Motorcycle accident claim

Track_deo

Hello. I have been involved in a motorcycle accident some time ago. I was riding my motorcycle when I got hit by a driver that didn't pay attention while turning. My bike was total write off, I have reasons to believe the car was too because my body impacted the car really badly. Luckily I had no broken bones and was able to walk away on my own after the accident. But the hard began a little bit later. Long story short, after 2 years I am still suffering from lower back pain with numbness in my right foot. I had legal cover on my insurance policy so I allowed my "free appointed solicitors" to take over the case. In 2 years I got assigned 5 different handlers as they kept leaving the office. You can imagine the delay in getting replies from my handlers who I can only assume were no longer interested in working in that practice.
I was sent to have an orthopaedic examination after one year and unfortunately the report was messed up by the expert. After numerous interventions with my solicitors, the report got amended partially but not satisfactorily. Anyway, I am at peace with the pain caused by the annular fissure and I got used with the fact that due to the medical report I can't blame this on the accident. I will have to live with this and get no compensation, but for the 2 years of pain as my solicitors are telling me.
The problem is I am trying to claim for days lost on physiotherapy (I had 12 sessions until the physiotherapist said it's safer to go and investigate the pain before booking other sessions). Also want to claim for days that I took of work because I was simply in so much pain that I needed to stay home instead of going to work (which is a physical work and not a desk work). For all this my solicitors dismissed my request because of being self employed and having earned more money after the accident (because of a career change). So in their opinion as explained, I can't make proof of loss of earnings if my annual income was higher after the accident than in the previous year.
At the time of the accident I had two motorcycles. One of them I was just about to sale it (had the client lined up) but when the other bike got totalled in the accident I had to postpone the sale, the motorcycle being my own means to commute to work. I got a check for the write off motorcycle after almost three months from the accident. On the spare bike I put quite a few miles in this time which diminished the sale value and so I decided that if I sale it I will have to put a lot more money in order to replace it so decided is not worth it. Is there anything I can claim in this case? I know that if I rented a motorcycle I could claim for the rental. But in this case I could have not rent as I had use of another one (I know, I am too honest). I could have sold it if had no accident on the other bike as it was a spare/investment bike and had no use for it. My solicitor dismissed this request as well. Are they being right or they just don't want to hassle and do the work?
Have to say that I am so frustrated with all this and just need to get it over considering that I am getting close to the 3 years limit. Thanks for reading.

missile

Sorry to hear of your accident. I have been there and feel your pain.

I would suggest you consider appointing your own solicitor. Choose one who specialises in motor vehicle claims.

You are entitled to claim for pain and suffering.

after 2 years I am still suffering from lower back pain with numbness in my right foot

It appears you may have a permanent injury which may get worse in the future. You will need medical reports to support this. See your GP and ask him to refer you for assessment.
You are entitled to claim for loss as a result of the accident. You need to prove your loss i.e. prepare a statement and evidence to show that you were unable to work and what you would have earned for those days. It is not relevant if your earnings later increased.
In addition to your M/C you should claim for clothing which may have been damaged, e.g. M/C helmet lining is designed to absorb impact by deformation. You should not wear that helmet again.
You can claim for expenses, e.g. taxi and bus fares which you may have incurred.
You cannot claim for depreciation on your other M/C.

Please be advised, this is basic stuff and your solicitor should have explained all this to you.

**** Has the 3rd party admitted liability? ****

Track_deo

Yes regarding admitting the liability. It's a clear case from this angle.
I did charged for those in special damages: clothing, equipment, etc. But the loss of income as I've mentioned was dismissed by my solicitor as he said is too remote to claim. In his opinion I had no loss of income considering that I made more income in the year following the accident. Although i am self employed i was getting paied on an hourly basis and have something like payslips from the company i was doing work for. I get the depreciation on my bike but as said it happened and affected me financially. I'll drop it although a previous handler agreed with me claiming for that. He might have been more interested in helping me but unfortunately he quit...
I also asked to claim for the MRI that I've done on my own and paid from it from my own pocket as my GP wouldn't listen to me or help me in any way. In his opinion I was only suffering with whiplash and managed to get him !!!!ed off with my visits. The solicitor dismissed my request for that too.
Am I just being a victim of a bad practice or just asking unreasonable things

missile

It is difficult to comment further, with only one side of the story. I am not a solicitor, but I do know from my own and friends experience Insurance appointed solicitors often do the bare minimum. Unfortunately there is no free lunch and you get the service you pay for.

I chose to appoint my own solicitor to pursue my own case. I would ask friends to recommend a good local solicitor. He/she will help you prepare your case and obtain the necessary medical evidence to ensure you get whatever compensation you are entitled to. Legal action is always expensive and fees could easily be more than you receive in compensation. However IF you win fees will be reclaimed from 3rd party.

It may seem obvious and I do not like to belabour the point, but do you have an admission of liability in writing from the 3rd party? This will be easier to prove if they were they prosecuted for a driving offence(?).

Please be advised, if you need to go to court the claim must be lodged within 3 years or you will be time barred.

I also asked to claim for the MRI that I've done on my own and paid from it from my own pocket as my GP wouldn't listen to me or help me in any way. In his opinion I was only suffering with whiplash and managed to get him !!!!ed off with my visits. The solicitor dismissed my request for that too.

You need to understand how the system works and a good solicitor will be able to guide you. GPs have a limited time to spend with each patient and it seems you have used up your quota. The medical evidence you require will not be paid for by NHS. Your insurer will only pay for the bare minimum.

I would suggest you need to tread carefully. There are many who make bogus claims. You can claim for whatever you like. However, if you make unreasonable demands on your solicitor / GP, they may label you as one.

Track_deo

The liability has been admited verbally by the driver and supported by witnesses. Later has been admited by the third party insurer over the phone to me and my solicitors told me that the third party had admited liability. It's clear from this point of view.
The GP is a different story: when I first visited him after the accident and told him that I have this and this and this and that he simply told me to hold on, we can only take care of one of the problems in this session and the rest the next time. Imagine going to the doctor in pain and get this answer! But never mind that. Should I mention that is a GP practice and that means that I was seen in each occasion by a different practitioner who just had access to the file and not seen me before. And all of them had the same attitude: it's just whiplash and it's normal at my age to have back pain.
Related to this attitude even my physiotherapist mentioned at some point the pain will go away after I get the settlement.
I understand that the insurance claims are a huge business here and people try to take advantage of it. This is not my case. The general damages are substantial although in my opinion are not covering the damage inflicted to my back. I gave up on trying to pursue that because of the wrongful medical report mentioned in my previous message. So I can only try to recuperate my losses as much as I can, losses that incurred as a direct result of the accident.
I have managed to dig some information about the loss of use of the vehicle. Whoever is interested can search the case of Birmingham v Sowsbery and Beechwood Birmingham Limited – v – Hoyer Group UK Limited (Court of Appeal).
Finally my solicitors agreed to include that in my claim.
It looks that I have to fight my solicitor in order to be able to recover my losses.

missile

Good luck :beer: