio sessions. I have had 3 but my Physio says that I am too sore for her to work on my joints so I am wasting time having ultrasound and massages.

I'm very worried about my job as they have been making redundancies. I was due a pay rise in November which I imagine I won't get now, despite working my socks off until now.

I have no idea how Personal Injury Claims would work. If I won anything what would the fee be? Can anybody recommend a company? Also any ideas how I may be able to get more Physio covered?? It's likely to take months.

Sorry for the long post but I have no clues!!

Thanks very much.

whitts

Hi Missdee

Sorry to hear about your accident, do you have all the details form the driver who hurt you and witnesses ect.?

I would imagine you have been to you gp as they can refer you for physio.

hewhoisnotintheknow

when you say speed, what sort of speed

thescouselander

If you have legal expenses cover on your household insurance you should give them a call - they will sort it out for you.

If you are not covered there are plenty of solicitors that will deal with this sort of thing without the need to pay any fee. The solicitor will recover their costs from the drivers insurer (assuming your are successful in your claim).

Just be sure to check what happens if you are not successful. When I put in a claim the solicitor took out after the event insurance to cover their costs if the claim was not successful - they paid for this and I didn't pay a penny.

It sounds as if you should have reasonable prospects of getting some compensation - give it a go, you have nothing to lose.

MissDee78

Thanks everyone.

I don't have all the details, at the time I was just in a bit of shock and wanted to go home because I was embarrassed at all the attention. However, 2 police officers turned up immediately, they called 2 others and an ambulance was called.. the police have said that they have witness statements as well. I have just filled in an accident report form with my side of the details. As well as the ambulance, I have spent a day strapped to a bed in hospital, been to the GP 3 times and have started Physio.

As for the speed, I'm sorry I don't know. What I do know is that he was stopped at the traffic lights, I was crossing an otherwise empty road quite far behind it. He began to reverse, which I saw and tried to move but then he speeded up and knocked me backwards. There was no road or anything for him to reverse into so I have no idea why he was reversing.

I don't have any legal expenses cover and have never had to deal with solicitors before. Any clues how I would pick a good one? A google search just brings up endless claims companies.

DirectDebacle

MissDee78 wrote: »

Thanks everyone.

I don't have all the details, at the time I was just in a bit of shock and wanted to go home because I was embarrassed at all the attention. However, 2 police officers turned up immediately, they called 2 others and an ambulance was called.. the police have said that they have witness statements as well. I have just filled in an accident report form with my side of the details. As well as the ambulance, I have spent a day strapped to a bed in hospital, been to the GP 3 times and have started Physio.

As for the speed, I'm sorry I don't know. What I do know is that he was stopped at the traffic lights, I was crossing an otherwise empty road quite far behind it. He began to reverse, which I saw and tried to move but then he speeded up and knocked me backwards. There was no road or anything for him to reverse into so I have no idea why he was reversing.

I don't have any legal expenses cover and have never had to deal with solicitors before. Any clues how I would pick a good one? A google search just brings up endless claims companies.

First things first. You can deal with this pretty much on your own. Essentially you are the injured person in a Road Traffic Accident. By law these have to be reported to the police. They attended the scene and will have compiled a report. You will need this report No. the names and numbers of the officers that attended plus full details of the driver of the vehicle, regd keeper if different to the owner, full details of the vehicle, make, model, reg no. and most importantly the name and contact details of the insurance co and the policy no. The police may well be considering prosecuting the driver for a variety of offences, which would probably be of assistance in your claim.

Assuming the driver is correctly insured then you will be claiming from the insurance co. and not the driver. You will deal with the claims dept of his insurers.

Your claim will be for injuries sustained. You will need medical evidence of these from the hospital and/or your GP. The amount of detail required will depend largely on how much his insurers require. They may ask you to attend a medical they pay for conducted by one of their 'tame' specialists.

Your claim should include some if not all of the following.

Loss of earnings
Pain and suffering
Cost of attending treatment (visits to GP/Physio) keep receipts for taxis/fares/mileage and petrol if you can drive to them.
Cost of obtaining any documentation they may require. E.g. they may ask for a report from your physio which will have to be paid for. If they do ask then request they pay the physio direct. If they don't then it may be wise to get one yourself.
Reclaim the cost of your PMI or ask them if they can bill the drivers insurer.

At the end of the day it is unlikely that the ins. co. will refuse to pay a claim but they will try to pay you out as little as possible. Don't accept their first offer.

It sounds a lot of work. It isn't. Hardest bit will be getting the info from the police. You may be lucky and get it no problem but it could be a struggle. You will get it, they are just a beauracracy to deal with.

When you have the info write a letter of claim to the insurance co. do not mention an amount at this stage. Just let them know you are making a claim for injuries that you have not as yet recovered from and are still receiving treatment for. That gets the ball rolling so to speak. Down the line it is going to come down to £.s.d. You will be compensated. Only problem will be if driver claims you deliberately threw yourself under his car. Police report should cover this.

Good luck. Hope this helps. You don't need a vulture to help you on this unless it gets tricky.

DirectDebacle

Also if you do not receive your pay rise in november then as long as this can be shown as a direct result of time spent off work due to the R.T.A. then this and future losses of earnings need to be claimed. This is new to you but bread and butter to claims depts in insurance cos. They deal with thousands a year. Their sole purpose is not to look after your welfare but to ensure their shareholders do not suffer. Be honest in your claim, but be as mercenary as they are.

sarahg1969

While you could deal with this yourself, you would probably be better off finding a solicitor who deals in PI to assist you. This should not cost you anything. Look in the phone book for someone local; I personally would avoid the ambulance-chasing type of firm who don't even bother to see their clients face-to-face.