Seemingly no progress with DLG Legal Services personal injury claim after car accident

boots_babe

Hi,

Unfortunately I had a car accident last August - the car in front of me on the motorway braked suddenly, I managed to brake in time without hitting them, but the 3 cars behind me didn't stop in time, and I had at least 2 shunts in the back. 

My insurance is with Direct Line, and I had opted for additional legal cover. So when I reported the claim, they referred me to DLG Legal Services, their legal team, to handle the personal injury claim. 

I have never gone through this process before, so have been relying on DLG to do what is required. In August they said they would submit the claim to the other party, and that they would have 30 days to respond. However it got to mid October and nothing had happened, so I rang up and they told me they had submitted to the WRONG party!!! So the process had to start again.

Early January I'd still heard nothing, and my online messages to them via the web portal were getting no answer. I called them again, they now tell me they have been 'unable' to get the insurance contact details for the car in question, and are still looking. I thought there was a central database which insurers used, which would just give them that info?

So we are over 6 months on from the accident, and still no further forward it seems. They made a comment about it being a more difficult case due to 4 cars (me plus 3 behind me) involved, and I said that surely the dashcam footage from the witness that I gave them, would have helped make things clear. Turns out that they have not even asked the witness for the dashcam footage!!! They said they will do so now, but the chance that the footage still exists over 6 months on is about zero I would think. I am so angry, surely this key piece of evidence should have been the first thing they sought out.

They also very oddly said that although I had previously submitted a written statement to them (at the outset), that they needed to do another and would send me the wording to approve. This was a couple of weeks ago but still nothing. Also they keep saying  that my 'medical assessment' will happen once they've located the third party insurer details, gone through the 30 day process, and had a response from them. Is that normal, as surely they'd want a timely medical assessment? (although as it happens I have got considerably worse over time).

As I say, I have not been through any car accident before and so do not know the processes. But it seems to me that nothing has happened, and they appear incompetent. At one point when I was asking them to clarify which car they were now trying to claim against the answer was 'I don't know, I would have to read all through the file to find that out'!!!

I'm a bit at a loss as to what, if anything, I can do to try to get things moving. Has anyone been through this process before, either with DLG Legal Services or anyone else, and can provide any helpful advice?

Many thanks.

DullGreyGuy

boots_babe said:

Unfortunately I had a car accident last August - the car in front of me on the motorway braked suddenly, I managed to brake in time without hitting them, but the 3 cars behind me didn't stop in time, and I had at least 2 shunts in the back. 

Immediately this indicates it's going to be a long drawn out process with companies arguing over how liability should be shared. The fact you say you felt two shunts immediately says there is at least 2 parties that will be sharing the costs but with 3 cars behind you its not going to be obvious which two and what percentage each should be covering.

In an ideal the vehicle immediately behind you would settle the claim on a without prejudice basis with the agreement of the other two insurers and then they sort out the sharing later but there is no obligation for them to do so. 

It's no excuse but insurance systems are typically really bad. Last time I heard DLG has moved its claims onto a system called Guidewire which is considered one of the better ones but for high volume claims departments its still really poor compared to what could be possible with modern technology. Back in my claims day you simply had a list of third parties... they were ordered in the sequence their details were entered. Ideally they'd be entered from front to back but particularly when our insured was in the middle of the shunt it doesn't tell you where our insured was in the chain and often it wasn't given in a front to back order.

What are your injuries? Since the Whiplash Reforms if its whiplash or other minor soft tissue injury the claims process is much more straightforward as there is a fixed tariff for general damages.

boots_babe

Having read what whiplash is, I did have this initially, but it eased off after a few weeks, and didn't stop me doing anything so doesn't really feel like something I should claim for. But I've had other rather serious issues at the base of my spine, resulting in an awful period of spasms last year (awful as in, I couldn't stop myself yelling with pain and could barely move, never experienced anything like it).

The spams thankfully stopped after a few weeks, but I currently have severe pain in base of spine, down my leg, and leg is numb (yes numb and pain don't sound like they could go together, but the numbness is on the skin, the pain is internal).

I have spent the last 5 weeks unable to sit down, even for a few seconds, standing up even to eat, and just no respite from the pain at all.

Nobody at DLG has asked me about any of this, but I have kept a log of what's been happening with dates. I would hope I could claim for the costs I've incurred so far for physio, and also fees for a spinal consultant. 

What do you mean regarding a 'fixed tariff' and 'general damages' ? 

DullGreyGuy

boots_babe said:

What do you mean regarding a 'fixed tariff' and 'general damages' ? 

