Personal Injury Claim

North_Star_2

Hi fellow MSE readers ,

I am getting slightly frustrated with a P.I.C I have ongoing which is just over 30 months old , at present my solicitors have issued the firm I got hurt at with preceedings and now the defendants have responded with a request for extra time to build their defence , I cannot understand why the defendants are fighting my case as its clear as crystal what happened when I got hurt and when assessed by a barrister he even said he does not know why my case is being fought and how any other reason than the defendants being at fault is strange.

My solicitors cannot say for definate I will win but they have told me that my case is very solid , in depth and every scenario is covered and every time my case is assessed to see what its direction is going it always comes back with full steam ahead, the CCTV footage owned by the defendants has gone missing now that had images of my accident in poorly lit surroundings and poor quality really but that was the defendants CCTV but my injury was so costly to me being self employed and the injury itself caused me to lose 3 months work and about £7000 in lost earnings not to mention the injury value.

I do not understand how these claims work but does anyone have any experience of the steps or what to expect next in my case now that preceedings have been issued to those on whose premises I got injured ? I do not understand why if the case is so seemingly clear would the defendants run up more and more costs and risk going to court to lose, surely their solicitors would advise them the likelihood of winning is minimal or is this cat and mouse game common ? I am on No Win No Fee and its taking ages now but these past few months things do seem to be rolling , any clues on how these claims work and what I could expect ?

many thanks

geri1965_2

Why haven't your solicitors explained all this to you?

North_Star_2

Trust me my Solicitors seem to have a pile of cases they are involved in then underneath all of them lies my own , my solicitor has given a formulated plan of what happens next I guess my question was really just trying to understand why the defendants were fighting my case because nobody who has read my case has said anything other than a 100% win in my favour , a split decision could not be possible as I did nothing wrong and followed all rules on site.

Sandoval

I'd guess that they're fighting your case because they think they can win.

geri1965_2

Equally the defendants must think they have a chance of defending it. You really need to ask your solicitor on what basis their denial of liability has been made, they have to give detailed reasons and provide documentation in support. Have they?

Pollycat

North_Star wrote: »

Trust me my Solicitors seem to have a pile of cases they are involved in then underneath all of them lies my own , my solicitor has given a formulated plan of what happens next I guess my question was really just trying to understand why the defendants were fighting my case because nobody who has read my case has said anything other than a 100% win in my favour , a split decision could not be possible as I did nothing wrong and followed all rules on site.

Actually, according to your first post, your solicitors haven't said it's a 100% win situation for you.

North_Star wrote: »

Hi fellow MSE readers ,

I am getting slightly frustrated with a P.I.C I have ongoing which is just over 30 months old , at present my solicitors have issued the firm I got hurt at with preceedings and now the defendants have responded with a request for extra time to build their defence , I cannot understand why the defendants are fighting my case as its clear as crystal what happened when I got hurt and when assessed by a barrister he even said he does not know why my case is being fought and how any other reason than the defendants being at fault is strange.

My solicitors cannot say for definate I will win but they have told me that my case is very solid , in depth and every scenario is covered and every time my case is assessed to see what its direction is going it always comes back with full steam ahead, the CCTV footage owned by the defendants has gone missing now that had images of my accident in poorly lit surroundings and poor quality really but that was the defendants CCTV but my injury was so costly to me being self employed and the injury itself caused me to lose 3 months work and about £7000 in lost earnings not to mention the injury value.

I do not understand how these claims work but does anyone have any experience of the steps or what to expect next in my case now that preceedings have been issued to those on whose premises I got injured ? I do not understand why if the case is so seemingly clear would the defendants run up more and more costs and risk going to court to lose, surely their solicitors would advise them the likelihood of winning is minimal or is this cat and mouse game common ? I am on No Win No Fee and its taking ages now but these past few months things do seem to be rolling , any clues on how these claims work and what I could expect ?

many thanks

I agree with Geri1965 & Sandoval - you need to talk to your solicitors.

North_Star_2

Cheers guys , the barrister said to my solicitor something about a 100% win and something like "case is a plus yes" whatever that means, to be honest it will be interesting what evidence can be used to direct blame away from them but loopholes etc get found in the most straight forward seemingly cases i guess, my solicitor did say that the firms public liability insurers has sought an extension to consult their solicitor to prepare a defense but my solicitor did say that their solicitor may view my case and tell them to make an offer as its unwinnable or that they could get a split decision but no doubt whichever takes the longest will happen.

Pollycat

Have you asked your solicitors how the fact that the CCTV of your accident has gone missing will impact the strength of your case?

I'd see the fact that you're on a 'no win no fee' basis as a positive because I don't think these firms take on any old case.

Re the defendants fighting the case, I knew someone who was badly injured in a car accident where a vehicle crashed through the central reservation and hit their car. That went on for quite a long time and a financial settlement was only reached on the steps of the courthouse as they were going in for the case.

Hope it works out.

North_Star_2

Cheers pollycat , my solicitors has not lost the CCTV the defendants have but it was very poor quality yet it did prove I was were I said I was but the image was too dark and stop motion rather than second by second frame rate showed me getting hurt then being collected by colleagues to be taken to hospital, an ambulance was not contacted because my own hgv was still at the site and a colleague had to drive it back to my depot whilst colleague took me to hospital plus to be honest i am one of those people who think ambulances are better being used for the dangerously ill people and not taken up on someone like me who could get to hospital quicker with a colleague than waiting on an ambulance but all medical records were recorded and i arrived at casualty 30 mins after incident.

kazzah60

I am getting slightly frustrated with a P.I.C I have ongoing which is just over 30 months old , at present my solicitors have issued the firm I got hurt at with preceedings and now the defendants have responded with a request for extra time to build their defence , I cannot understand why the defendants are fighting my case as its clear as crystal what happened when I got hurt and when assessed by a barrister he even said he does not know why my case is being fought and how any other reason than the defendants being at fault is strange.


In my experience, extra time is always requested as a matter of course by the defendents - it doesn't mean they WILL defend your claim - it simply means they want ( and are entitled) to thoroughly investigate the claims your solicitor is making on your behalf - remember they cannot start to formulate a defence UNTIL they have read the claims made by your solcitor - it may well be that once they start to investigate from a legal point of view, that the defence solicitors advise the company to settle your claim - it is impossible to predict what their course of action will be at this stage
just because they have asked for time to investigate does NOT mean they will definitely defend the claim - but equally, they can defend it and are entitled to do so and nothing your solicitor or barrister says about whether your case is rock solid or not will affect their decision.

you need to be patient

North_Star_2

Thanks Kazzah good info : )