Advice on insurance claim after accident..

alhenderson

Morning All,

Hoping this is a relevant place to post this.. My wife was hot by a drunk driver a few days before Christmas. Police breathalysed him, took him away, car was a write off, insurance paid out for car, car replaced. That's the easy bit.

Following the accident my wife had neck, back and shoulder pains which is hardly surprising. She has been to physio a number of times and is continuing to do so. I have told our insurer (who also insured the other driver) that we will be making a claim beyond the amount they have paid out for the car. They keep phoning to try and get the matter settled - last time they called they offered £1400.

Having never been in this situation I'm not entirely sure what to do here. £1400 seems low, especially as we don't know how long my wife's going to need to have physio for. I could get lawyers involved in the hope of getting more money, but I don't know the likelihood of them being able to get more, hence is it worth it?

Admiral seem very keen to get this settled, but I don't think we're ready. Equally, we can only go on paying for physio out of our own pockets for so long.

Anyone been in a similar situation got any advice?

Thanks,
Al

cono1717

I think I would speak to a solicitor most will allow a free consultation. I wouldn't be agreeing to a full and final settlement at this stage if the treatment is not yet finished.

Warwick_Hunt

What does a doctor say about her injuries?

She has three years to claim but no specific soft tissue injure isn!!!8217;t going to be much more.

DoaM

Have the physios given any estimate on duration of treatment required? That would help guide on the value of a claim.

alhenderson

Warwick_Hunt wrote: »

What does a doctor say about her injuries?

She has three years to claim but no specific soft tissue injure isn!!!8217;t going to be much more.

She went to the doctor a few days after the accident and he said it was "whiplash". Although I thought whiplash was one of those things that are difficult to diagnose - maybe he was just saying what she wanted to hear.

Al.

Fosterdog

If she's in so much paid she is having physio, why has she not had herself fully checked out? Why has she not asked for an nhs referral for physio instead of paying privately? Right now she is having non doctor prescribed treatment so it will be hard to claim it was actually needed.

alhenderson

Fosterdog wrote: »

If she's in so much paid she is having physio, why has she not had herself fully checked out? Why has she not asked for an nhs referral for physio instead of paying privately? Right now she is having non doctor prescribed treatment so it will be hard to claim it was actually needed.

Because an NHS referral for physio would take weeks (probably longer given this was just before Christmas), and you only get so many appointments before they cast you back out. She was in a lot of pain after the accident, so we didn't want to wait for an NHS referral (and it was Christmas, which would have delayed everything).

The physio has advised that these kinds of injury can take up to 9 months to resolve, although that's not based on my wife's actual case. I think progress is being made, though.

Al.

Warwick_Hunt

alhenderson wrote: »

Because an NHS referral for physio would take weeks (probably longer given this was just before Christmas), and you only get so many appointments before they cast you back out. She was in a lot of pain after the accident, so we didn't want to wait for an NHS referral (and it was Christmas, which would have delayed everything).

The physio has advised that these kinds of injury can take up to 9 months to resolve, although that's not based on my wife's actual case. I think progress is being made, though.

Al.

A self referral to a physio and a general whiplash from a doctor is going to see payment at the lower end. She may not get more than £1400 plus out of pocket expenses.

alhenderson

Warwick_Hunt wrote: »

A self referral to a physio and a general whiplash from a doctor is going to see payment at the lower end. She may not get more than £1400 plus out of pocket expenses.

What would 'out of pocket expenses' be? Is that the physio payments or other stuff?

Al.

Warwick_Hunt

alhenderson wrote: »

What would 'out of pocket expenses' be? Is that the physio payments or other stuff?

Al.

Both, I got travel expenses and parking paid to see specialists.

Money aside she needs to put her health first and get a proper diagnosis instead of a physio blindly treating her.

Fosterdog

alhenderson wrote: »

Because an NHS referral for physio would take weeks (probably longer given this was just before Christmas), and you only get so many appointments before they cast you back out. She was in a lot of pain after the accident, so we didn't want to wait for an NHS referral (and it was Christmas, which would have delayed everything).

The physio has advised that these kinds of injury can take up to 9 months to resolve, although that's not based on my wife's actual case. I think progress is being made, though.

Al.

You don't know that, I broke my ankle back in October and once I was out of my cast and ready for physio I was seen within a week which was at Christmas time and have had regular appointments since with no delay whatsoever. You don't know if your area is running as quickly as mine. It would be different if she got a referral and it was a several week or month wait you would have a valid reason for going private to speed things up. As it is you chose to not even consider a referral but instead chose to go private with no medical proof that physio was even needed. Even just an extra visit to the GP for them to agree that physio was the way forward would be one thing but she has effectively self diagnosed and self treated.