Non fault car crash causing financial difficulties

littlemiss8084

Hi
I need some advice. At the beginning of the month I was involved in a non fault accident in which I was stopped and the other driver smashed into the back of my car at 30mph. Other person admitted fault at the scene of the accident and to the police who were called by the ambulance crew. Insurance company have declared the car a write off and a cheque for it is apparently on its way to me.

I am 30 weeks pregnant and have been signed off work since the accident due to bad whiplash injuries. My main concern is that as I was temping I will not receive the wages for the days I was booked for in December, plus any additional I may have been asked to do. I now cant afford to pay my mortgage due at the end of the month and I certainly cant afford presents for my daughter for Xmas. I had legal insurance as part of my policy but my solicitor says the loss of earnings claim will be dealt with along with injuries and any other part of the claim as a whole. I am extremely concerned that this could be some months/year yet. I really need this money as it will cause me severe hardship otherwise, any advice?

x

psychiedave

Hi, sorry to learn of your experience. It sounds scarily similar to a scenario involving my partner.
She gained multiple serious injuries and was off work for a long time, so her solicitor gave her a cheque upfront to help with financial difficulties, as her case was basically "no lose". If liability has been admitted from the other party then your situation should be the same?
Give your solicitor a ring and explain the situation, if they want your business then I'm sure they'll help.

andyd

Your solicitor should request an early interim payment from the third party insurers for you. That's pretty common in non -fault cases like yours.

Hope this helps

Oscar_The_Grouch

Hi there,

The first thing to do is phone the mortgage company and explain the position to them. Ask them if they can give you a payment break, or reduce your next few payments to a nominal amount. Whatever they do will simply be added to the back of the mortgage (cost you more money in the long run), but you can ask your solicitor to include the extra costs in your claim.

Secondly, get in touch with Jobcentre Plus (08000 556688) to see if you are entitled to any benefits.

Thirdly, phone your local council. Explain the position to them and ask them to send someone round to see you to fill in the forms for council tax and housing benefit. You should be entitled to a council tax rebate if they zero off your account.

None of these are likely to help much before Christmas, other than getting your mortgage frozen. If your daughter is young enough, can you "move" Christmas for a few days? I've known people who have extended Christmas until around 29th December, so that they can buy pressies after Christmas when the prices go down. If the kids are not at school, you can usually get away with this as long as you get the rest of the family to play along!!

littlemiss8084

My solicitor has not given me much hope of an interim payment he does not seem to think the other insurance company will agree to this, even though the person who crashed into me admitted it was their fault?! He reminded me its disgretionary last time I asked and basically any financial problems I had as a result of not being able to work were not the insurance companies problem which I can appreciate but in a way YES they are!

I dont think my mortgage company will give me a mortgage break, our previous mortgage company sold our mortgage on about 4months ago as the fixed period was coming to an end. We got into financial difficulties last year which our mortgage company got a suspended possession order against us for, I have maintained all the payments until now, this payment is the first on the libor rate so is a lot less for us but still must be paid on time.

I have managed to get my daughter a little something now (found a gift card I hadnt spent from my birthday) and my family spoil her anyways. I think everything is getting to me now and I am struggling to cope with the crash, the money implications following it and the pregnancy worries. I still have to try find money for the mortgage

I have decided I have no option as cannot survive on the SSP and am having to start my maternity allowance as soon as I can. I was hoping for some days work in January but these have not been confirmed and am wondering if I will be offered it anyways as have not been able to work for any of the days they booked me for in December they will probably wonder if I will be reliable for January. At least starting my maternity allowance will give me an income.

I am going to go down to the council offices tomorrow I need help filling in the forms, I tried to fill in one I picked up but did it all wrong I misread the instructions and had trouble concentrating long enough to finish it so had done quite a few bits wrong. Will they come to my house to do this?

lisyloo

Your solicitor is working for YOU.
Has he/she actually asked for an interim payment?
If not then politely but firmly ask them to do so and make it clear that, yes you are aware it's discretionary but your instructions are for them to ask and they are acting for you.
Remain as polite as possible because that's the best way to get people on your side, but they should be working for you and you should ask them to present your case under the circumstances.

Do you have any family who would rally round and help?
Sister/friend?
Surely a family member will help you get the forms sorted at this stage.
Sometimes you have to be prepared to ask for help.

Oscar_The_Grouch

If you phone the Council and explain that you have problems with forms, you are pregnant and have been involved in a car accident, they will send someone round to fill the forms in for you and collect any documents they need.

Make sure you have:

Your most recent bank statement
Mortgage statement
Child Benefit & Child Tax Credit forms
National Insurance Number
Payslip (2-3 months if possible)
Maternity information

As for your solicitor, I agree with Lisyloo (as usual; she's always right). You should pop an e-mail through to them confirming what your wage used to be, what it's going down to and ask them to ask the other side to make a 3-month interim payment to cover the lost wages. If they say they are not willing to do so, tell them how you are very sorry but you will have to change solicitors and ask them to prep the file for transfer on your instructions.

Then you go see your local CAB and ask them which solicitors will act on a "no win no fee" basis in your area. They'll quite happily take over the file from the ones your insurers appointed.