Advice on Personal Injury Claim

sianlouisa

I am in this situation in that I was involved in an accident where someone ploughed into the back of me on the M6, I have a company car which was written off, the company I work for have PI or legal, so their insurers said to go directly through the other parties insurance, I have and I've had a medical etc and they sent me an offer of £2200 for whiplash, upper and lower back injurys and injury to my hip, also psychological problems as a result (nightmares, fear of travel etc).

I thought this seemed low and though I'd consult a local injury solicitor, they have said this is low and want to take over the case send me for another medical. They want me to sign a CFA for no win no fee.

I worried that I will be hit with costs, and everyone I know is saying just take the £2200 as it will be much similar, what are your thoughts? The CFA says that I will pay back their fees and then can claim them back myself from the other parties insurance, but then in another document says they will get them back off the other party I sign both documents.

Just wanted some independent advice where you don't have an interest (ie the solicistors that will make money from my case)?

Many Thanks

p.s I know I'm going to get to people saying that I'm pushing up insurance premiums etc, I would prefer to not have had this happen to me and pay more for insurance, than to have had to go through what I have for the past 4 months with pain and fear of travel.

bengalknights

If you already have representation you would have to pay there fees.

sianlouisa

I don't have any representation I have spoken to the other parties insurance directly myself.

I also haven't signed anything for them apart from the form to have my medical records released.

In the letter they sent with the offer it said that I had the right to seek legal advice on the quote, which is what I did.

forgotmyname

Will an increased payout cure your fear of travel?

sianlouisa

No but the money will go in the bank for if I need any physio etc in the future.

I guess that was meant to be a negative comment.

If all I'm meant to get is £2200 then that's what I'll get.

But was it fair that at no fault of my own someone crashed into the rear drivers side of my car at speed and span my car pushing me across three lanes of traffic.

So no amount of money will stop the nightmares and anxiety I now have, but hopefully it will help me overcome the physical symptoms that I am feeling over it.

bris

£2200 may be seen as a fair offer, but it depends on the severity of it and how long it takes to recover. Your offer would be ok if you are better in a year, it scales up from there and if you suffer permanent injury through it it can go up to about 13k.
You may be able to negotiate a better offer, the threat of using a no win no fee would help push up that offer so hit them with a figure and negotiate from there.

Crazy_Jamie

The first thing to note would be that no one on here will be able to advise you as to the value of your injuries, and therefore the reasonableness of the offer, without knowing more details about the injuries (symptoms, prognosis etc). It is clearly a more complex multiple site injury compared to the majority of more standard whiplash injuries, and needs to be valued by a personal injury specialist who has had sight of a medical report.

Consequently it is a good idea to instruct a personal injury solicitor directly (not a claims management company) under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to represent you in this case. Simply put, you cannot be sure of securing a fair settlement here without specialist advice.

In relation to the terms of the CFA, it is entirely fair to say that they can appear lengthy and confusing to the average person. With regards to the costs, what essentially happens is this. Both sides will accumulate legal costs throughout the case. It is a general principle of civil litigation that the loser pays the winner's legal costs. If you lose, you don't have to pay your own solicitor's fees because they waiver any right to them under the CFA, and the liability that you will have to pay the other side's fees will be met by an ATE insurance policy that should be taken out by your solicitors on your behalf. As such, if you lose you shouldn't have to pay anything.

If, on the other hand, you win (which seems to be highly likely here), you generally won't have to pay the other side's costs. You would then have a personal liability to pay your solicitor's costs. However, following the basic principle with regards to costs, the other side (or more accurately their insurer) would be ordered by the Court to pay your solicitor's costs. Now, there are circumstances where you could potentially have to pay a small proportion of those costs. However, in most cases (e.g. where the damages and costs are settled in advance of trial) these circumstances do not arise, and even when they do some solicitors will simply not ask you to pay them directly. Individual CFAs and solicitors can differ in terms of their approach with regards to this, so the best thing to do would be to approach the solicitor directly and simply ask the blunt question as to what the circumstances would be in which they would ask you to pay some or all of their costs. They would be best placed to provide you with answers.

sianlouisa

I have sight of the medical it says that fear of driving was over in 4 weeks, this is not true as I'm still anxious when I drive now and try to avoid the motorway and my crash was December (what I said to the GP was that i got back in a car after 4 weeks), then whiplash and back pain will be gone in 9 months, but again it is still aggravating me now (but obviously the prognosis is 5 months away), and hip will be gone in 6 months but this is also still aggravating me at present. Nightmares would be gone within 6 months again these are still occuring, and these aren't normal dreams I wake with a jolt (like when you fall in a dream) when I have them.

I guess the thing is that the medical can only make an assumption and that's why you can take up to 3 years to claim.

I spoke to the solicitors firm today after reading the form and said that I was concerned and they said the fees would definitely be claimed back from the other party and that it would be quite straight forward as obviously thy have admitted liability already. However they did say about ATE insurance that they would take to cover them if the case went in the other parties favour. But obviously when you're signing a legal document you're always a little wary.

Crazy_Jamie

That's all straightforward about the CFA then. Nothing to worry about there.

There is always an element of educated guessing when it comes to medical experts putting forward a prognosis for an injury. It's not an exact science. You're still at an early stage with the accident only happening in December, so there isn't any harm in waiting until your symptoms have resolved, or at least significantly improved. As you have quite rightly said you have 3 years to bring a claim, so there's no rush.

sianlouisa

Thanks for all the advice, I will get my CFA sent off monday.