Adjuster interview after accident, help please!

Chez87

Two months ago I had a collision with a cyclist and he broke his collarbone. It was completely my fault. The police attended and I notified my insurance company. Up until now I was under the impression the cyclist had not made a claim against me. I have now been contacted by the claims adjuster to arrange an interview.

My question is, does this mean a claim has been made, or is this just routine and happens after every accident?

dacouch

It's likely the cyclist is now claiming, it will be a fairly substantial amount he's claiming for so the Insurers will want to gather as much evidence so they can deal with the claim against you.

Chez87

Ok, so this is not done after every accident? The interview?

Sgt_Pepper_2

Chez87 wrote: »

Ok, so this is not done after every accident? The interview?

In a word no.

Chez87

Ok, thank you.

McKneff

Dont know if you realise but a claim can be made up to 6 years after an 'incident'

Crabman

McKneff wrote: »

Dont know if you realise but a claim can be made up to 6 years after an 'incident'

I believe it's three years for personal injury claims.

Sgt_Pepper_2

Crabman wrote: »

I believe it's three years for personal injury claims.

Correct.....

brat

I'm not particlarly versed in civil court procedure, but I often get asked to provide CI reports etc for civil cases, the most recent request being for an RTC nearly seven years ago in early 2006. This claim will be for life changing injury suffered by the claimant. Will this therefore have been rumbling on for four or more years, given the three year time limit on PI claims? If so, what will have been happening meantime?

sarahg1969

brat wrote: »

I'm not particlarly versed in civil court procedure, but I often get asked to provide CI reports etc for civil cases, the most recent request being for an RTC nearly seven years ago in early 2006. This claim will be for life changing injury suffered by the claimant. Will this therefore have been rumbling on for four or more years, given the three year time limit on PI claims? If so, what will have been happening meantime?

If it's a serious injury, it may be that the claimant is not treated as an adult for the purposes of making a claim. A child, for example, has until 3 years after they reach majority to make a claim. If someone sustains a serious injury that affects their cognitive ability, then the 3-year time limit will not begin to run until such time as they are capable of handling their own affairs (which may be never, of course).

These serious cases, even where there is no liability dispute, can take years and years to settle, because it's important to correctly value a claim. For example, look at claims for medical negligence made by children who are born with cerebral palsy. It quite common for their claims not to be settled until they are in their teens, because the final prognosis may not be known for many years.

brat

sarahg1969 wrote: »

If it's a serious injury, it may be that the claimant is not treated as an adult for the purposes of making a claim. A child, for example, has until 3 years after they reach majority to make a claim. If someone sustains a serious injury that affects their cognitive ability, then the 3-year time limit will not begin to run until such time as they are capable of handling their own affairs (which may be never, of course).

These serious cases, even where there is no liability dispute, can take years and years to settle, because it's important to correctly value a claim. For example, look at claims for medical negligence made by children who are born with cerebral palsy. It quite common for their claims not to be settled until they are in their teens, because the final prognosis may not be known for many years.

Thanks Sarah. The most recent case, (and the most historic I've been asked to report on) did indeed involve a 14 year old. That may well be the reason for the unusually extended time frame.
It is however quite standard for collision investigators not to get asked for evidence until three or four years after the event, which is a shame, because our initial data often remains in raw format if there is no criminal case to progress. This would inevitably affect the quality of any information provided - indeed we generally only offer photos, statements and raw data.
I often feel if the claimant's legal team could offer proper commercial rates for our reports, and requested them soonest, they would get a much better report from which to pursue proportional liability.