Compensation Offer from Cycling Accident - should I counter offer?

united4ever

Hi, last week I was hit cycling on a roundabout and the driver joined the roundabout but didnt see me due to the low son in his eyes. He went into the side of me, I went on his bonnet and then rolled into the road. Went straight to hospital but no broken bones but some bruising, swelling, lots of road rash and a painful ankle (doctor thinks ligament damage). I am lucky...could have been worse.

The driver was very apologetic and admitted full liability to his insurance company, They offered me £900 to replace my bike, glasses, and some clothing items plus mudguards etc (I provided receipts for all this so that is how they got to that figure).

Seems like the medical compensation is seperate. They called me and I had a 15 minute health assesment. I described the pain, injuries, how it is affecting me etc. They have offered phusion sessions for a couple of months plus £1700. Anyone any idea if this is a reasonable offer and if I should counter offer?

I suppose it's a personal thing to quantify but the disruption is stuff like difficulty sleeping last few nights due to pain from road rash, cannot walk very far right now but using public transport to get to work is doable, cannot do the school run, half term plans for things like ice skating have been cancelled and just playing with my kids is difficult. This will pass in the coming weeks I am confident. It's just hard to quantify these things in monetary terms.

I repeat....it's good to be alive! I'll probably pack the cycling in for good after this which will mean public transport...used to love my rides to work:( but this feels like a warning to pack it in.

tasticz

At the end of the day the decision is yours. Just so you are aware you can instruct your own peraonal injury solicitors if you are not happy with third party insurers.

At this time as you are dealing with them directly they are saving the cost of solicitor and want to close out the claim ASAP. Remember they do not work for you, they work for someone else and have others interest in their heart.

This could work in your favour if you heal quickly or could go against you depending on how long it will take you to heal as you haven't been seen by your doctor.

Have your pain recovered? Have you been to GP? What have they said?

If you are not confident in how long it will take you or if it hasn't improved wait it out. Dont sell yourself for cash as health is more important than money but as said before it is your decision.

csgohan4

don't be greedy and accept what you think is reasonable to you, as you may be called out and asked to go to court and get professional medical assessments to prove your claim if you prolong the claim or try and claim significantly more.

Aretnap

for all but the most trivial injuries you should be engaging a solicitor of your own, and getting your own medical assessment and not relying on the insurance company's solicitors. (They work for the insurance company, not for you, and their primary duty is to protect the insurer's interests)

If your home insurance policy comes with legal expenses cover then they should be your first port of call and they will be able to provide you with a solicitor. Or if you're a member of an organisation like Britich cycling, the CTC or a trade union you may find that your membership includes legal cover for this type of thing. A third option is to find a local no win no fee injury lawyer - this usually involves paying them a percentage of your compensation in the form of payment, but the compensation they agree is likely to be rather greater than what you're being offered currently.

This is not really the sort of thing you should be trying to deal with yourself with with the aid of a couple of posts on an internet forum. Quantifying injury claims is considerably more complicated than quantifying ones for property damage (where all you need is a receipt, or a screenshot of the item on Amazon).