Car insurance injury compensation

AppleChai

I was involved in an accident that was the other driver's fault. When talking to their insurer the representative asked if my passenger and I had been injured, which we have. She took the details of our injuries (luckily nothing major, thank god for seatbelts) and said they would call in a few weeks to make us an offer, or arrange for us get a medical if we were still suffering.

I'm sure we will be fine in two weeks as it's only deep bruising, cuts and grazes. Has anyone received compensation for something similar, and could give me an idea of how much we may be offered? Can we claim separately for the time my passenger (my husband) has had to take off work, or will that be included in the sum they offer him?

As long as we're not left out of pocket I'll be happy with any amount, I just want an idea of what we can expect so we can put it towards a new car (old one is a write off).

Thanks

tasticz

see a no win no fee solicitor for your injury only they can give you the best advice

you can claim for all uninsured losses from third party that occurred due to this accident

BethanyD

Just a few points:-

1. You can each make a seperate compensation claim with a solicitor
2. They will arrange a hire car for you if necessary
3. They will arrange a doctor to examine you both to determine the extent of your injuries
4. Your likely payout (if sufficiently injured) will be around £2000 each of which the solicitor will take up to 25%
5. Only go to a specialist firm

Good Luck


B

AppleChai wrote: »

I was involved in an accident that was the other driver's fault. When talking to their insurer the representative asked if my passenger and I had been injured, which we have. She took the details of our injuries (luckily nothing major, thank god for seatbelts) and said they would call in a few weeks to make us an offer, or arrange for us get a medical if we were still suffering.

I'm sure we will be fine in two weeks as it's only deep bruising, cuts and grazes. Has anyone received compensation for something similar, and could give me an idea of how much we may be offered? Can we claim separately for the time my passenger (my husband) has had to take off work, or will that be included in the sum they offer him?

As long as we're not left out of pocket I'll be happy with any amount, I just want an idea of what we can expect so we can put it towards a new car (old one is a write off).

Thanks

rudekid48

BethanyD wrote: »

Just a few points:-

1. You can each make a seperate compensation claim with a solicitor
2. They will arrange a hire car for you if necessary
3. They will arrange a doctor to examine you both to determine the extent of your injuries
4. Your likely payout (if sufficiently injured) will be around £2000 each of which the solicitor will take up to 25%
5. Only go to a specialist firm

Good Luck


B

How exactly have you come to that conclusion? Are you qualified to diagnose the extent of injuries from a forum post??

InsideInsurance

AppleChai wrote: »

Can we claim separately for the time my passenger (my husband) has had to take off work, or will that be included in the sum they offer him?

Why has he had to take off?

Loss of earnings is a separate claim to personal injury however you may end up with a "global" offer that covers all the things you are claiming for without a breakdown of amounts for each one, eg if you claimed injury, medical treatment, physio, a temporary home help, loss of earnings etc you may get an offer against each one or a single number to cover all of them.

If it is not injury related then it will be a question of (a) did he actually lose money or just had to use up holiday and (b) was it justifyable to take the time off or could it have it been dealt with in lunchtimes/ after hours/ weekends etc

tberry6686

It may be worthwhile just sticking with the 3rd party insurer for this rather than lose cash to an ambulance chaser.

This is what we did last year when the missus had an accident. The insurer (Directline) was pretty easy to deal with. she recieved her compensation within 2 months of the accident at a figure we were more than happy with. It has been suggested that the 3rd party insurers may pay ouit slightly more if an ambulance chaser is not involved as they don't have legal fee's to pay.

[Deleted User]

Yeah, no point throwing money away on a parasite, sorry personal injury lawyer. It sounds like they are going to make you a reasonable offer. Wait and see what they say, then device if it is reasonable.

All your costs should be covered, like loss of income due to time off work. You should get some compensation for suffering too. Without knowing how bad your injuries are it is hard to say how much you are looking at, but with two of you involved it will be enough to buy a new car.

Crazy_Jamie

BethanyD wrote: »

Just a few points:-

1. You can each make a seperate compensation claim with a solicitor
2. They will arrange a hire car for you if necessary
3. They will arrange a doctor to examine you both to determine the extent of your injuries
4. Your likely payout (if sufficiently injured) will be around £2000 each of which the solicitor will take up to 25%
5. Only go to a specialist firm

Good Luck


B

You do not have sufficient information in this thread to value the injuries with this level of accuracy. Indeed, if the extent of the injuries is superficial bruising, cuts and grazes, your figure is likely to be far too high.

tberry6686 wrote:

It has been suggested that the 3rd party insurers may pay ouit slightly more if an ambulance chaser is not involved as they don't have legal fee's to pay.

