Can I claim for injuries after claim already settled?

rileydog

Background: I was involved in a non-fault collision in May last year. The other driver admitted liability and my car was repaired. At the time of the collision my knee was sore and the day after my neck/back were sore so I reported it to the Police as I know you have to report injury collisions by law.

I didn't go to the Doctors and didn't make any claim for injuries at all as they seemed fairly minor. Fast forward 11 months and my neck and back are constantly achy and I have 'clicky bits' in my neck! I've never had any issues with my neck/back until the collision so can only atribute it to the crash.

Is it possible to claim for injuries even after a claim for the damage to the car has already been settled?

alistair.long

Hi,

Do you mean the claim for car damages has been settled?
If so was it settled at court? if settled in court you cannot make a claim as far as I know.
Do you have the letter from the solicitor wich came with the cheque for repair? this will indicate what the figure was for.

rileydog

Thanks for the reply, have edited my first post to make it clear but yes - the claim for the damage to teh car has been settled. Nothing ever went to court and I never paid any money out myself for the repairs as the other party admitted full liability so I claimed for the damage to my car through my insurance company (Tesco). They wrote to me a few days after the car was repaired notifying me that the claim was closed as the other persons insurers (RSA) had paid them.

If it's relevent the repairs were around £1500, I also had a hire car from Drive Assist at a ridiculous cost which the other persons insurers paid for too - not sure of exact amounts but think that was nearly £1000!

alistair.long

Contact a No win No fee Solicitor, let them know that you have been paid for the car but not for Personal Injury, and that you have comprehensive so insurance paid before getting paid.

If you have difficulty in getting a No win no fee solicitor, I can assist you, simpy private message me

Quentin

alistair.long wrote: »

If you have difficulty in getting a No win no fee solicitor, I can assist you, simpy private message me

Using the pm system to get round the site rules to solicit business is just cynical rule breaking by an ambulance chaser.

Don't give him any personal details at all via pm!

geri1965_2

OP, it is possible to claim now but you might have an uphill struggle in proving that the symptoms you are suffering from now can be attributed to the accident, if you didn't see your GP at the time.

Have you been to your GP since and told him what you think the cause of your symptoms was? That would help. Alternatively the insurers might be prepared to deal with your claim on the basis of a statement from you - I've done this before, although it is a little uncommon.

rileydog

geri1965 wrote: »

OP, it is possible to claim now but you might have an uphill struggle in proving that the symptoms you are suffering from now can be attributed to the accident, if you didn't see your GP at the time.

Have you been to your GP since and told him what you think the cause of your symptoms was? That would help. Alternatively the insurers might be prepared to deal with your claim on the basis of a statement from you - I've done this before, although it is a little uncommon.

I haven't been to see a Doctor about it as there's not anything they can really do for a sore back I don't think? I'm not in agony and can still do everyday tasks it's just that I have this clicky thing in my neck and a constantly achy upper back.

Would the fact that I reported it to the Police (the next day) as an injury collision help? At least that way they can see I'm not inventing injuries months down the line!

geri1965_2

It might, but it depends whether they made a record of it or not.

There's no harm in approaching the other party's insurers and asking them if they would be prepared to consider it, on the basis that if you go to a solicitor and get a medical report, it will cost them two or three times what they might have to pay you if they settle it with you privately.

It really depends on who is dealing with it and whether you come across to them as genuine.

Evilm

rileydog wrote: »

I haven't been to see a Doctor about it as there's not anything they can really do for a sore back I don't think? I'm not in agony and can still do everyday tasks it's just that I have this clicky thing in my neck and a constantly achy upper back.

Would the fact that I reported it to the Police (the next day) as an injury collision help? At least that way they can see I'm not inventing injuries months down the line!

You at least need to see your doctor before seeking anything.

rileydog

Evilm wrote: »

You at least need to see your doctor before seeking anything.

I'm quite happy to go to the Doctors, was just clarifying in my previous post the reason that I hadn't been since the accident happened ie don't really think there's anything they can do to help

If it was not possible to pursue an injury claim after a repair claim has been settled then I'd be wasting both my time and the Doctors which was why I started the thread really, to see if a second claim was excluded. I wouldn't expect an insurer to pay out for injuries months after a collision on my word only that my neck has clicky bits and I have a constantly sore back, there'd be a very large queue if they paid out without medical evidence!

The Police took a written report of the collision and it was detailed in that report that I had hurt my knee, back and neck. They wrote to me a few months later saying the other driver had been given a warning for careless driving or something similar. At the time I ddin't expect I would still be affected by the neck/back thing some 11 months later so it didn't even enter my head to try and claim for injuries.

geri1965_2

Well, I don't think you have anything to lose by trying. Tell them it will be mentioned in the police report, and it's up to them if they apply for one or not (you have to pay for them and they can take a long time to obtain). As I said before, I've dealt with injury claims from people who haven't seen a doctor on the basis of a written statement from them, because it is entirely feasible that someone can be injured and not go to see their doctor. Obviously it's an indication that the injury isn't very serious, so the amount I settled it for was not a huge amount of money.