car crash bike vs car driver liability no insurance?

bike_saving_expert

hi i just wanted to get a bit of guidance regarding personal injury insurance claims. i was hit by a car whilst cycling i have no insurance by employer home insurance union or cycling club. i have all relevant details i have contacted the insured's insurer regarding however i am not sure whether to employ a no win no fee lawyer i went to one who wanted 25% of claim monies i have not accepted but can take it up if necesary. main question will the insurer try to fob me off? btw not many capitals as left shoulder badly injured

thanks

dacouch

What are your injuries?

bike_saving_expert

injury to left shoulder tissue damage and nerve damage

Nebulous2

It's worth contacting British Cycling. I've heard of them letting people join after the event, though I don't know if that is still the case. You might have to sign up for several years.

The driver's insurer may be helpful, to try and avoid an expensive claim management process.

Expect it to take a long time to resolve, with medicals etc. The whole thing about injuries is that timescales are uncertain and you don't know if you are claiming for a few weeks pain which stops quickly or years of pain and long-term restrictions in mobility.

Superscrooge

A couple of links from the London Cycling website that you might find useful?

http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/steps-to-keep-in-mind-if-you-are-ever-involved-in-an-accident/

http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/claim-cycling-accident/

Crazy_Jamie

Whether the insurer of the other vehicle tries to 'fob you off' will depend on whether or not they dispute liability, in other words whether or not they deny that the other driver was responsible for the accident. That will depend entirely on the facts of the accident. You won't know that until you intimate a claim, and it is best to do that with proper legal representation. If you have soft tissue and nerve damage and (presumably) don't yet know the full extent of your injuries it would be unwise to approach the insurer directly, as ultimately you don't know what you can claim for and what your injuries are worth, whereas their only interest is getting rid of your claim for as little as possible.

In terms of who you instruct, I don't know whether or not it is possible to find something that effectively acts as ATE insurance to cover legal representation. You'll have to enquire with those groups to find out. Otherwise it is common for solicitors to take 25% of your damages after changes that came in to force in April 2013, but it is still possible to find solicitors who take a lower percentage, or non at all. They do tend to be more local solicitors, so it is worth looking around.

Nasqueron

BC use Slater Gordon, they might be prepared to take on the case as they'd obviously get paid but whether it would be under the free legal cover or no win no fee I don't know.

After my second accident I joined BC for the legal cover (no brainer for £25 or whatever it was and included some free Muc Off stuff) as my current case has been ongoing since April 2015 and only just had the medical assessment ahead of a compo offer (on top of the repair costs/expenses) - the firm I use were a word of mouth recommendation and have been shocking, I've had to send back personal statements several times correcting basic facts that were clearly wrong and even at the assessment they had been given the wrong date (wrong month!) for the accident

MEM62

bike_saving_expert wrote: »

i am not sure whether to employ a no win no fee lawyer i went to one who wanted 25% of claim monies

Why are you talking to no-win-no-fee companies? Your 'legal representative' is unlikely to be a qualified lawyer and they only take on cases that are straightforward and that are likely to be an easy 'win'.

You should be speaking to a proper law firm for advice, not ambulance chasers.

OnanTheBarbarian

MEM62 wrote: »

Why are you talking to no-win-no-fee companies? Your 'legal representative' is unlikely to be a qualified lawyer and they only take on cases that are straightforward and that are likely to be an easy 'win'.

You should be speaking to a proper law firm for advice, not ambulance chasers.

Trust me, there is little difference - most law firms employ non-qualifieds to do the fee earning work

Nasqueron wrote: »

BC use Slater Gordon, they might be prepared to take on the case as they'd obviously get paid but whether it would be under the free legal cover or no win no fee I don't know.

After my second accident I joined BC for the legal cover (no brainer for £25 or whatever it was and included some free Muc Off stuff) as my current case has been ongoing since April 2015 and only just had the medical assessment ahead of a compo offer (on top of the repair costs/expenses) - the firm I use were a word of mouth recommendation and have been shocking, I've had to send back personal statements several times correcting basic facts that were clearly wrong and even at the assessment they had been given the wrong date (wrong month!) for the accident

S&G are just volume ambulance chasers (with rather poor business acumen given how much they paid for Quindell Legal Services and the cabinets full of utter rubbish). Same rules apply fopr NWNF as do Legal Expenses backed schemes, i.e there still has to be "reasonable prospects".

Take it from me, a lawyer who worked for a variety of law firms and insurance companies over the alst 20 years. Legal cover does not pay any fees to the solicitors they appoint. The solicitors have to suck their thumb if a case goes wrong.

Nasqueron

OnanTheBarbarian wrote: »

S&G are just volume ambulance chasers (with rather poor business acumen given how much they paid for Quindell Legal Services and the cabinets full of utter rubbish). Same rules apply fopr NWNF as do Legal Expenses backed schemes, i.e there still has to be "reasonable prospects".

Just stating a fact, not a recommendation of them

OnanTheBarbarian wrote: »

Take it from me, a lawyer who worked for a variety of law firms and insurance companies over the alst 20 years. Legal cover does not pay any fees to the solicitors they appoint. The solicitors have to suck their thumb if a case goes wrong.

I don't doubt it given the low cost of the membership, it's just probably better in open and shut cases (like mine was) than paying a 3rd party solicitor who does a bad job!

OneLeggedPig

British Cycling use Slater & Gordon for their members' claims and it seems to be working fairly well from what I gather.