ADVICE NEEDED, plse, on PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM.

lew

My friend is about to pursue a personal injury claim and any sensible advice will be appreciated.
She was knocked down by a CARELESS driver and sustained many injuries including broken ankle and leg that cannot take ANY weight for weeks/months, and bruises all over, whiplash, extreme pain etc!! Quite horrific. As neither she nor I have ever done this before I thought it would be good to garner advice from any of you who have done this or KNOW the legal system.
ANY RUDE OR unhelpful comments will be reported.
MANY THANKS in advance to all genuine help, LINDA

mattymoo

Sorry to hear of her accident. How far along is she with her recovery?

A few thoughts, in no particular order.

See doctor / record all injuries so that there is a record.

Tell her to keep a record of all expenses incurred and receipts. e.g. bus, taxi, prescriptions, physio / osteopathy etc.

What is situation re loss of earnings? Is she likely to keep her job, perhaps with light duties?

Has a solicitor been appointed yet? No-Win No-Fee should be last resort. Consider legal expenses cover on her motor or household insurance policies or better still, union membership. Union legal representation is amongst the best you can get.

lisyloo

Hi Linda,

Do you have details of the driver? Do they have insurance.
Were there witnesses to support her side of the story.

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious but there need to be someone to claim against and they need to have the means to pay e.g. insurance.

My Father-in-law was involved in an accident with a pedestrian (who he claims ran out in front of the car) and my experience is that the benefit of the doubt is with the pedestrian.

If there's someone to claim from who has the means to pay then Iit sounds like she has a good case.
Sorry if I'm stating the obvious but unfortunately if the person drives off, can't be found or doesn't have any insurance or money then there's no-one to claim off.

Good Luck

mattymoo

The MIB would step in then under the Untraced Drivers Agreement - compensation for injury victims of hit and run motorists.

lisyloo

The MIB would step in then under the Untraced Drivers Agreement - compensation for injury victims of hit and run motorists.

Thanks for the info.
Do they also step in under all other circumstances e.g. the person is known but isn't insured and has no money.

mattymoo

Yes, there are two types of agreement, the Uninsured and Untraced.
Motor Insurers Bureau is a fund of last resort, paid for via a levy on insurance companies (who in turn pass cost onto policyholders).

MIB will compensate victims of uninsured motorists for injuries and property damage (subject to excess on property).

They will compensate victims of hit and run untraced drivers for injuries only. This is to prevent people pranging their own car and then claiming an untraced vehicle did the damage.

Out of interest, the MIB will attempt recovery of money paid from the uninsured motorist if they have assetts such as a house.

See www.mib.org.uk for info.

lew

PLEASE, will you stick to my original question? If you wish to discuss other aspects of this that are not the main issue,which I requested, will you please start your own thread.
My friend is not in work, the guy does have car insuranec as far as I know. There were no witnesses to the incident.
THANKS, LINDA

VERY SORRY, I have been told this sounds rude. I DID NOT MEAN TO BE

olly300

lew wrote: »

PLEASE, will you stick to my original question? If you wish to discuss other aspects of this that are not the main issue,which I requested, will you please start your own thread.
My friend is not in work, the guy does have car insuranec as far as I know. There were no witnesses to the incident.
THANKS, LINDA

Why are you being rude to other posters?

You didn't state in your original post that the guy has insurance. The other posters are stating clearly what to do if the guy doesn't have insurance.

(And yes you are welcome to report me.)

lew

I apolagise to you all, I did not know I sounded rude, AND DID NOT MEAN TO BE. I am very sorry. In fact I said please so that i did not sound rude. I think also I did not understand some of what was said and thus thought it was off topic. I often read threads where many seem to have gone off the main point, and the discussion takes a completely different turn.
I am grateful to help given.
I mentioned about reporting as I have read other threads where some are abusive if they disagree with one's view point.
THANK YOU, LINDA

Woodylab

I don't know why people say avoid no win no fee companies some of the people offering that are very good. My sister had a claim following a car accident and used a solicitor Accident Claims Countrywide. She found the experience very good and hassle free. I would consult a solicitor if I were you. www.accidentclaimscountrywide.co.uk if you need info

Polar

I have never understood why people use claims companies - go to www.apil.co.uk

these are specialists you can put in your postcode and it will tell you whih is the closest one to you

Hope it goes well!!