*Fractured foot* OFFER - Accept/Decline?

ModestWisdom

Hi everyone,

I've had a foot fracture nearly 3 years ago. My solicitor seems like a really wise person who knows exactly what they're talking about. The solicitor has never overlooked anything and always seems to be on point so I do trust their judgement. However the defendant's offer does seem to be very tempting... but then again - if they were to offer more it would truly go a long way.

TL;DR - Got offered £3K for the injury claim alone (excluding expenses). My solicitor valued my claim for the injuries between £4 - £5K. I've lost approx. £979 whilst I was unable to work, so the total offer that the defendant has given me is £4,000 (my solicitor was expecting £5000 - £6000 including loss of earnings of course).

My solicitor's own words below:
"As you are aware, I had valued your claim for injuries between £4000 and £5000. On the basis of the recovery anticipated in the medical report and other evidence in support of your losses, it is my advice that this offer is unreasonable and could therefore be rejected."

She mentioned a few other things as well but I don't want to write too much to save you all a bit of time.

Quentin

Follow your solicitors advice rather than any you get in a forum like this

ModestWisdom

I like to keep my options open, besides the people on the forum might be able to offer their own experiences among other useful information. This isn't exactly something that I do on a daily basis so it would be great to get as much advice as possible, but thank you for a swift response Quentin

agrinnall

There's no chance that you will ever be able to give us as much information as your solicitor has, so it would be folly to do anything other than accept their advice.

ModestWisdom

Okay let me rephrase my statement/question then - if I choose not to accept this offer, what would happen in that case? Yes my solicitor did sort of explain it but it's not crystal clear. And yes I will ask her about this as well but once again - I would simply like to hear some other advice/opinions.

Quentin

When you are paying a solicitor (directly or indirectly) you are perfectly in order to ensure you understand everything that is discussed - so don't worry about telling your sol if you don't understand and ask for further explanation.


Don't leave a discussion unless you do understand what you have been told

jaybeetoo

Have you fully recovered from the fracture?

ModestWisdom

Yes I have and I haven't suffered a lot of pain from it either - hence the fear of my "entitlement".

cte1111

If you reject the offer, then they may make you a further higher offer. Or they may not, as others have said, the solicitor should be able to advise.

ModestWisdom

No offence cte but what you've said couldn't have been more obvious. The real question is if I reject their offer and they do not want to raise their initial offer - would the case go to court? And if it does - it would be up to the judge how much I would be entitled to, correct? I do realize that the judge might even have a lower amount in mind, unlikely though as 3K is sort of more or less minimum for a foot fracture.

OnanTheBarbarian

As others have said, asking for advice on a forum like this is no way to go compared to the knowledge your solicitor has of your own individual case & circumstances. So be guided by the advice and recommendations of your own representative,.

Having said that, look on page 15 of this link for the guidelines on foot injuries

http://www.mckeagandco.com/pdfs/jsbguidelines.pdf