Traffic Accident Claim

danlojo

Hi

In 23 years of driving I've never had a bump or scratch and some prat embedded his car into my rear on Friday:mad:

He did stop and give details of everything and made sure that myself and the 3 kids were ok before he left. I had neck pain after impact and was taken to A & E and have suffered with back and shoulder pain since.

My insurance company have been pretty swift with sorting out car damage and hire car and have forwarded my details onto a Personal Injury Company used by them.

All the paperwork arrived this morning but as I've never had to claim any injury before the jargon they use is confusing. I think all expenses are covered by my insurance legal service but as there are quotes of "You are primarily resonsible for this firms fees" and the fact that they state how much per hour they charge worries me!

Help?

Crazy_Jamie

have forwarded my details onto a Personal Injury Company used by them.

Right. What they've actually done there is referred you to a firm of solicitors, and will pick up a nice referral fee for their troubles. It should be noted that you have a free choice as to which solicitors you use. You do not have to use this firm that you've been referred to if you don't want to.

What paperwork do you actually have? It being a personal injury claim I would expect a Conditional Fee Agreement to be in there somewhere, or at least a mention of one. Presumably you have a covering letter from the firm itself. What does that say and what does it ask you to do?

One thing to note from the start is that you shouldn't feel pushed into anything at this stage. There is no rush. You actually have three years to bring this claim, and whilst I wouldn't recommend dallying on it, don't think that you have to respond to any of this paperwork the moment that you get it. You have more than enough time to make sure that you're comfortable with everything and ask any questions that you have.

danlojo

It might be easier for me to scan and send a copy!

On the solicitors letter it does state that they will receive £250 plus marketing fee, and that I should receive the full amount of compensation without deductions. I will also not be liable for any shortfall in recoverable costs.

On the Personal Injury letter (Securelaw) under Funding it states that if the costs are not recovered from the other motorist/their insurers (RSA) then I am liable for them. It then goes on to notify me of their charges.

I have a paralegal dealing with grade 4 fees. It states how much per hour/paperwork/telephone calls etc.

Also : "Please note however that cases that are unlitigated and have a value of less than £10,000 are subject to a fixed costs regime, known as the Predictable Costs Matrix. In such cases, costs are fixed at £800.00 plus 20% of the total value of the claim plus VAT and disbursements"

Why inform me of these details if I am not liable for them?

Flamin Jargon................

Help?

lisyloo

Right - firstly do you have legal expenses insurance?

I can't be 100% sure but this sounds like a seperate company.

The advanatages of going with this seperate company are:

1) They will be very highly motivated on your behalf (this is because they don't get paid until it's settled), so they might be much better than the office junior you'll get with the insurance. However your case medically might take a while to be settled as the full consequences of your injury may not be known for some months.

The disadvanatges are

1) You might be liable which is quite worrying. Has liability for the accident been settled? If liability is accepted it might be less of an issue.

It's also possible that your legal insurers have passed this on, but you are fully covered.
Either way you need to establish this ASAP.

So
1) Has liability been settled?
2) Do you have the legal expenses cover?

dogbot

OP, you can always try claiming for your injury direct from the other party's insurers who will have a personal injury team. They will like this because it saves them the cost of the solicitors fees, but obviously leaves you without the advice of a solicitor on your side.

The other's advice above all seems excellent so keep going! I would add that if you don't have legal expenses cover on your motor policy as lisyloo says, it is possible to purchase an "after the event" policy, the costs of which may be recoverable from the other side.

Another little help might be this: You may have access to a free legal helpline with your home insurance. If so, try giving them a call to see what advice they can give.

danlojo

I have full legal expenses cover "before the event" as stated in the paperwork.

Cant find out if he has admitted responsibility but shunting someone up the rear cannot hardly be argued about, plus he gave me his insurance details straight away!

I just dont want to be "advised" by a company I know nothing about and may lose some of any compensation I may receive. As I said before, this has never happened to me so I'm just worried about signing the wrong things.

SolicitorMidlands

Which firm is it?

All sounds ok to me at first sight. Although I am not comfortable with my insurer choosing my solicitor and making money on my misfortune.

danlojo

#7 - I was hoping you'd see this as I know you have much info in this field:D :T

I'm with Admiral , legal team with Albany Assistance who have passed injury claim onto Securelaw LLP.

Also : "Please note however that cases that are unlitigated and have a value of less than £10,000 are subject to a fixed costs regime, known as the Predictable Costs Matrix. In such cases, costs are fixed at £800.00 plus 20% of the total value of the claim plus VAT and disbursements"

This bit worries me!!!

Why not get rid of the jargon and put, he hit me, he's to blame, he will pay, end of!!:rolleyes:

lisyloo

Why not get rid of the jargon and put, he hit me, he's to blame, he will pay, end of!!

err well no........not always.

At the worse end of the market (what are called ambulance chasers) the fees put in for claims can be on the high side, this happens for car hire too.
Some insurers will put their foot down and not pay for excessive solicitors or car hire bills.
I don't want to scaremonger but just to make you aware of the worst case scenario, you could potentially find yourself liable for the extra if the other side refuse to pay unreasonable fees.

Of course your solicitors may not be like that at all, theya re probably a reputable company but I'm just warning about being complacent.and making assumptions.

EDIT - My MIL had a recent personal injury claim (not RTA) with a reputable firm of solicitors. Despite them being a reputable firm, the other side did NOT cover all the costs in their offer. The solicitors agreed to waive the extra. Now I'm not sure whether that was because they always do this or whether it was because I was getting a little bit stroppy with them. They advised my MIL to use their services rather than her insurance so I made it very clear I would question this advice if the fees were not waived. So it certainly CAN happen that the fees requested are not covered by the other side. I don't know wnough about the industry to comment but it sounds a bit like buying a second hand car or house where the asking price is deliberately over priced on the expectiation of being knocked down by the buyer ????

danlojo

Oh gowd, I'm confused now.:rolleyes:

Do I stay with the legal team/injury people from my insurance or go with a no win no fee?

Blimey, if only the prat had stopped in time I wouldnt be having this worry and confusion :mad:

Been back to docs today and referred for physio and given more meds.

Car going in for repair tomorrow.

Still unsure of what to do. You've worried me now Lisyloo!

Atermis

I could give you alist of dodgy solicitors and hire firms right now...

Albany are not the worst offenders, however they arnt the best.

They are however owned by HelpHire, who are quite notorious and have been taking a real beating recently.

Have a read of this article about credit hire.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/02/motoring.consumeraffairs