3rd party Insurance

Smithers_uk

I need some help if possible.

The Saturday after Christmas my newphew and I were knocked down by a taxi driver whilst we were crossing the road in town.

On initial examination we were both OK, apart from my coat (which was ripped) and my mobile (which was in my pocket).

We got up and the taxi driver blamed us and then said he was moving his car. He then drove off. Police then turned up and took our details and then the witness's details. Then the driver appeared again and the police took his details.

Since then both my newphew and I have been to the hosiptal. I am suffering from a sore back, which I have been advised is probably due to the whip lash effect on my back as I took the brunt of the impact. My newphew has a sore elbow which the doctors think is a compressed bone injury rather than a breakage.

The bottom line is I need to claim against the taxi driver for my coat, phone and any treatment that I may require. Is there any 3rd party insurance companies that people would recommend?

Cheers

Smithers_uk

Atermis

think your best bet is to see a solicitor.

McKneff

Most solicitors will give you a free half hour consultation

LadyIndecisive

1. Firstly check your own motor and/or home policy to see if you have paid for legal cover which would assist you in a claim.

2. If you do not then you could use a claims management firm in your local area who will direct you to a solicitor (whilst charging the solicitor a fee for referring you). I cannot give recommendations as I do not have first hand experience of using such a firm. Some are considered better than others. Some are considered ambulance-chasing cowboys. Use the below link to locate an authorised firm in your area.

http://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/search.aspx

3. It may be quicker to directly instruct a solicitor, in which case I personally would choose one which specialises in personal injury. You can use this link to find one local to you who is a member of the Assoc of Personal Injury Lawyers.

http://www.apil.org.uk/FindAnAPILLawyer.aspx

With both 2 and 3 you will probably find yourself being asked to sign an agreement on a 'no win, no fee' basis. Check what you sign and ensure you fully understand it.

Hope this helps.

lisyloo

You have two options.

If you have legal cover on your house insurance then you can use that for legal fees.
Upsides are it's completely free.
Downside is your nephew will need to go on his famillies insurance and they might not be that great.

The other option is to get a "no win no fee" solicitor.
Disadvantages are that you may be exposed to some risk (see their terms and conditions) and you may have to pay for some expenses and disbursements up front e.g. my mother-in-law had a £45 taxi fee to get to a spcialist.
Advantages are that they are pretty voracious in going after the other side. Mainly because they want their fees and they won't get paid until it's settled, so you may find them better in pushing things through than your houe insurance. Also you might both be able to see the same solicitor whereas your nephew will not be covered on your home insurance.
Just make sure you understand what fees you are exposed to if things don't go to plan. I can't remeber what the "disbursements" were for in my mother-in-laws case. It was a relatively small sum and she got it back, but this might be an issue if you are really skint and can't afford to put forward £150 for a couple of months.

LadyIndecisive

Would the legal cover on a home policy pay out-of-pocket expenses up front?

lisyloo

Would the legal cover on a home policy pay out-of-pocket expenses up front?

I would not expect it to pay for taxis, bus fare etc.
But they may cover disbursements (which are not costs for the individual but for the legal stuff I believe).

But your point is right, it would need more investigation.

In my MILs case I think she spent about £45 on a taxi and £150 on disbursements, but someone who was able bodied could probably travel for less on public or private transport (she is severly disabled so needed a taxi door-to-door).

My own personal experience is that legal policies employ office bods who do a 9-5 jobs but are not incentivised whereas "no win no fee" lawyers are highly incentivised.
In my MILs case there were no fees to pay (and she got her expenses back) but there definitely WERE some cases where she was exposed to paying fees in the letter of the contract. In many cases these will not materialise butI think people need to be aware if they are exposed. With legal cover you should not be exposed to paying solicitors fees (up to a limit e.g. £50K).

LadyIndecisive

Yes, this is what I think would be the case either route taken, i.e. out-of-pocket expenses (taxi and bus fares, tel calls and postage) will need to be paid by the claimant but an interim payment by the fault insurer could be made mid-claim to cover these. Disbursements would include the examination fee, physiotherapy invoice etc and would not be paid by the claimant as covered by the legal policy or after the event insurance.

PS why it is rare to get a thank you from OPs on these threads - we just all end up talking to each other!

lisyloo

but an interim payment by the fault insurer could be made mid-claim to cover these

I am not aware of any pedestrian fault insurance (but yes, guess your point would apply to car cases where fully comp insurance is in place).

LadyIndecisive

Ah no, sorry, meant fault insurer being the vehicle insurer in this case.