Defendant's Solicitors Granted Application for Medical Evidence

Saversue

alistair.long wrote: »

You don't realy have a option, the defendants can examine you to verify that you are recovering etc. You should therfore co-operate and give him the reports so he can make his report like the others. If the new expert makes a report which is to diffrent, you can then get re-examined again by a diffrent doctor by your solicitors to verify who is wrong.

If they disagree with your report they will want to conduct their own.

You should comply as failure to do so may not rule in your favour, the judge will look at the evidence and he will make his own judgement.

Once the medical is generated by the defendants you are intitled to have a look and make some amendments so that it is correct.

And as you are getting examined before court their expert may say you will recover sooner to reduce the settlement, hence why you may want to do another report after.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, yes I have complied and seen their "Medical Expert" and will look at the report very carefully when I receive it.
Good information about me; maybe getting another report after that.

Crazy_Jamie

To be fair it is unlikely that further reports will now be obtained unless the Defendant's examination has thrown up new issues. The more likely scenario if the expert reports are at odds is that the Court will direct that they prepare a joint report setting out the areas of agreement and the areas of dispute.

It may well be that the Defendant is keen to settle; the Defendant obtaining a separate medical report certainly doesn't mean that they will definitely run the case all the way to trial. It can be as simple as them wanting a second opinion to ensure that the settlement is fair, or them using a further medical report as a potential basis to negotiate if it turns out to be favourable to them. So settlement may well still be in the mind of the Defendant's insurer.

costaerer

over what amount is it a 'high value case'

Crazy_Jamie

costaerer wrote: »

over what amount is it a 'high value case'

The obvious answer is £25,000, being the multi track threshold. Obviously each side can have their own expert in lower value cases than that, and higher value cases than that can often be settled without the need for multiple experts. But generally speaking injuries of greater complexity (in terms of diagnosis and/or prognosis) will be valued higher, and consequently there is a greater chance of both sides being granted permission for their own experts in one or more (often several more when you start talking about catastrophic injuries) areas.

To clarify, in the context of this thread I'm not suggesting that the OP's case is worth anywhere near £25,000. But with the injury lasting at least three years her case will be above the vast majority of whiplash cases seen on this board and in general, which are often under £5,000.

costaerer

OP doesn't actually state if the claim is for the compensation or for gratuitous care.

EDIT- I say that, as i have started proceedings for compensation for a whiplash injury sustained nearly 3 years ago. I get a lot of pain, cant stand up for long periods of time and stops me doing quite a lot of physical activity. Have had a lot of physio and its still pretty bad, so the consultant has basically said my problems are indefinite.

Any there is normally a 'set' figure for whiplash or other injury claims, based on length of time for healing. eg My injury is indefinite from 2.5 yrs ago- should get between £6000 and £9000. Which isn't a high value claim...

Gratuitous care on the other hand...........

Crazy_Jamie

costaerer wrote: »

OP doesn't actually state if the claim is for the compensation or for gratuitous care.

In reality it will be either for the former or for both. The reason being that if the parties have reached a settlement on general damages it is highly unlikely that gratuitous care would be a sticking point to the level where it necessitates a re examination by a Defendant medical expert.

On a side note, you are mixing up terminology in distinguishing between 'compensation' and 'gratuitous care'. I'll clarify below.

costaerer wrote:

EDIT- I say that, as i have started proceedings for compensation for a whiplash injury sustained nearly 3 years ago. I get a lot of pain, cant stand up for long periods of time and stops me doing quite a lot of physical activity. Have had a lot of physio and its still pretty bad, so the consultant has basically said my problems are indefinite.

Any there is normally a 'set' figure for whiplash or other injury claims, based on length of time for healing. eg My injury is indefinite from 2.5 yrs ago- should get between £6000 and £9000. Which isn't a high value claim...

Gratuitous care on the other hand...........

I think you misunderstood my post regarding value. The £25,000 multi track limit is not a limit solely for general damages (i.e. for the injury). It is for everything, including loss of earnings, gratuitous care, and any of the many other things that can make up a claim for compensation. So 'compensation' is a general term that refers to the total damages paid to someone. Damages for the injury itself are 'general' damages, whilst losses such as loss of earnings are 'special' damages. So depending on how extensive your claim is for things such as loss of earnings and gratuitous care, your claim may well be at multi track level.

Just to answer your one direct point, the closest that you can get to 'set' amounts are through the JSB Guidelines, though as the name suggests these are guidelines. Valuing higher value injury claims is a matter of expertise, experience, and potentially research to look for similar cases. So no, there is nothing that states directly how much a set amount will be. It is not that straightforward. There are, however, guidelines, which should allow you to at least get a rough idea of your range of damages for the injury itself.

costaerer

I dont see how you can stick an amount as such on a claim. Yes they have to set guidelines for the actually physical/mental damage, but the care side of it can differ so much!

Dont really understand what a 'multi track limit' is....

Thanks

Crazy_Jamie

costaerer wrote: »

I dont see how you can stick an amount as such on a claim. Yes they have to set guidelines for the actually physical/mental damage, but the care side of it can differ so much!

Dont really understand what a 'multi track limit' is....

Thanks

There are three different 'tracks' in civil litigation to which a case may be allocation; small claims, fast track and multi track. Allocation is done usually simply through valuation, though not always. Case management on each track is done differently to facilitate cases of different values. In practice as a client rather than a solicitor you don't need to worry about allocation and such. I only referenced the multi track limit to give a tangible measure to the point I was making earlier.

You don't have to value a claim exactly when issuing it. Indeed, doing so would be impossible. But personal injury solicitors will have sufficient experience to know which 'track' a case falls in to. So the value of the claim as stated on the claim form will be broad enough to facilitate that. For example, plenty of multi track claims simply state the value as being 'in excess of £25,000', whereas fast track claims state the value as 'in excess of £5,000 but limited to £25,000'. So it's not an exact valuation.

In terms of the case reaching a conclusion, not only can you place a value on a claim, but you have to for it to reach a conclusion, be that a settlement or at trial. Yes, with more complex claims figuring out exactly how much care there will be, either gratuitous or otherwise, is difficult. That is one of many areas where pinning exact figures down is difficult. But in those cases the Court simply looks at the evidence before it and does the best that it can in the circumstances. Cases have to reach conclusions eventually, and being unable to place valuations on claims would hardly be a satisfactory conclusion.

sp1987

Your solicitor really should be explaining matters clearly to you, and you should be asking them these questions. That is what they are there for. If you are on a CFA this is even more pertinent as you are not paying by the hour.

Saversue

costaerer wrote: »

I dont see how you can stick an amount as such on a claim. Yes they have to set guidelines for the actually physical/mental damage, but the care side of it can differ so much!

Dont really understand what a 'multi track limit' is....

Thanks

Just to clarify, my claim is for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; Prolapsed Discs have had two MRI scans and lots of treatment including Nerve Blocks and resulting complications meaning I have Foot Drop, Nerve Damage and Sciatica; which meaning my mobility is severely limited and am in constant pain ( Surgery will not cure the problems) I also suffered Whiplash.
I have never been told what my expected claim should be for, or what type of claim it is, but presume it is multi track.
The PTSD means I am now terrified of driving or any form of transport even though I have had CBT treatment and I am limited to travelling more than a couple of miles from my home.