OMG - just had an accident on the motorway.

anewman

loobs40 wrote: »

Several days later we are indunated with forms to fill in about personal injury compensation, a letter from a solicitor saying they are acting for us on the claim and that an appointment will be made for me to see a doctor !

I phoned them to say I didn't want or need to claim for compensation and they seemed a bit surprised.

I can now see why premiums are going up so fast, if people are prepared to claim for anything, however minor

Well they're in it for their money at the end of the day. And I maintain, uninsured and unlicensed drivers, and policy fronting, make the cost of insurance so high.

*If* you want to have a dig, go find all those parents who insure cars in their name for their kids and *make* them get the car insured in the kids name so it's all legal and above board. I'll bet you know some parents who do this but won't question them for illegally insuring their kids to drive like this, in fact they are technically uninsured, only difference is with ANPR their car is listed as insured.

anewman

goldspanners wrote: »

consider it payback for over inflated insurance for years,consider it money for waiting on the payout and having to buy another car out of your own cash untill then,consider it stealing from thieves,consider it the extra amount to make up your payout to the actual market value of your car,consider it as insurance companies do take into account a minimum of £2000 for this type of thing.

anewman

Mark7799 wrote: »

How long is a piece of string? If I'd suffered loss as a result of the injury then I would expect to be compensated for that loss (e.g. salary/income/medical bills) If I hadn't then what would I be claiming for?

The injury itself. Would you be happy if someone came up to you in the street and beat you up? Would you say there's no harm done then because you could still go to work and it's only a bit of pain at the end of the day, and let them get away with what they did to you?!

patchwork_cat

WELL hasn't this thread devloped a life of it's own. I didn't even realise until I got a pm. I abhor compensation culture, but can see to a certain extent how it happens. We have been seriously inconvenienced and are out of pocket with things that just can't be itemised and it isn't fair. We have become far too Americanised in our ideas about compensation and this causes professionals to always be aware of litigation and perhaps not always do an unusual thing as fear might stop them - I do know from personal experience that this happens and am not going into it here. People die because of compensation culture.

However if you are generally injured because of negligence - which this accident was - then yes you shoule be compensated, at the moment we are fine thank god
Ariba10 I think I was quite clear we were on the slip road coming off the motorway, not entering the motorway.

Mark7799

anewman wrote: »

The injury itself. Would you be happy if someone came up to you in the street and beat you up? Would you say there's no harm done then because you could still go to work and it's only a bit of pain at the end of the day, and let them get away with what they did to you?!

No - I wouldn't be happy - I would hope (admittedly misguidedly I think) that they would be dealt with by the law. This is a different analogy because I would have the option of a civil claim against them and they would be suffering financially in any event, not everyone else having to pay higher premiums.

laurz121

Can I just add my comments on the issues in this thread? I don't know why i'm asking lol i'm going to anyway.

Firstly regarding the OP, have a look around for the price of a replacement car. If you know roughly how much it is going to cost you to replace the car with the same model/year/mileage (you could even try popping into your local dealer and asking them if they could find you one matching and make a note of the price) then if your car is written off you can turn down any offer the insurance company gives you if it is below that amount and they should increase their offer or prove to you that you can replace for that amount. Afterall that is what you're insured for, not just a figure off the top of their head. You can also claim for the costs of the taxi and the recovery of your vehicle and for a hire car while yours is being fixed/replaced. If there was anything else that you lost in the accident, damage to a radio etc then you may well be covered for this as well.

As for people like anewman, landyandy etc. You are no better than a common thief who cares only about themselves. You say that you are just recovering the costs of high insurance but if you had half a brain you would be able to work out that people making false claims (that is what you are suggesting) are what is driving up the cost of insurance. The person who hits you (and doesnt injure you) has to foot that bill and obviously they pass the charge on to their insurance company who in turn pass the charge on to all their customers. So all you are doing is driving up your own insurance bills.

I was in a minor accident last year (4 or 5 mph, damaged bumper of car in front) and I will hold my hands up and say it was my fault but the person in front did exactly as you suggested. He claimed for whiplash amongst other things despite the fact he had no injuries (either that or superman here can play football every night with whiplash) and as a result I had to pay an extra £100 this year for my insurance. That is £100 for the injury claim having to be added whenever i get a quote, not for having an accident, if it was an accident without injury it was £100 less than with. Do you really think that is fair? Should I really have to pay £100 this year, and presumably more next year too just because somebody feels they should get as much as they can?

Some people should take a long hard look at themselves and ask if that is the kind of person that they hoped they would become when they was a child. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't be happy with the answer.

tomstickland

anewman wrote: »

The injury itself. Would you be happy if someone came up to you in the street and beat you up? Would you say there's no harm done then because you could still go to work and it's only a bit of pain at the end of the day, and let them get away with what they did to you?!

I think you have to be sensible. Noone drives a car into another one on purpose. If you have a minor injury and it seems to go away after a few days you let it go. Otherwise every minor impact is going to involve claims of serious injury and we all pay for that.

dawnybabes

I had a right off with Direct Line a couple of years ago - car was worth 9K and they offered an excellent valuation straight away - think we got just short of the 9k. I haggled (like everyone tells you too) but they wouldn't budge and I didn't push too hard as I was happy.

Glad you are all OK