Motor Accident compensation claim

katies_mum

My husband was involved in a head on car accident nearly 3 years ago, it was not his fault.  He has a solicitor acting form him.  Yesterday he received an email from his solicitor 
saying that after negotiations our opponent`s insurers have made an offer which is in full and final settlement of his claim, and this offer is for the whole amount of the claim.

Initially when the solicitor came to see my husband just after the accident he mentioned it would be high value claim owing to his injuries etc, yet the amount that has been offered includes all expenses, lost income etc and it is a lot below the figure that was initially mentioned.

As they are saying this is in `full and final settlement`, does this mean he cannot reject it?    His solicitor has just said `I would be grateful if you would consider and contact me early next week to discuss`. not sure how to proceed as we have never had to deal with anything like this before, please can anyone offer any advice.   Thank you

Car_54

Yes, he can reject it, but he needs to discuss it with his solicitor as suggested.

If it is indeed for the whole amount of the claim it would be perverse to reject it. It sounds as if the figure initially mentioned was over-inflated.

katies_mum

Thank you Car_54, we just wern`t sure about the `full and final` bit, he is going to speak to his solicitor tomorrow,
After deducting the total amount of the schedule of loss and expense the amount they have offered is less than half of the amount initially suggested.

KimJongUn88

Nobody can advise you because nobody has had sight of the medical report which values the physical injury or the Schedule of Loss.  You need to listen to the advice of the solicitor.  Ask them if the general damages offered are within the JSB guidelines.  A lot of the time, Claimant's solicitors draft the Schedule of Loss to include a lot of heads of damage which are to be frank a load of rubbish.  Have they included hours an hours of care which were provided by a member of family?  If they did, did that member of the family really give all that care.  Does your husband want to go to Court to prove all of this? 

If you go against the advice of your solicitor, the insurer might pull funding of the claim and you'll have to proceed it yourself. 

Car_54

KimJongUn88 said:

Nobody can advise you because nobody has had sight of the medical report which values the physical injury or the Schedule of Loss.  You need to listen to the advice of the solicitor.  Ask them if the general damages offered are within the JSB guidelines.  A lot of the time, Claimant's solicitors draft the Schedule of Loss to include a lot of heads of damage which are to be frank a load of rubbish.  Have they included hours an hours of care which were provided by a member of family?  If they did, did that member of the family really give all that care.  Does your husband want to go to Court to prove all of this? 

If you go against the advice of your solicitor, the insurer might pull funding of the claim and you'll have to proceed it yourself. 

But the OP says " this offer is for the whole amount of the claim." If that is the case, there is nothing left to argue about. There may have been a failure of communication between the OP's husband and his sol, and he has been claiming less than he thought.

AdrianC

"Full and final" means only that IF he accepts it, that's it. Line drawn. No future claims will be entertained.

He doesn't HAVE to accept it. BUT if he pushes for more, and it goes to court, then he'd better have a good reason why that full and final was not acceptable.

Mercdriver

If it goes to the court and the judge agrees that the suggested settlement is reasonable, then the OP's husband may find that they get awarded the damages but find that the costs is awarded against him.  This could end up being more than the damages.  

Manxman_in_exile

If "the offer is for the whole amount of the claim", and the amount offered is significantly less than the figure your husband's solicitor initially mentioned, why wasn't the amount of the claim queried?

katies_mum

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.  The last my husband heard from his Solicitor was at the end of January when he said they were submitting all the paperwork to the other side (assuming it was their insurance company)  he has not heard anything until he received an email on Saturday with the full and final offer.  He is now waiting for his Solicitor to get back to him so it can be discussed and queried before any decision is made.  

DoaM

AFAIK the solicitor is duty-bound to present the other side's offer ... however I'd expect that to be accompanied by some advice from his own solicitor, to explain what it is and what options are available.

katies_mum

DoaM, thank you, thats what we are hoping for when the solicitor rings back