Re Claim Insurance

campins

Hello, I am petitioning the PrimeMinistrer for fairer insurance settlement terms for people who have had personal injury claims. Please visit the following link and sign the petition in support. Thank you http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Re-claim/. :beer:

mattymoo

Sorry but on here you say "fairer insurance settlement terms" but the petition talks about "Prevent solicitors firms from making settlements for personal injury which prevent a further claim if the injury does not heal as expected" Which one is it ?

Either way the petition is ignorant of how these things work. The ultimate decision on when to settle a claim is the claimants. They may be guided by their solicitor. If they think that guidance is wrong to the point of negligent, they can sue the solicitor.

If you really mean the insurers, do you seriously see them keeping files open indefinately in case you have a problem 20-30 yrs down the line? Totally unrealistic.

Its the English legal system, its creaky but it works following the Woolf reforms.

campins

Hello mattymoo, Thanks for your reply. The petition at the end of the link is the one I am persuing, the write up on this site was just a general description to invite a perusal of the petition itself.

I do see your point about sueing your solicitor if they are wrong but of course there is a tremendous cost involved in doing that and effectively most people could not afford to do so. I do not think it would be terribly difficult for insurers to keep a file open to allow a further claim if the injury was still causing problems. I am sure I am not the only one who thinks the current arrangements are metered to say the least and a more generous line needs to be taken as personal injuries are so unpleasant and potentially limit a persons ability to work, which, may not happen for some time after the inury.

mattymoo

All of that information should be brought out in the medical reports under the section "long term prognosis" and reflected in the agreed level of damages.

One of the most common types of reoccuring injury is osteoporosis in the bones and general degeneration of the tissues / bone structures. Happens to all of us in the end, called growing old. Sometimes an accident can accelerate this by 10 - 15 yrs and the current level of damages are designed to reflect this if it is considered a likely outcome.

Their is provision for interim settlements to be made. These are reserved for high value claims (£1m plus normally) where it is impossible to come up with a prognosis at an early date but there is a need to make some form of settlement now to meet the claimants needs.

An example would be a child, severely injured at say age 8. The childs future jobs will be limited to sedentary work (office type work for instance) or bench assembly work. One is a higher paid career than the other but the future path will depend on their academic abilities.

The insurer would be asked to make a settlement within a year or two to cover care costs, medical expenses and home adaptatations. They would then revisit the claim by order of the court when the child reaches 18-21 (depending on their academic path) and see what their potential is.

As for insurers keeping files open on run of the mill cases, it is never going to happen. An insurer only knows their profit for an underwriting year 3 years after the event. This is due to the limitation period and your ability to sue somebody up to 3 years after the accident. The money you pay out for motor and employers liability today is being used to settle claims 3 years from now.

To extend that to say 10-20 yrs would be impossible. This nearly caused the collapse of the Lloyds market and bankrupted thousands of Lloyds names because the premium collected 40 yrs ago was suddenly called upon to pay all the asbestosis claims (at current values of course) that appeared in the late 90's.

So unless you are a minor or very severely injured (I'm talking brain damage / quadraplegia type stuff here) you have to get your settlement right first time.

campins

I see some of what you are saying mattymoo but what about my situation, which, see`s me with medical reports stating that the injury is expected resolve in two years time. It doesn`t, but my lawyer said that in her opinion the claim was taken as far as it would go and I should settle on a full and final basis. So now I still can`t do what I could do before the accident but have no route to make a further claim! I think that a rotten way to treat people who have had a personal injury.

mattymoo

Not sure if you have already settled and the injury has not improved after 2 years or, you are thinking of settling now and worried in case it hasn't settled in 2 years time.

When you say "I still can't do .... before the accident" are you talking about your job?

campins

My solicitor reccommended accepting the settlement, I couldn`t beleive how low the offer was. I protested and they insisted that they could not progress the claim any further. My choices were to settle or pay their costs and take the case elsewhere. I did this and paid another solicitor who got another report which said that he would have expected the injury to have settled by that time. He then made a settlement that was very close to what I would have got had I accepted the original offer. It did not put me out of work immediately but it did reduce the range of work I could do but this didn`t seem to make any difference.

campins

Have I convinced you to sign my petition yet?

mattymoo

Nope, sorry.
If two solicitors have given similar advice it suggests to me that your expectations were unrealistic.
Your complaint seems to be against the level of damages awarded, nothing more than that.

campins

I am dissapointed about the level of damages awarded because the leg is still bothering me dispite the fact that the medical reports said it would get better and I now have no further way of making a further claim, which, is not fair.