Injured in car accident - compensation?

angelahorn

Hello - I'd appreciate your advice. My dad has been injured in a car crash and it is clear that the other party was at fault. Tragically, the driver of the other car died. Dad is just grateful to be alive and so upset about the other person, and he doesn't really want to think about things like compensation. However, he's self-employed and does hard physical work and his life is going to be very difficult for a while. I wanted to find out about compensation for his injuries and lost earnings, but wondered if it was possible to do this without a) causing any further distress to the family of the other driver, and b) involving 'ambulance-chasing' claims firms. I don't know where to start as, no matter what web search terms I use, I just seem to get thousands of these no-win, no-fee firms. I would like to emphasise that there is no way he would want to profit from this tragedy, but I can see that his life is going to be pretty tough for the next few months.
Thank you for your time.

vaio

Your concern for the other drivers family is admirable but sadly won't pay the bills if your dad can't work.

For a couple of quid the MIB will tell you the other drivers insurance company (if you don't know it already).

Ring and discuss it with them. If they don't play ball then you have no choice but to go legal and the best way to do that is one of the no win no fee firms

angelahorn

Thank you Vaio, that's helpful. If he does end up having to use a claims handling firm, how on earth do you choose one?

Gothicfairy

Check your fathers insurance policy as he might have legal cover on it, ours came like that as standard so you might be able to use that for getting some advice.

As for choosing, is there nothing local to you ? There might be a local law firm that offer no win no fee ?

mikey72

Hard though it may be, it's not personal, and it is best to pursue the claim through a management company.
That way your father can be distant from the claim, and also the insurer will be more likely to come to the right settlement, as they will not try to offer a smaller amount to a claim management company, they will with yourself.

As to a good one, you could consider letting your insurer pursue it, or use the company they no doubt will be passing your details to anyway.

vaio

angelahorn wrote: »

Thank you Vaio, that's helpful. If he does end up having to use a claims handling firm, how on earth do you choose one?

Pretty much all of them pay referral fees to insurance companies etc, some of them will give the referral fee to you direct, a bit like cash back, so that's maybe as good a way as any of picking one.

I'd still contact the TP insurance company first though.

edited to add: the contacting the TP is to try and arrange replacement car etc to cover immediate difficulties, long term if there is serious injury involved you certainly need specialist legal advice


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McKneff

For the car itself, inform your own insurance company 'fOR INFORMATION ONLY' for the rest of it deal directly with the TP, this is much quicker and easier.

For the personal injury claim (if you dont get any help from TP insurance) ask your own insurance company for recommendattion.

Its not personal but your dad does need some income, if Dad has paid his NI up to date he should be able to claim ESA too.

Good luck,

sarahg1969

Alternatively, your father could just find a local solicitor who specialises in claims, without the need to go through an accident management company.

Crazy_Jamie

mikey72 wrote: »

Hard though it may be, it's not personal, and it is best to pursue the claim through a management company.

No, it isn't. It is best to go direct to a firm of solicitors. I realise that people generally often do not understand the difference between claims management companies and solicitors, but there is a very clear difference, and in matters such as this the claims management company will be little more than a middle man in the long run. So cut them out and go straight to a firm of solicitors.

For the record, 'no win no fee' (known as Conditional Fee Agreements officially) is a standard and entirely appropriate way to deal with this claim. So don't allow any preconceptions to make you hesitate about having your claim funded in that way; it would be the right way to proceed here.

The choice of solicitors is entirely down to you. You can search the web, ring your insurers and ask for recommendations, get recommendations from others, or wander down the high street. It really doesn't matter. But I would suggest that you secure legal representation sooner rather than later. If your father is going to struggle it may well be that an interim payment needs to be secured to avoid any financial hardship, and that is not something that you should deal with yourself. This can be a lengthy and complicated process depending on your father's situation. You need specialists involved.

McKneff

Please dont take offence, but if your username is your real name you would be advised to change it so that you are anonymous, same as the rest of us.

Good luck with your dad
Annie

angelahorn

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

I realise that people generally often do not understand the difference between claims management companies and solicitors, but there is a very clear difference, and in matters such as this the claims management company will be little more than a middle man in the long run. So cut them out and go straight to a firm of solicitors.

Thank you - that's the sort of thing I was worried about, but was finding it difficult to track down any info online.