Whilst I have no doubt that there have been occasions where insurers have made slightly increased offers in those circumstances, generally speaking it is not especially wise to trust insurers to accurately value injuries where no solicitor is involved. When it comes to personal injury claims it should be remembered that the number one priority for insurers is to save money, and that doesn't change just because there isn't a solicitor on the other side. For minor injuries it may well be perfectly appropriate to go to the insurer directly as the amounts involved may be relatively nominal in any event, especially if they offer an amount that the person is happy with. But for injuries of any severity it is generally a good idea to instruct a solicitor to ensure that you are getting a fair valuation.

tberry6686 wrote:

It may be worthwhile just sticking with the 3rd party insurer for this rather than lose cash to an ambulance chaser.

DELETED USER wrote:

Yeah, no point throwing money away on a parasite, sorry personal injury lawyer.

Plenty of perfectly competent personal injury solicitors still do not take any damages from a successful client. As such there is no reason why the OP or anybody else considering pursuing a personal injury claim should feel pressured into instructing a solicitor that insists on taking a percentage of damages, and therefore no reason why they should lose anything to their solicitor.

In cases of any severity I would generally advise to instruct a personal injury solicitor. However, in cases of minor injury, and a few scrapes and bruises resolving within a couple of weeks would, relatively speaking, be minor, that's not strictly necessary. Litigation can be protracted and stressful, even where liability is admitted, so there is some merit in the idea of dealing with insurers quickly and directly in more minor cases.

In terms of injury valuation, it's very difficult to say with any sort of accuracy without knowing how long your injuries take to resolve and the specifics of those injuries. Minor cuts and bruises lasting for two weeks that otherwise haven't affected your day to day life would be valued perhaps in the region of £500, though I will stress that that is a very rough and ready figure. I note that your husband took some time off work, so it may be that his injuries are a little more serious than I'm giving credit for. If you do want to come back to this thread in a week or so when you have a better idea of how your injuries have progressed it may be that I can give a slightly more definitive valuation, though in any event a valuation over the internet with no medical report will always run the risk of being inaccurate.

As has already been said, the final figure should take into account out of pocket expenses such as loss of earnings providing those expenses are attributable to the accident or your injuries. Bear that in mind when considering any offer made by the insurer.

AppleChai

Thanks everyone for the replies. Whilst I know some injuries don't make themselves apparent immediately, and whilst we're both in a lot of pain, it seems like we won't be left with any lasting damage.

The main injury for both of us is deep bruising from impact into the seatbelts, which did their job incredibly well. My husband's was sufficiently bad that they thought his sternum might be broken and took x-rays, though luckily it was intact.

I also have bruising on my knee and foot where the engine was compressed and the structure of the car warped in and hit my body, and a pretty horrible cut/graze on my elbow (I assume from it banging into the car door?) which has become infected. I have a desk job so I haven't had to take any time off work, but my husband has a physical job and the doctor declared him unfit for work for at least a week. The insurer has told him to send in a pay slip and the doctor's note and they will cover his wages for the week, so I assume this will be separate to the compensation for pain.

I think the pain will disappear over the next few weeks and the bruising will fade within a month. I'm not looking for a huge payout, I'll be overjoyed if we get enough to cover the cost of the car I just bought at £999!

InsideInsurance

AppleChai wrote: »

The insurer has told him to send in a pay slip and the doctor's note and they will cover his wages for the week, so I assume this will be separate to the compensation for pain.

I think the pain will disappear over the next few weeks and the bruising will fade within a month. I'm not looking for a huge payout, I'll be overjoyed if we get enough to cover the cost of the car I just bought at £999!

The car itself is a separate claim, make sure they are aware you had just bought it and send a copy of the invoice to evidence the price paid.

Loss of Earnings will be separate from PSLA but would be net of any sick pay he got - ie they need to pay the shortfall so the total salary received is the same as normal

AppleChai

Crazy_Jamie wrote: »

In terms of injury valuation, it's very difficult to say with any sort of accuracy without knowing how long your injuries take to resolve and the specifics of those injuries. Minor cuts and bruises lasting for two weeks that otherwise haven't affected your day to day life would be valued perhaps in the region of £500, though I will stress that that is a very rough and ready figure. I note that your husband took some time off work, so it may be that his injuries are a little more serious than I'm giving credit for. If you do want to come back to this thread in a week or so when you have a better idea of how your injuries have progressed it may be that I can give a slightly more definitive valuation, though in any event a valuation over the internet with no medical report will always run the risk of being inaccurate.

I just thought I'd update to say you were spot on and they offered me £500 for the injuries, which I've taken.

My husband's were worse than mine so his figure hasn't been settled yet, although they are sending out a cheque to cover his wages for the three weeks he took off (as he was declared not fit to work by his GP).