Help with Personal Injury Claims

knitmare

Hi, I was recently involved in an incident and was hoping to find some help.

About 2 and a half months ago, i was out at a popular franchise food place, and as i was sitting down, the lights fell on me, hitting my head at the time. This was one of those dangly suspended lights and although it had not fully dettached it had somehow fallen. There were two members of staff and neither came to see me. I then went up to one of them and explained that it had just hit me on t he head, and she rudely said sorry and continued serving the next customer, the other person working with her said something to her and i left.

When i had got home my head and neck were starting to ache, and couldnt sleep as a result of it. The next morning i went to my surgery and was seen by the nurse who had documented my stiff neck. As this had carried on, i went back to them and asked to speak to the manager to make a complaint, it turned out he was the 2nd employee there, and had the audacity to say yes i saw it happen, but didnt do anythign about it. His excuse was i must have been a bit stressed. When i asked about how to make a formal complaint, he said i should call head office.

I did so, and they in turn directed me to the franchise manager, who was much better and said he would pass this on to his insurance company. They asked for any medical evidence i might have, GPs note and i had seen an osteopath in the mean time who has described my injuries as a whiplash type injury. I submitted these over a month ago, and although i recieved an email asking for my full name and details, i havent heard anything back from them.

And now im wondering how long this process might take and wether i should go through with their insurance company, which happen to be allianz or whether i should consider findign my own solicitor.

Sorry for the long read, but advice on what step to take would be much appreciated

Emy1501

I work in motor rather tham employers liability. We would normally contact you as soon as possible to try and settle the claim without involving solicitors. Whiplash type injuries can take anywhere from days to years to settle difficult to give any idea regarding how long it will take. If you are still suffering then you may want to go for a medical as unlikely any insurers will offer much more than £1500 without medical evidence. Maybe worth ringing the insurers if you have their details to find out if the a process of dealing with claimants directly. if they don't then you are probably best going to a no win no fee solicitors.

wolftastic_2

Although it was not a pleasant thing, I get the impression you weren't injured badly but suspect you want to claim. If so get in touch with one of those awful no win no fee solicitors who will no doubt get you something and line their pockets in the process. Otherwise write the restaurant a nasty letter and dont go there again. Its just an accident, nobody was seriously hurt, get over it.

Sorry to be blunt, but why do people want to make something out of nothing.

geri1965_2

Have you actually told them you want to pursue a claim for compensation? Your post is a bit vague and you only talk about making a complaint.

Claims have to be investigated, and a month is not very long. Did they say they were investigating and would get back to you?

Oscar_The_Grouch

wolftastic wrote: »

Although it was not a pleasant thing, I get the impression you weren't injured badly but suspect you want to claim. If so get in touch with one of those awful no win no fee solicitors who will no doubt get you something and line their pockets in the process. Otherwise write the restaurant a nasty letter and dont go there again. Its just an accident, nobody was seriously hurt, get over it.

Sorry to be blunt, but why do people want to make something out of nothing.

OP asked how long they should expect to wait and whether they need to contact a solicitor, not for information about ambulance chasers.

Knitmare, I would suggest you give the other side until after Christmas to get back to you. If you do not hear anything, send them a letter (or e-mail) asking for an update. The chances are they may ask you to see a private consultant (at their expense) who will write them a report on your injuries if they think they need more evidence.

You should be looking to settle the claim once you are either sure you are fully recovered from the accident or have a prognosis for how long the recovery will take. I would expect you to be back to normal within 6 months (but I've never seen you and I'm not a doctor so don't take my word for it).

If all the above sounds like it's a bit too much to deal with, then get a solicitor.

Pitlanepiglet

If you are injured and you wish to bring a PI claim then you need a solicitor. The insurers may well prefer to deal with you direct but that is not usually in your best interests.

Find yourself a local solicitor or Google for one of the firms that advertise re PI claims. They will deal with it all for you and arrange medical inspections etc.

If you just want an apology then write to the head office.

wolftastic_2

Oscar_The_Grouch wrote: »

OP asked how long they should expect to wait and whether they need to contact a solicitor, not for information about ambulance chasers.

Knitmare, I would suggest you give the other side until after Christmas to get back to you. If you do not hear anything, send them a letter (or e-mail) asking for an update. The chances are they may ask you to see a private consultant (at their expense) who will write them a report on your injuries if they think they need more evidence.

You should be looking to settle the claim once you are either sure you are fully recovered from the accident or have a prognosis for how long the recovery will take. I would expect you to be back to normal within 6 months (but I've never seen you and I'm not a doctor so don't take my word for it).

If all the above sounds like it's a bit too much to deal with, then get a solicitor.

I think the question was what next step to take, and if you read my reply I said find a solicitor, write a letter or get over it. Too many people imo want free money when they are not really injured at all for which we all pay a premium.

knitmare

wolftastic wrote: »

Although it was not a pleasant thing, I get the impression you weren't injured badly but suspect you want to claim. If so get in touch with one of those awful no win no fee solicitors who will no doubt get you something and line their pockets in the process. Otherwise write the restaurant a nasty letter and dont go there again. Its just an accident, nobody was seriously hurt, get over it.

Sorry to be blunt, but why do people want to make something out of nothing.

I may not have sustained life threatening injuries, but i did get a concussion and neck strain, which meant i couldnt drive for nearly 3 weeks. Also as nhs referrals to physio take at least 6 weeks, i ended up paying privately to see an osteopath as i couldnt continue my daily activities that way.

I realise it was an accident, but this was hassle that did affect me and they couldnt even apologise for it. They thought throwing some money at me would resolve it, when i never even went out to ask for it, so why shouldnt i claim it? I;m angry about the incident as i had a young child with me, and had we been sat differently i shudder to think what injuries she may have sustained. Also before i had left a school child went to sit at my table and no one bothered to warn him, or advise him to sit elsewhere. This may seem trivial but surely our level of customer care has not been lost to that extent?

Thank you all for ur responses. My concern was that i sent out my name, address and NI number in an email from their company but essentially i want to make sure my details are in the correct hands. I will try to contact them on monday, but if not i guess it will wait til after christmas

Metranil_Vavin

won't someone think of the children????