General Damages is the money paid for pain, suffering and loss of amenities... its the money paid for the non-financial part of your losses -v- Special Damages which covers things like damage to your car, loss of earnings, cost of a hire car etc which are a financial loss. 

Until recently lots of cases ended up in court because the parties couldn't agree on how much you pain was worth... you can look at case law to see what prior cases had settled at but the bounds were fairly wide and a solicitor/barister could always try and argue why your pain was worse than the average persons.

Once a case is litigated not only does it add additional court fees the amount lawyers can claim goes up, notably in the higher tracks of the court. 

The whiplash reforms changed that... now there is a table (see page 2 of https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2021/9780348220612/pdfs/ukdsi_9780348220612_en.pdf ) and no negotiation. If you had a soft tissue injury that lasted 6-9 months you get £840 for General Damaged and as its small track what the lawyers can claim is much less. Special Damages can still vary widely but quantum is much less often disputed as loss of earnings are clearly shown by payslips etc.

born_again

I take it that you have been sent for medicals etc to cover your injuries.

DullGreyGuy

born_again said:

I take it that you have been sent for medicals etc to cover your injuries.

Accident was 6 months ago... would be unusually early unless very minor injury. At this point the compensation is £495 and so the medical reports etc would be more than the compensation and GP records may well be relied on as the much cheaper option. 

boots_babe

born_again said:

I take it that you have been sent for medicals etc to cover your injuries.

No, that's one of the things that seems odd to me. They say they won't send me for a medical assessment until they've located the insurers to claim against,  and had a response from them. 

As I say, I know nothing about what the process 'should' be, so maybe that's normal. But it seems illogical to me that it's been months and still haven't assessed me. I will of course have medical notes from my doctor, physio and spianl consultant if they want them.

boots_babe

DullGreyGuy said:

born_again said:

I take it that you have been sent for medicals etc to cover your injuries.

Accident was 6 months ago... would be unusually early unless very minor injury. At this point the compensation is £495 and so the medical reports etc would be more than the compensation and GP records may well be relied on as the much cheaper option. 

Thanks DullGreyGuy, although that's not great news,  I've already spent more than £495 on physio and the consultant.  Obviously I'd spend it regardless of being reimbursed as it's been needed, but I'd expected that I would at least not be out of pocket.

boots_babe

boots_babe said:

DullGreyGuy said:

born_again said:

I take it that you have been sent for medicals etc to cover your injuries.

Accident was 6 months ago... would be unusually early unless very minor injury. At this point the compensation is £495 and so the medical reports etc would be more than the compensation and GP records may well be relied on as the much cheaper option. 

Thanks DullGreyGuy, although that's not great news,  I've already spent more than £495 on physio and the consultant.  Obviously I'd spend it regardless of being reimbursed as it's been needed, but I'd expected that I would at least not be out of pocket.

Ah have just read the link you posted, that says it's for whiplash specifically.  I did have whiplash but that's all resolved now. My ongoing issues aren't whiplash at all, so assuming there is a different process for reimbursement there?

DullGreyGuy

boots_babe said:

boots_babe said:

DullGreyGuy said:

born_again said:

I take it that you have been sent for medicals etc to cover your injuries.

Accident was 6 months ago... would be unusually early unless very minor injury. At this point the compensation is £495 and so the medical reports etc would be more than the compensation and GP records may well be relied on as the much cheaper option. 

Thanks DullGreyGuy, although that's not great news,  I've already spent more than £495 on physio and the consultant.  Obviously I'd spend it regardless of being reimbursed as it's been needed, but I'd expected that I would at least not be out of pocket.

Ah have just read the link you posted, that says it's for whiplash specifically.  I did have whiplash but that's all resolved now. My ongoing issues aren't whiplash at all, so assuming there is a different process for reimbursement there?

Settlement cannot be made until either 1) you are fully recovered or 2) doctors are willing to say with full confidence what your life long prognosis is. At times you will have more than one interview with a doctor but for 90% of cases it's hard to justify the extra cost.

The difference with non-soft tissue injuries now is that it's still a full negotiation rather than fixed tariff... means more backwards and forwards when the doctors reports come in etc. There is an obvious difference in process when you are talking about someone who received modest scaring -v- those that lost a limb and are in a wheelchair for life. Fortunately my cases were "fast track" so under £25,000 and only occasionally multi-track. 

Bluebell1000

Any compensation for the injuries would usually be in addition to reimbursing your expenses, so make sure you keep receipts (including mileage details if you drive to appointments). 

A claim I made took about 3 years, and that was only because I accepted an offer before the specialist reports were all finished (though this was the more complex multi track route).