road traffic accident injury

Clive_Woody

bilbo wrote: »

v-tricky

Thanks for you time on this you seen very wise on the matter

What sort of first letter approach should I do to the insurance company?

I've actually got a figure in mind have done a lot of background research on accidents.

Should I nail my colours to the mast with the amount or aim a little higher for them to haggle a little.

Should I tell them I am getting advice from a professional and will be handling the claim myself?

Send them a letter (recorded delivery) quoting your insurance claim number and giving details of the accident and your injury. Give details of where you received medical treatment. Explain that you would prefer to avoid the hassle of involving solicitors unless it becomes neccessary but you will be making a claim for your injuries. Do not mention any figures to them. Ask them to respond within 14 days or you will contact a solicitor to pursure your claim.

They will no doubt come back requesting more information and will most likely ask you to attend a local GP to prepare a medical report on their behalf.

Once they have the report they will most likely contact you be telephone often while you are work and make you an offer. They will put pressure on you to accept immediately, only do this if you are happy with the proposed figure, but they will offer low at first. If you are not happy say so and ask them to come back with a revised offer within 7 days or you feel it is in your best interest to speak with a solicitor and ask them to act on your behalf. They may ask if you have a figure in mind and where you got this figure from, just say you were advised by a friend who is a solicitor.

V_tricky

Clive Woody's advice seems pretty good

* Certainly write to them recorded delivery, ensuring that your claim number is clear at the top of the letter.

* Tell them where it hurt, how much it hurt on a scale of 1-10 after the accident, a week later, and then how long it took for all residual symptoms to end.

* Give details of where you received medical treatment. Also tell them what you told us - ie tell them that you were off work for a week on doctors advice. Also tell them whether you intend to claim for loss of earnings or not. Obviously if you get full company sick pay then this would not apply, although it might be in your T&C's of employment that your employer can claim this, but then that's down to them to if they want to.

* Tell them how long you were suffering for, and how it affected your life (don't over dramatize - you wont get sympathy!) Just that if it hurt when you drove long distances, picking up your children, or if you were sitting at your computer for long periods of time etc, did it affect your work when you went back? did it affect anything around the house?

* Do give them a time limit to come back to you on, but 21 days is probably more realistic. Most insurers have several weeks and/or MONTHS worth of post backlog. So my best advice here would be to call them a few days after you've sent the letter to confirm receipt, and ask to speak to the file owner (if there is one).

* Also send them your doctors name & address, details of any hospital attended, and your date of birth & national insurance number. This is so that they can register your claim with the department of work & pensions compensation recovery unit (so if you were taken to hospital, or have received benefits that the government can claim ££ back from the insurer).

Now it depends what you realistically feel your injury is worth and how badly injured you were. You could put a line in your letter saying something like

"I have no wish to see this simple matter turn into a long drawn out process as I'd rather put it behind me, so can confirm that I would accept a sum of £XXX in full and final settlement which I feel is a fair settlement based on the information that I have provided above. If this offer is rejected however, and you opt to send me for a GP medical examination, this offer must be considered withdrawn and upon receipt of the report I will take further advice on the GP's treatment recommendations (if any) and estimated prognosis."

I disagree that they will necessarily put pressure on you to accept any offers they make - but of course they might, so be prepared to listen to what they say, and tell them that you want to take advice before accepting their offer.

They also wont necessarily make an outrageously low offer - the Courts would take a very dim view of someone without a solicitor being forced into litigating because some insurer was trying it on. You might be able to get a higher offer (even by a couple of hundred) by rejecting their offer and giving them a further timeframe to respond though, and all you've lost is the price of a phonecall or stamp and a couple of weeks.

