Car injury claim help!

shopworker19

Hi All,

My father and I were recently in a car accident (Other party at fault) in which we both incurred injuries and wish to make a claim.
I had a call from the other driver's insurance company who told me there in house injury team could settle the claim in which I keep 100% of the compensation and it was explained if I source my own solicitor a percentage will be taken.

I'm really unsure what to do and wondering if anybody could offer any advice, should I go with the at-fault driver's insurance? my own? or an external solicitor?

Thanks in advance

tacpot12

I would want to understand who the in-house team would be acting for. how they would avoid a conflict of interest, and what the complaint process would be if you don't feel they have acted in your best interests.

Quentin

Bear in mind the obvious clash of interest if you allow the "defendants" solicitors to deal with your claim

If you have legal cover with your policy you can use that to act for you (at no cost to you), otherwise instructing your own no win no fee firm would cost a success fee capped at 25% of the award

How severe are the injuries??

shopworker19

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll 100% bring up those points when they ring me, injuries aren't massively severe but enough for a claim.

Crazy_Jamie

Whilst the warnings above are perfectly legitimate, this is not a conflict of interest situation because the insurer's in house personal injury team would only ever be acting in the best interests of the insurer. Which, of course, is potentially part of the problem.

I will say that I have very limited experience of how insurers deal with situations like this where an injured party agrees to settle their claim without the involvement of solicitors, because by default that interaction happens between the person and the insurer directly without the involvement of third parties. However, my experience of insurers in the context of litigation is that they their default position is to save money, and I don't see why that would change in this context. The insurer is right that a solicitors would likely take a percentage of your damages (probably 25% as Quentin said), but then the question is whether those solicitors would provide value for that deduction by securing more compensation.

That is a question that we cannot know the answer to, and there's no harm in at least seeing what the insurer's best offer is. The problem is that you will have no way of knowing if it is fair without the advice of a lawyer with experience in the area of personal injury. That is why generally speaking I would suggest you find a solicitor.

In practical terms, the severity of the injuries is relevant (the more serious they are the more inclined you should be to go to a solicitor). On a further note, have you been examined by a medical expert, and has that expert produced a report? Or have you already recovered from your injuries? Those again are relevant questions. Insurers making offers without medical evidence where symptoms are ongoing is a massive warning sign, but then again if your injuries were minor and you have recovered, it may be more feasible to settle without additional evidence and without the involvement of solicitors. Depends on the specifics.