Car Crash - advice on solicitors dealing with claim?

smileygirl112

Hello All,

Just after a little advice...................I'll try to keep it as brief as possible.

I was involved in a car accident in November. Another driver went through a red light and hit my drivers side head on, both cars were written off. The other driver admitted liability at the scene, was arrested for dangerous driving and another driver who witnessed the incident stopped and confirmed details off the accident.

The day after the accident the third party's insurer phoned me to say they had admitted liability and sent a letter confirming this. I also had a letter from my insurer confirming there was no dispute in liability.

My insurer referred my to a solicitor to to handle my claim, re: replacing vehicle and personal injury. This is what i need help with. I am not happy with the solicitor handling my case. I visited my GP after the accident who advised physiotherapy. I asked solicitor to arrange this but they said i had to wait until I had seen the independent expert, which was only arranged 2 months after the accident. The expert confirmed I needed physio, but when I contact the solicitors again about this, they said the 3rd party insurers hadn't formally admitted liability, despite me having forwarded them the letter saying they had.

I re-informed them off the situation with liability and asked for a copy of the police report of the accident. they thanked me for re-sending the liability but said they couldn't send me a copy of the police report, because the other party HAD admitted liability they didn't need it? This was at the end of january, so I don't feel they have bothered looking into my incident and progressing the claim at all.

They finally arranged physio this week (3 months after the accident), but the person I saw hasn't received confirmation of payment from them so they can't continue with the treatment.

Also, on the report compiled by the independent expert, which the solicitor instructed, had lots of inaccuracues (i.e., it didn't even have the correct time of the accident).

I feel they aren't bothered about my situation and wanted to know if its possible to get someone else to deal with this? and how I would go about doing so?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Quentin

In the circumstances, you could use your own solicitor who would pass his charges on to the third party.

If you don't want to do this, then write and tell all this to your insurer and ask them to change the solicitor as you aren't happy.

dacouch

Your solicitor has not performed very well in this case, it would have been best for your health for you to have had seen a medical expert asap which has not happened in this case.

They make a big song and dance about how they ensure the injured parties in accidents receive compensation and medical treatment so without their expensive services many wronged people would be out of pocket and left without vital medical treatment. But they do not do this in your case.

Take Quentins advice and if your unhappy with the solicitor you can always make a complaint to the Law Society.

sarahg1969

Your solicitor could have approached the other driver's insurers, who would probably have been more than happy to arrange some physio for you. Most of them now have access to physio services, and it's in their interests to get you better more quickly, to limit the amount of damages they have to pay you.

Your solicitor should have known this.

smileygirl112

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll change solicitors. I've never been involved an accident so am not sure of the process and what to expect. I'm glad of the reassurance that I'm not being unreasonble.

Again - thanks very much for the comments.

SolicitorMidlands

You have a duty to mitigate your loss. If you needed physio that badly then you should have gone to your own GP and asked for them to arrange the same. Your solicitor cannot be blamed for that.

The Defendant insurers do sometimes offer physiotherapy prior to any admission of liability - it might be worth asking whether this was offered when they acknowledged receipt of the letter of claim, although I would be wary of Defendant's treatment providers as they get sight of your medical notes and will then try and use them against you at some point.

i can't see much that you solicitor has done wrong and would certainly not warrant a complaint to the LSC. If you are unhappy, put your comments in writing to your solicitor and await a response.

dacouch

The poster has engaged a personal injury solicitor as an expert, I assume she has not had an accident involving an injury before so would have relied on the information given by the solicitor. Oh and they lost track of the admission of liability...not great in my books.

Complain to the Law Society if you are not happy

SolicitorMidlands

dacouch wrote: »

The poster has engaged a personal injury solicitor as an expert, I assume she has not had an accident involving an injury before so would have relied on the information given by the solicitor. Oh and they lost track of the admission of liability...not great in my books.

Complain to the Law Society if you are not happy

The law society have nothing to do with complaints. They REPRESENT solicitors and do not handle complaints.

dacouch

Sorry wrong info, complain about your solicitor here.

Complaints about solicitors


This information is on the Legal Complaints Service website
The Legal Complaints Service is an independent complaints handling body. It is part of the Law Society but operates independently.
The Law Society has

• delegated its complaints handling functions to us
• charged us to exercise those functions independently and in the public interest

To complain about your solicitor, or find out how we can help

• visit us at www.legalcomplaints.org.uk
• or call our helpline on 0845 608 6565

We are open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm. Calls are charged at local rates.

Oscar_The_Grouch

SolicitorMidlands wrote: »

The law society have nothing to do with complaints. They REPRESENT solicitors and do not handle complaints.

Thanks for your post, Solicitor.

On this forum, we are all trying to be as helpful and open as possible. We provide guidance to people where we feel we have expertise.

As a solicitor, I am sure you will be able to provide assistance to OP in how best to complain about the service they have received from their solicitor, rather than confirming how not to complain.

Perhaps you would be willing to give some free advice....

Oscar_The_Grouch

Oh, and thanks Dacouch for your post with the details of the Legal Complaints Service. Should have read on really, shouldn't I!!