Clive_Woody

V_tricky wrote: »

If this offer is rejected however, and you opt to send me for a GP medical examination, this offer must be considered withdrawn

All good advice, although I would be cautious about saying this part shown above as I doubt any insurance company will be prepared to make a pay out without an independent medical report and confirmation of the extent of the injury. The GP appointment will be at the OPs convienience and should not be a major hassle. For the sake of a prompt resolution I would advise to play along with the GP report. Obviously it's up to the OP on how they choose to play it.

V_tricky

I can guarantee that it happens

Obviously as a general rule it would be for minor injuries, no significant length of time off work, no history of repeated injury claims.

Either way, the OP's not going to lose anything by asking - if that's what they want to do.

bilbo let us know how you get on!

Clive_Woody

V_tricky wrote: »

I can guarantee that it happens

Obviously as a general rule it would be for minor injuries, no significant length of time off work, no history of repeated injury claims.

Either way, the OP's not going to lose anything by asking - if that's what they want to do.

bilbo let us know how you get on!

Fair enough, not looking to start an argument, just expecting insurance companies to ask you to jump through hoops before handing over any cash.

Not my line of work, it was my FIL who ran a re-insurance company for many years so picked up on things he has said about trying to get money off an insurance company.

choccybikkie_2

Clive_Woody wrote: »

All good advice, although I would be cautious about saying this part shown above as I doubt any insurance company will be prepared to make a pay out without an independent medical report and confirmation of the extent of the injury. The GP appointment will be at the OPs convienience and should not be a major hassle. For the sake of a prompt resolution I would advise to play along with the GP report. Obviously it's up to the OP on how they choose to play it.

I was in a RTA on Dec 12th 2007.
The other driver admitted full liability and my car was towed to the garage.The next day her insurance co (elephant) called us to say that they were dealing with everything and were going to assess my car etc. The claims department asked me lots of questions about how I was feeling and if I had any pain (I felt like i'd done 10 rounds boxing the next morning when everything had seized up and I had 2 black v painfully bruised knees).
She then went on to offer me £935 there and then-LESS THAN 24hrs later!!!!!.-I declined as I was obviously unsure how long my injuries would last.BUT they did also pay £200 into my account to buy 3 new car seats for my children straightr away-no need for proof of cost or anything.
Anyway I got my car back immaculate last week and also agreed on a comp offer of £1800 (with NO medical checks). Recieved cheque in 4 days with no hassle whatsoever.
:T Well done Elephant.

V_tricky

£1800!? Cor blimey! Now that I am quite suprised about!

Ten or maybe 5 years ago, things were done very very differently - insurers wouldn't just accept a GP medical report, but insist on a full orthopaedic surgeons report before offering a dime

I assume the reason why on basic whiplash claims with no fraud indicators insurers are starting to offer £££ without medical evidence is that basically a GP who is seeing someone 6 months after an accident, and 5 months after the person has fully resolved, cannot really add very much more than what the injured party can, and the injured party doesn't charge £200-300 for the benefit!

sarahg1969

bilbo wrote: »

I've now been to see orthopedic specialist who says I will have recovered in 18 months if I have some more physio

so 18 months pain and suffering from lower back car whiplash injury

what compensation should I hope for ??

Thanks

Assuming you are represented, the best option is to ask your solicitor.

MrsTinks

Have you been unable to work as a direct result? This can have a large effect of any claim, but if you have your employer would possibly be getting re-imbursed your sick pay out of your pay out... there is no set in concrete rule about how much you will get - all injuries and circumstances are different. Discuss with your solicitor what you feel would be an amount that would compensate you for the pain and inconvenience of your injuries, not what someone with possibly slightly similar injuries have been awarded - and make sure you can explain why you feel that you deserve the amount you come up with - that would be the best way of getting a fair pay out in my view...

geri1965_2

bilbo wrote: »

recieved an offer last week for £2900 for whiplash back injury

after specialist report saying that I would make full recovery in 18 months in his opinion
solicitor has advised me that he thinks offer is ok what do you think ??
had physio and weeks of work originally after the incident

It's in the right ballpark, but never accept the first offer!