Whisplash claim and physiotherapy

arnold435

Hello guys, i got in the car accident a while ago and still suffer from neck pain. I made an insurance claim recently and my solicitors arranged medical examenations. In the medical report it is stated that i need to go to physiotherapy, and my solicitors insist on it. I would definitely go if i could, but i have very busy work and they require me to attend 8 sessions.... So i have several questions regarding my situation.

1. Is it so important to attend physio? My solicitors said offer can be much less if i don't go
2. My solicitors arranged physio somewhere in almost different town... Can i choose clinic myself? If so how does it work?
3. What does physio guys report to my solicitors afterwards? Do they say only if i attended it or also some medical stuff (like condition, another problems found, etc) ?

Thanks to everybody in advance, i am already tired of this, my solicitors are not discussing with me these issues and I really want all this to end and at least get some money for the all pain i got from this accident....

mum2one

Don't mean to come across rude but if I was offered physio I would grab it - to me ur post comes across as how much money can I get - if I go for physio - what will they tell - it comes across as money money money

Poppie68

arnold435 wrote: »

Hello guys, i got in the car accident a while ago and still suffer from neck pain. I made an insurance claim recently and my solicitors arranged medical examenations. In the medical report it is stated that i need to go to physiotherapy, and my solicitors insist on it. I would definitely go if i could, but i have very busy work and they require me to attend 8 sessions.... So i have several questions regarding my situation.

1. Is it so important to attend physio? My solicitors said offer can be much less if i don't go
2. My solicitors arranged physio somewhere in almost different town... Can i choose clinic myself? If so how does it work?
3. What does physio guys report to my solicitors afterwards? Do they say only if i attended it or also some medical stuff (like condition, another problems found, etc) ?

Thanks to everybody in advance, i am already tired of this, my solicitors are not discussing with me these issues and I really want all this to end and at least get some money for the all pain i got from this accident....

Why on earth wouldn't you want to attend physio if you are in so much pain?

Solicitors advise and arrange physio purely because it boosts a pay out, and of course the physio will submit a medical report because it is evidence of an injury.

Aretnap

"Dear insurers. You owe me lots of money because I'm in great pain. But not so much pain that I'm willing to take time off work in order to do something about it."

Yes, I can see how that might affect the payout.

OnanTheBarbarian

You have medical evidence in support of your case from the independent medical report, so your solicitors should be able to value the claim and move the case towards settlement.

If treatment has been recommended, they will be advising you to attend this in order to try and make sure you recover within the predicted recovery period in the prognosis section of the report. But also, by having you attend treatment, you can't then be criticised later on for not assisting with your own recovery.

Claims for injury compensation are valued based on the nature of injury, the effect the injuries have on your life and the length of time you will take to recover.

So if you have say a 6 month prognosis for a whiplash injury, the sols can value the claim. You then decide if you wish to settle now or hold out until the prognosis expires. If the prognosis expires in say February and you settle now, if the injuries were still ongoing in march, you may have under-settled the value of your claim.

But if you hold out and are still suffering in march and have not settled, the solicitor would need to get you re-examined and an updated prognosis. If you did not attend the treatment and needed to be re-examined in march, there is a good chance the insurers will allege you have failed to mitigate your position by not having the recommended treatment and they could argue they should not be liable to compensate you for an increased length of suffering as it could have been avoided by following the recommended medical advice.

1. Is it so important to attend physio? My solicitors said offer can be much less if i don't go It is recommended you attend, but it probably would not reduce the value of your claim if you were to settle now, only if you held out to the end of the prognosis and then needed a further medical report
2. My solicitors arranged physio somewhere in almost different town... Can i choose clinic myself? If so how does it work? Usually they make arrangements for you via a treatment agency, so much depends on which physio clinics are on the panel of the agency. Your alternative would be to self-fund your own treatment with a physiotherapist of your choice, keep the receipts and ask your solicitor to include them within your claim
3. What does physio guys report to my solicitors afterwards? Do they say only if i attended it or also some medical stuff (like condition, another problems found, etc) ? If the solicitor appointed physio is used, they will usually send a discharge report confirming how many sessions attended etc

Hope that helps

Nasqueron

If it helps, I was hit by a car while cycling. I put in a claim against the driver's insurance and they offered me physio through their own provider. I had a chat with the insurer and they advised that the recommended process was to be reasonable with costs but were ok with me arranging my own physio at a suitable location (as my gym is also a private health provider I was able to get sessions for less than the insurers would be billed by their preferred provider and at a location convenient to me, at times convenient for me) - it helped the recovery and their insurance will cover the costs once the damage claim is settled.

arnold435

OnanTheBarbarian
Thanks a lot. This really good and constructive answer if i go to my own choosen physio provider, will only invoice be enough?

And in general, my pain length is 10month in report, in reality could be longer obviously, solicitor saying without physio it can be only 1000pounds, is it the case? ...

Nasqueron
Thanks man for sharing your experience

MoneyMission2015

arnold435 wrote: »

OnanTheBarbarian
Thanks a lot. This really good and constructive answer if i go to my own choosen physio provider, will only invoice be enough?

And in general, my pain length is 10month in report, in reality could be longer obviously, solicitor saying without physio it can be only 1000pounds, is it the case? ...

Nasqueron
Thanks man for sharing your experience

Check with the insurance company BEFORE you go to a physio of your own choice, otherwise you could pay for the session and they might tell you they're not paying for it. Better to check first than be caught out with these costs.


I have also been in a car accident before, where somebody went in to the back of my car. I had to have physio and I highly recommend it. I was in a lot of pain and actually had to take some time off work because of it, but after just a few physio sessions and doing some of the daily exercises that the physio recommended, the pain drastically reduced. So it is beneficial. The physio I had to go to was out of my way but to me the end result was worth the travel time and I was lucky that where I worked were happy to let me finish an hour earlier one day a week to get there because they knew in the long run it would be better for me and for them.

OnanTheBarbarian

I deal with RTA PI claims for a living, but it is difficult to be precise as to the value of your claim without knowing all the facts and issues that surround it, together with the full medical report contents.

However, a whiplash/ soft tissue injury with a predicted recovery period of 10 months is worth cica £3k, so either your solicitor is full of it, or they have a vested interest in the physio taking place due to some form of kick back from the treatment agency.

I would expect to get £1k for a 1 month period of suffering.

But I repeat, without having full knowledge of what is on your solicitor's file of papers it is difficult to be 100% precise with any advice or guidance here.

Speak with your solicitor about using your own physio, but in general, either treatment reciepts from the physio will usually be sufficient.

My recommendation would be arrange your own physio, have 2 or 3 sessions to see if you notice improvement and then decide if you want to try and settle the claim then, or wait until you have have up to 8 sessions of treatment before settling.

arnold435

Thank you guys a lot, especially OnanTheBarbarian!

TBagpuss

out of interest, did you see your own GP at all? I have been involved in a couple of accidents resulting in injury and each tim, I saw my own GP and was referred to physio via them, so didn't pay for it as it was NHS

The doctor who I saw for a report then recommended I saw a chiropractor and I was able to chose who to see. In my case the insurance paid for those sessions. Provided that the practice you want to go to is no more exensive thn the one the solicitor or insurer is suggesting there is no reason why you should not be able to agree with them to use someone of your own choice.