Non fault claim - no legal Insurance

mrbg07546

Someone hit the back of us last week.

My wife (primary driver) and I who was driving (secondary)

We had 2 young kids (3 nonth and 3.5 years ) in the back.

Someone hit us on the back on the m1. So there at fault.


We went to go. My wife has minor whiplash and back trouble. I have a bad back. Thanks fully kids are ok(except the 3.5 years is not keen to get in car)
We also have the following issues.

- I took taxi to go to go appointments
- we have been given a courtesy car. But I don’t feel good to drive it. So we been getting taxi everywhere


We don’t have legal cover(silly me)I will be perusing the injury claim. What are my options

Robin9

Have you reported this to your insurers?

mrbg07546

Robin9 wrote: »

Have you reported this to your insurers?

Yes I reported it to my insurance company within 24 hours of incident

glentoran99

mrbg07546 wrote: »

Yes I reported it to my insurance company within 24 hours of incident

Not the accident, your issues

missile

Go see a solicitor of your choice

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

You need to be careful. While you are entitled to compensation for the consequences of the accident, you are under an obligation to minimise your costs, so for example, if you are saying that you can drive but suffer some discomfort, rather than cannot drive, then the insurers might take the view that you are being extravagant and therefore might refuse to reimburse those costs.

1. Record all expenses carefully.
2. Make sure you have a proper medical record of your injury and any restrictions you have, not just your own opinion. It may cost to get a doctor to issue a letter confirming your injuries.
3. Get legal advice. There are a number of options but DIY for a substantial claim is probably not going to be the best option unless you have time and tenacity. Be very clear though on what the charging options are going to be, and again it is important for you to minimise the costs to those that are reasonable, don't assume that as you have a rock solid case that if it goes to court you will get your money back for all your legal expenses - if it is decided you have been unreasonable, that might not be the case. That advice should cover what you can reasonably claim for and what is a risk.

Not belittling the problems of a bad back, I've been there! However, you would need to prove that your journeys were reasonable and that your need to be driven was reasonable too.

Further, if the insurer is providing a courtesy car, they may be expecting for the other party to reimburse the cost, so the other party would not be happy about paying for both an unused courtesy car and taxis. Talk to your insurer about this.

Quentin

You need to get your own legal team dealing with this for you and the children. ,(,Minors have till they are 21 to claim compensation for injuries and who knows what may develop over the years)

A no win no fee solicitors specialising in injury claims is worth discussing this with

mrbg07546

Ok. I rang a solicter. They asked if me or wife was a member of a trade union. She is with unison. They said as this is the case they won’t take 25 percent of fee?

Quentin

Yes - use the union's legal team

AdrianC

mrbg07546 wrote: »

Someone hit us on the back on the m1. So there at fault.

Is it that clearcut? If they start claiming you changed lanes and braked sharply...

My wife has minor whiplash and back trouble. I have a bad back.

Document it thoroughly.

We also have the following issues.

- I took taxi to go to go appointments
- we have been given a courtesy car. But I don’t feel good to drive it. So we been getting taxi everywhere

Then hand the courtesy car back NOW. But if the taxis are costing more than the courtesy car, you're not going to get them fully repaid. If neither of you are physically ABLE to drive, rather than simply "don't want to", then get that fully documented by your doctor.

We don’t have legal cover(silly me)I will be perusing the injury claim. What are my options

Just go through your insurer, assuming you're fully comp. If the other driver has admitted liability, go straight to his insurer. There is no need for anything to go legal at all.

Joe_Horner

mrbg07546 wrote: »

She is with unison.

In that case she does have legal cover for this as part of her membership.

https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/services-support/legal-services/

UNISON provides quality legal services for employment-related and non-work issues at no extra cost to members and their family.


What do UNISON legal services cover?

Employment advice
Personal injury service – covers any accident which happens either outside or in the workplace, including assaults at work and industrial disease claims as well as road traffic accidents and accidents on holiday.