Injured in car accident - compensation?

Crazy_Jamie

angelahorn wrote: »

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

I'm not surprised. Personal injury claims are big business, so searching for any objective information about it online inevitably brings up a raft of advertising from such firms. Hopefully answers you get from this thread will turn out to be more useful, so do feel free to ask any more questions that you have at this stage.

mikey72

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

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.

A claim management will have it's own solicitors who specialise in accident and injury claims day in day out, if they need to pursue it that far. Most insurers just pay up before then if they get a claim from such companies.
You may think a solicitor sounds more impressive initially, but a decent insurer will run rings around one who may have been doing nothing but conveyancing for the last twenty years.

bouncydog1

If you go direct to a solicitor try to choose a firm that has people with different specialist backgrounds e.g. you wouldn't necessarilly use a commercial specialist for a family law matter. You should be able to find one with relevant skills by looking at the firm's website for starters.

Yorkie1

Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has accredited / specialist solicitors
http://www.apil.org.uk/

Crazy_Jamie

mikey72 wrote: »

A claim management will have it's own solicitors who specialise in accident and injury claims day in day out, if they need to pursue it that far. Most insurers just pay up before then if they get a claim from such companies.
You may think a solicitor sounds more impressive initially, but a decent insurer will run rings around one who may have been doing nothing but conveyancing for the last twenty years.

Obviously I would only ever recommend that the OP instructs a specialist personal injury solicitor, hence my statement in my original post that they need specialists involved. Your implication that the OP could end up instructing a conveyancing specialist is just scaremongering; if a specialist firm or specialist solicitor is instructed the OP should receive a more than adequate service from the start.

On the other hand, claims management companies do not necessarily have in house solicitors who would become involved in the OP's case. Many claims management companies have a panel of solicitors that they refer cases to once they reach a certain stage. Even for those that do have in house solicitors, the day to day handling of the case will likely not be overseen by a solicitor, and may indeed be done by someone who is not legally trained and/or qualified at all. Why would the OP choose to have her father's case handled in such a way when she can cut out the middle man and go straight to a specialist solicitor? Insurers are no more likely to settle a case brought by a claims management company than a firm of solicitors, and if the case runs for any length of time the instruction of a specialist solicitor will prevent the case being passed from pillar to post as it would be with a claims management company.

angelahorn

Thank you very much to everyone who has replied. My dad has been contacted by a solicitor working with his insurers - seems like they have associated, or in-house, people working on this. I think he's happy to go with them and, given his current stress levels, it seems sensible. I feel a lot better informed about the whole issue after reading these responses; thank you all for taking the time to answer.