RTA Question?

jimbraund

Hi there i'll make this quick, i was parked up outside a train station when a minibus reversed into me on the drivers side, the woman who was driving drove off without giving details, i've got the reg and passed it onto the police and my insurance company. My insurance company have passed my details onto a solictor for a compansation claim but should i use the solictor or find my own as i'm not very good with the legal wording they use or even if i'd be entitled to anything?

MaximumImpact

Compensation for what? Injury? Damage?...Need a bit more info...Your insurance company and the Police will sort out the accident and offences committed....

jimbraund

i presume it's compensation for personal injury and damages. I 've been to the hospital as i've had constant headaches since it happened but i've never made a claim before so confused as what to do.

Crazy_Jamie

Sounds like they've referred you on to a personal injury solicitor. If you haven't suffered any significant injury from the accident then there is still the issue of getting back the cost of repairing your car, but obviously you don't need a personal injury solicitor for that especially.

The very first thing a solicitor should do in this instance is actually establish if you have suffered a recoverable injury or not. You say that you have had headaches since the accident. Did you have any physical injury when you went to the hospital? Have as pain apart from the headaches developed since? When did the accident actually happen?

For the record, if it turns out that you have been injured as a result of this to a degree that it is worth making a claim, you have a free choice as to which solicitor you instruct, and indeed you don't have to instruct one at all (considering you have no experience of civil procedure I wouldn't really recommend going it alone though). You don't have to use the one that you were referred to by your solicitor, though it should be noted that the legal wording on any paperwork you get sent initially will likely be more or less standard.

jimbraund

when i went to the hospital they diagnosed concusion and minor whiplash, this happened on thursday and i went to the hospital this morning as i've had headaches since the accident. the doctor said the headaches would last about a week and my eye focus should be back to normal soon. would it be worth making a personal injury claim and what are the chances of winning anuthing?

Crazy_Jamie

jimbraund wrote: »

when i went to the hospital they diagnosed concusion and minor whiplash, this happened on thursday and i went to the hospital this morning as i've had headaches since the accident. the doctor said the headaches would last about a week and my eye focus should be back to normal soon. would it be worth making a personal injury claim and what are the chances of winning anuthing?

Have the whiplash symptoms already settled? If not, how long did the doctor say they would last for? How bad were/are they? Did you take painkillers for the whiplash, or are you still doing?

Sounds to me like establishing liability is straightforward, but in terms of what you will recover as compensation it depends on what you've actually lost. You cannot recover more than you've lost, which in this case means the damage to your car plus a level of damages for your injuries. If you answer those questions above about your whiplash injury I should be able to give you a better idea about level of damages and whether it's worth claiming or not.

jimbraund

I've still got a constant headache even after the nurse gave me co-codamol this morning as i had to wait an hour to check if they work which they didnt so they've sent me away with painkillers and anti inflamintry tablets and they advised it may clear up after a week. I have been informed that my car is prob a write off and they cannot provide a hire car because of this and i had to take friday off work due to this. do you need more info crazyjamie

ijgreer

Not so good on the write off part, unfortunately no insurance company gives you a courtesy car in the event of total loss altho I think that Swinton offer an option on their legal protection where they will give you one.
You can use the solicitors your insurance co have provided, they tend to be fairly decent as they are regulated pretty well.

The woman who hit you will be taken to the cleaners by the police, driving from a scene or an accident is quite a big thing.

Hope you get well soon

I

Crazy_Jamie

jimbraund wrote: »

I've still got a constant headache even after the nurse gave me co-codamol this morning as i had to wait an hour to check if they work which they didnt so they've sent me away with painkillers and anti inflamintry tablets and they advised it may clear up after a week. I have been informed that my car is prob a write off and they cannot provide a hire car because of this and i had to take friday off work due to this. do you need more info crazyjamie

Any pain in your neck or radiating into your shoulder? Headaches that last a week is a very minor injury with no other symptoms (relatively speaking), and one that would not really be worth pursuing legal action for solely on that basis. By all means if the solicitor you have been referred to offers a free consultation then you might as well meet with them and discuss the case, but with an injury that minor they would likely be hesitant to act for you because they cannot generally recover all of their costs unless the injury is worth £1,000 or more (on current information yours is not worth anywhere near that).

What was the insured value of your car? It's a difficult situation not having a car, but you are under a duty to mitigate your loss and therefore need to try to find an alternative to losing wages if you can. Are there any facilities near you whereby you can hire car independently?

Your insurance company need to find out who the third party insurers are and talk to them directly. Liability sounds like a foregone conclusion, in which case they should be willing to help you in terms of securing a car for you until you are reimbursed for the loss of your car. It might well be worth contacting the third party insurers directly in relation to the injury and other out of pocket expenses (such as prescription charges) as well, as they would be liable for those.

toptip

ijgreer wrote: »

Not so good on the write off part, unfortunately no insurance company gives you a courtesy car in the event of total loss altho I think that Swinton offer an option on their legal protection where they will give you one.
You can use the solicitors your insurance co have provided, they tend to be fairly decent as they are regulated pretty well.

The woman who hit you will be taken to the cleaners by the police, driving from a scene or an accident is quite a big thing.

Hope you get well soon

I

I think you'll find quite a few of the established insurance companies who will provide a courtesy car for 7, 14 or 21 days depending on the level of cover. Swinton do offer that as an upgrade, as do Saga, Admiral and many others