had car crash how do i claim ?

loopy_lass

was in a friends car at the weekend when we were rear ended (dinged from behind at around 20-30 mph) ... :eek:
ive hurt my back and neck, my 14yr old has hurt her neck. All drivers are (we hope) insured, it wasnt my friends fault. Luckily a police officer witnessed the whole thing as our accident was due to his mate already rear ending someone a little further down the road (which police officer was attending) & they were laffing at him and didnt get stopped in time for us in a queue!!!!!!

How do i claim for me & my daughters injuries as we really cud do with seeing a osteopath as soon as poss. But im on benefits.

Do i claim off my friends insurance ??? if so how?
or does my friend claim off the other persons insurance on my behalf?

We did go off to hospital some hours after, as the pains n strains didnt really start kicking in till then, the deciding factor was my 14yr old who developed a stiff neck and headache and wanted to sleep...

any info much appreciated ... thanks

Annie_SW

I believe you claim through your friend's insurance who will then claim off the other person's insurance. I would ask your friend to speak to their insurers and explain the situation in the first instance.

Do make sure you and your daughter keep seeking medical attention if necessary.

Good luck.

Bossyboots

I think it is the opposite, that they have to claim off the driver who did the rear ending.

To make a claim, you have to prove negligence. The driver of the car the OP was in was not negligent and therefore there is no claim to be had from their insurer.

The driver and the police will have the details of the other driver. It would be a good idea to see a specialist solicitor (not claim farmer) to get this started.

Don't expect to see an oesteopath straightaway. I need physio for my injuries sustained more than a month ago and am still pushing to get this done privately rather than wait 2 months for the nhs.

nadnad

Hello - I work as a personal injury claims handler for an insurance company. Your friend should report this accident to her own insurance company. You should go and see a solicitor who specialises in these types of claims - do you have the insurance details of the other driver? Your solicitor will write a letter of claim to the other driver's insurance company and they will take it from there. Tell your solicitor you are interested in oseopathy/physiotherapy - they may be able to arrange something through the insurance company. The place I work offers physiotherapy and this can be organised very quickly - its to everyones benefit - the quicker you get better - the less money the insurance company will have to pay so its worth a try.

any more questions just ask.

Bossyboots

nadnad wrote:

The place I work offers physiotherapy and this can be organised very quickly - its to everyones benefit - the quicker you get better - the less money the insurance company will have to pay so its worth a try.

any more questions just ask.

This is what I figured but I don't seem to be getting anywhere at the moment. Is there any particular way of approaching this that you would recommend to persuade the company I am claiming from that the physio should be sooner rather than later. I have been told by my local hospital physio department that these injuries are best treated within the first six weeks and after that, recovery is slower so if physio is not started in that time they will not treat you as a priority.

My main concern is that we are driving to Scotland in four weeks time for what was supposed to be a really special holiday. This will mean me doing my share of the driving, approximatly 5 hours over two days. Even driving for 20 minutes makes me ache so I see the holiday being ruined if something is not done beforehand.

BoltonMinx

AFAIK, most accident claims solicitors have now signed up to a new code of practice issued in April 2005 in which the claimant MUST be evaluated for physiotherapy as soon as possible once the solicitor has accepted their case. This is to put the emphasis on healing the claimant faster rather than paying out large amounts of compensation.

Sorry I can't go into more detail, but I stopped working for Premex, who are a medico-legal agency that deal with medical reports and I dont have quick access to this information anymore. By the way, Premex don't deal directly with members of the public, so this is in no way a plug for them!

I worked on a project to evaluate and offer if required physiotherapy from 2 wks post-accident and most of the big accident claims firms were signed up to it. I would be very cautious with a firm that wasnt signed up to this code as the insurance companies are really cracking down on amount of compensation paid now-a-days.

BoltonMinx

NB: I can reccomend one or two firms myself and my family/friends have used if you PM me, but its only my opinion! My advice would be to use your friends insurance companies in-house firm if they are any good as all your claims will most likely be handled by a single fee earner.

Bossyboots

BoltonMinx wrote:

AFAIK, most accident claims solicitors have now signed up to a new code of practice issued in April 2005 in which the claimant MUST be evaluated for physiotherapy as soon as possible once the solicitor has accepted their case. This is to put the emphasis on healing the claimant faster rather than paying out large amounts of compensation.

Sorry I can't go into more detail, but I stopped working for Premex, who are a medico-legal agency that deal with medical reports and I dont have quick access to this information anymore. By the way, Premex don't deal directly with members of the public, so this is in no way a plug for them!

I worked on a project to evaluate and offer if required physiotherapy from 2 wks post-accident and most of the big accident claims firms were signed up to it. I would be very cautious with a firm that wasnt signed up to this code as the insurance companies are really cracking down on amount of compensation paid now-a-days.

I have informed my solicitor that my GP has already referred me for physio and he has referred it to the insurance company who will be paying the claim. The claims handler was on holiday last week and I must admit I am a bit disappointed not to have heard back today. My GP had originally given me a two week recovery from the injuries, and for most of them that was correct. However when I was still in pain after three weeks, she instantly said physio and that was two weeks ago.

wendytiggermad

loopy_lass wrote:

was in a friends car at the weekend when we were rear ended (dinged from behind at around 20-30 mph) ... :eek:
ive hurt my back and neck, my 14yr old has hurt her neck. All drivers are (we hope) insured, it wasnt my friends fault. Luckily a police officer witnessed the whole thing as our accident was due to his mate already rear ending someone a little further down the road (which police officer was attending) & they were laffing at him and didnt get stopped in time for us in a queue!!!!!!

How do i claim for me & my daughters injuries as we really cud do with seeing a osteopath as soon as poss. But im on benefits.

Do i claim off my friends insurance ??? if so how?
or does my friend claim off the other persons insurance on my behalf?

We did go off to hospital some hours after, as the pains n strains didnt really start kicking in till then, the deciding factor was my 14yr old who developed a stiff neck and headache and wanted to sleep...

any info much appreciated ... thanks

All drivers are (we hope) insured, it wasnt my friends fault. Surely you should have known that before getting into the vechicle?? insurance???

nadnad

Bossyboots - can you afford to pay for your physio privately - even if only for one or two sessions until the insurance company's physio kicks in - if so then you can claim it back as "special damages" together with your general damages claim. If not then tell your solicitor to keep at the insurance company - I assume that most companies are like the one I work for and provide this service - however from experience this time of year is hard to get anything done - claims handlers being on holiday and no one to look after their workload etc. My only advice is to keep at them.

Savvy_Sue

wendytiggermad wrote:

All drivers are (we hope) insured, it wasnt my friends fault. Surely you should have known that before getting into the vechicle?? insurance???

If someone offers me a lift, asking whether they're insured isn't the first question which springs to mind ...

I can't think any of my friends wouldn't be insured, but at work we have a van which inevitably has the odd minor accident. On two recent occasions it was our fault, and phone numbers were exchanged, but we never heard from the 'other' driver so it wouldn't surprise me if the 'other' driver didn't have some kind of irregularity about their vehicle which made them reluctant to want details put into the insurance database.

The truth is that an increasing number of drivers are NOT insured, if you have a local paper you will probably find a whole string of court cases for driving without insurance at least once each week. It is stupid, it is criminal, but the fine is less than the £1000 a young man might have to pay for a fast car, so they are prepared to take the risk.