Traffic Accident Injury Claim For Pedestrian Knocked over

mrmikie

My Father was knocked over by a reversing car whilst attempting to cross the road. He was knocked to the ground and sustained heavy grazing and bruising. No bones were broken, but as he is getting on, he was shaken by the incident.

I went to a Solicitor for advice on making a claim against the driver. The Solicitors referenced a Conditional Fee Agreement that (CFA) they use. The gist of this as I understood it was that it is a no win no fee service, but the Solicitors could potentially take up to 25% of the final damages offered towards the fees for their services (the percentage depending on the work they put in) and if the amount awarded was less than £1000, they could potentially take all their costs from this amount. The solicitor indicated from the pictures I provided that she thought the amount would be more than £1,000, but this of course was only a subjective judgement.

The question I have is that is it the best way to pursue this claim through a Solicitor as above or are there any more preferable ways of doing this to maximize the amount received without having the award fees reduced by the Solicitor's fees?

Any advice on the above matter would be much appreciated.

GreenQueen

Do you (or your father) have legal cover through you home insurance? May be worth giving your insurer a call for advice?

[Deleted User]

It might be worth simply writing to the driver's insurance and indicating that you wish to start a dialogue over compensation for injuries sustained. No need to name an amount at this point. They may make you an offer.

No need for legal representation yet. Just explain the extent of the injuries and the hardship they have caused.

If you need the driver's insurer's details you can get them for a small fee from MID (or for free with their app).

Retrogamer

Does he have car or home insurance? If so i would wager it's not worth pursuing via the solicitors as having to declare the claim for the next 3-5 years might push the premiums up to more than he receives.

mrmikie

Thanks for all your replies. I am trying to digest the various responses, particularly with respect to the Home Insurance aspect. My father has Home Insurance, but not Care Insurance as far as I am aware. GreenQueen - are you saying that his Home Insurance company could make Legal Representation on his behalf for an incident which happened away from the home, even though the cover is for Home Insurance? Retrogamer - are you saying that if he made a claim, even though the incident was away from home that there would be a duty to report it to his home insurance? Apologies if I come across as being a bit thick on the matter, but it is a subject of which I have little knowledge.

mrmikie

Re [DELETED USER] - This is certainly an option I am minded to consider. Thank you very much for this response.

Retrogamer

mrmikie wrote: »

Retrogamer - are you saying that if he made a claim, even though the incident was away from home that there would be a duty to report it to his home insurance? Apologies if I come across as being a bit thick on the matter, but it is a subject of which I have little knowledge.

Sorry i meant home and car insurance.

When his renewal is due they will ask if he has been involved in any accidents or claims in the last 3-5 years usually (varies depending on insurer)
Because he'll have been in an accident that's resulted in a claim he'd need to inform anyone who provides him with insurance of the claim.

stator

If he was run over as a pedestrian I doubt that would need to be declared

Merry_Mawkin

Is he in a trade union as some of those give free legal advice.

mrmikie

He used to be in a Trade Union, so he might still have access to the Retired Members services - I can check this out. Thank you for your response.

Retrogamer

stator wrote: »

If he was run over as a pedestrian I doubt that would need to be declared

Home and car insurance companies always ask if you have been involved in any accidents or claims the last XXX years

If you answer no, when you had then that is fraud.

Why do you doubt it needs to be declared?