Car & bicycle incident - claim question.

whatwasmyname

Ok I wanted to bounce this off people who've had experience or more know-how so that I don't shoot myself in the foot on this one.

So I've discussed above the solicitor & their wishy-washy response being quite vague over how much they're going to take out of any claim.

I've been in touch with the other guys insurance today. They say it "looks like" it's being treated as them being liable. 
I was straight with them & told them i'd been in touch with a solicitor to which they said I can't go with a solicitor and then go through the insurance (obviously).

They want evidence of the bike damage/repair - no problem
They talked about an occupational therapist who will oversee "rehab" - this occupational therapist will also deal with me being off work & any physio treatment. They can request physio treatment.

They were going to send me some portal which would cover injuries up to a cap of £5k. Anything else (bike damages etc) would be in addition to the injuries with a total cap of £10k. The guy said it could potentially go over £10k, which confused me a bit as how are things capped if we can go beyond those caps?! Unless he means the claim would be treated differently somehow.

They will require an independent assessment of my injuries - no problem.
A claims inspector will do a report.



From what he said, it sounded like it would be better to go through them, the insurance company, as 1) it "looks like" they're accepting liability (more on that in a sec) and 2) anything awarded is mine. I don't need to split any 'winnings' (I use the term loosely) with another company. I wondered if i would perhaps only need a solicitor if they were going to dispute liability??

But as I don't know how these things go, I don't know whether going through the insurance direct would have me being awarded say <£small_fee> but if I went with a solicitor, they would lay it on thick (which i'm not comfortable doing - I prefer to just be straight & honest then there's no come back) and possibly get <£large_fee> which would still be large even after they take their cut.

That's what I mean by shooting myself in the foot. Am I likely to be doing myself out of considerably more if I go on my own through the guys insurance?



* regards the "looks like" with the liability. I told the insurance that I am not yet ready to make a decision which road to go down as I am not keen on "looks like". In my eyes it's the guys fault. It is the guys fault, but that's not how these things always go. Sometimes the wrong guy wins. So I want "looks like" to be "100% is, no questions asked". 
To that they said he had only just been given the claim & would be amazed if it went any other way. It just needs officially calling which could be next week.

Grey_Critic

All you can do at this stage is advise the other parties insurance that you*May* de seeking damages.

As I said before in the case of my Grandson the case could not move forward until the doctors and medical people signed him off and he was declared *fit for work* otherwise nobody knew the actual value of the claim.

If you were to be claiming long term damage the defendents solicitors will almost certainly  ask for their own medical examination/report.

With respect you are either going to make a claim or not. Seeking quotations from multiple sources just delays things.

As for **I've been in touch with the other guys insurance today.** you really do need your own independent legal advice. The other guys insurance are more interested in minimising their costs. They act for the other party not you.

Car_54

Grey_Critic said:

 The other guys insurance are more interested in minimising their costs. They act for the other party not you.

Minimising their costs won't help their customer.. That is in their own interests, not his.

whatwasmyname

Grey_Critic said:

All you can do at this stage is advise the other parties insurance that you*May* de seeking damages.

As I said before in the case of my Grandson the case could not move forward until the doctors and medical people signed him off and he was declared *fit for work* otherwise nobody knew the actual value of the claim.

If you were to be claiming long term damage the defendents solicitors will almost certainly  ask for their own medical examination/report.

With respect you are either going to make a claim or not. Seeking quotations from multiple sources just delays things.

As for **I've been in touch with the other guys insurance today.** you really do need your own independent legal advice. The other guys insurance are more interested in minimising their costs. They act for the other party not you.

I've already told them that i *will* be seeking damages (if you're referring to a personal injury claim?).

I appreciate that there's no end figure for as long as I am off because the loss of earnings simply continues to increase. 

You mention their solicitors - they already said to me today that they'd be looking to get an independent assessment of me, so it sounds like the same thing I guess?


And don't worry, I didn't take any offence I'll certainly be making a claim that's for sure. What i'm trying to get from others who've been in similar situations is whether it would be better dealing with the other guys insurance totally myself & getting 100% of any payout or going with one of these NWNF guys and getting [%unknown%] from a payout as at this moment in time, i'm not sure which is better.

I appreciate your final comment and that is what I was thinking too, but this guy (their insurance), the way he was talking was as though they'd just accept everything. 
You've lost these wages? Here you go.
You've got nerve damage? Here's some more cash.
Bike needs fixing? Have more cash.
Need physio? Don't worry, we've got it sorted.

It did sound too good to be true kind of thing but at the same time, surely they wouldn't be offering all this if they wouldn't follow through on it?

whatwasmyname

Aretnap said:

In most cases the percentage that a NWNF firm can charge is capped at 25% of the total compensation. (If you were covered by legal expenses insurance, eg through a cycling club, home insurance or trade union membership, the lawyers fee would be paid by insurance, at least up to the maximum sum the insurance would cover, so the percentage claimed by the solicitors would be zero.

Was looking for this.


I was talking to a relative of mine today. To cut the story short, they were involved in a legal mess where some of the family took other family members to court.

Those who initiated it all won about £30k but their solicitor took £21k.

So not sure if that's different (was a disputed will) but clearly more than 25%.

whatwasmyname

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned earlier on in here or whether I've had it from just chatting to people about it offline.

Somewhere along the line, more than one person has said to me that in this kind of situation, where the guy has hit me, you're supposed to tell the police, or rather he's supposed to tell the police.

I contacted the policeman on Friday who was handling this & got me the guys insurance details etc. Just asked if anyone had been in touch with information (had appealed - I wasn't just randomly asking).
In his reply he said to me basically that the chap had not committed an offence as he had stopped after the incident.

So just in case you think you need to report to the police, it seems you only need to stop. I didn't know that.

lincroft1710

whatwasmyname said:

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned earlier on in here or whether I've had it from just chatting to people about it offline.

Somewhere along the line, more than one person has said to me that in this kind of situation, where the guy has hit me, you're supposed to tell the police, or rather he's supposed to tell the police.

I contacted the policeman on Friday who was handling this & got me the guys insurance details etc. Just asked if anyone had been in touch with information (had appealed - I wasn't just randomly asking).
In his reply he said to me basically that the chap had not committed an offence as he had stopped after the incident.

So just in case you think you need to report to the police, it seems you only need to stop. I didn't know that.

My understanding was that when a RTA involves personal injury, the police should be informed. However it appears the Highway Code no longer has that requirement. The only reference to reporting to the police is

"You must report the accident to the police within 24 hours if you don’t give your details at the time of the accident".

Aretnap

lincroft1710 said:

whatwasmyname said:

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned earlier on in here or whether I've had it from just chatting to people about it offline.

Somewhere along the line, more than one person has said to me that in this kind of situation, where the guy has hit me, you're supposed to tell the police, or rather he's supposed to tell the police.

I contacted the policeman on Friday who was handling this & got me the guys insurance details etc. Just asked if anyone had been in touch with information (had appealed - I wasn't just randomly asking).
In his reply he said to me basically that the chap had not committed an offence as he had stopped after the incident.

So just in case you think you need to report to the police, it seems you only need to stop. I didn't know that.

My understanding was that when a RTA involves personal injury, the police should be informed.

Not if you produce your insurance certificate (NB, not just "your insurance details") at the scene. It's possible (in theory, though not in practice) to have a fatal RTA without involving the police.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/170

Car_54

Just to add to Aretnap’s comments, nothing has changed. It’s been that way since the 1988 Act, and probably back to the 1933(?) one.

lincroft1710

Aretnap said:

lincroft1710 said:

whatwasmyname said:

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned earlier on in here or whether I've had it from just chatting to people about it offline.

Somewhere along the line, more than one person has said to me that in this kind of situation, where the guy has hit me, you're supposed to tell the police, or rather he's supposed to tell the police.

I contacted the policeman on Friday who was handling this & got me the guys insurance details etc. Just asked if anyone had been in touch with information (had appealed - I wasn't just randomly asking).
In his reply he said to me basically that the chap had not committed an offence as he had stopped after the incident.

So just in case you think you need to report to the police, it seems you only need to stop. I didn't know that.

My understanding was that when a RTA involves personal injury, the police should be informed.

Not if you produce your insurance certificate (NB, not just "your insurance details") at the scene. It's possible (in theory, though not in practice) to have a fatal RTA without involving the police.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/170

Which is why I said "was", not "is" and added the sentences which you omitted from  your quote. 


Back in 1964 I was knocked off my bike by a car. Driver took me to hospital (minor injury so discharged after treatment, driver took me home). Cannot remember if he gave me (or parents) his insurance details. Driver reported accident to police, policeman came to house to interview me. So I presume that was where my belief came from. Or might have come from 1954 copy of the Highway Code which was in our house for many years.