Car Accident - Insurance Claim Advice Needed

leew

Hi all, hope someone can help me with this.

I was involved in a car accident in June where i was injured - luckily not seriously but i was off work for a week or so and without my car for about a month due to it having to be repairedn - it was quite badly damaged.

Due to my injury i spoke with a solicitorv and decided to go a head with a claim against the other party - she admitted 100% it was her fault ( drove into the side of me from a junction i had right of way)

Today i recieved a letter from my solicitors after i'd been to a medical examaround 2 weeks a go and in this letter it says and i quote " On the basis of the report we would advise you that the estimated value of your claim is approximately £200.00. This would not include any claim for financial losses, which would be seperate.

Basically i'd like to know is this the amount im going to get in compensation from the offending party? because i thought the other partys solicitors make the offer to me, not my own.

I'm just slighty confused here as i expected a little more than that ( JUST TO ADD MY INSURANCE HAS GONE UP BY AROUND £400 ALONE DUE TO THIS)

Can anyone give me some help/advice??

Thanks.

scheming_gypsy

the other party makes the offer to your solicitor who passes it onto you. what injury did you sustain? might help some people tell you if this is an acceptable offer.

soolin

If the other party was at fault in law, not just by admittance, I can't see why your insurance has gone up.

I had an accident a month ago, a car hit me from behind and his insurers admitted liability on his behalf. As the accident was deemed to be his fault in law, as well as in practice, I paid no excess nor do I lose my no claims as I was not at fault. I have just bought a new car as my car was written off and my insurance premiums have actually gone down.

Can you check with your insurers on this? I wonder if it was deemed a 50/50 accident so you both lose out?

Soo

leew

Thanks for the quick replys.

Firstly, the iinjury i sustained was a back injury, im no doctor so cant really say much else, went doctors a day after the accident and told me to take a week of work to see if it settles down, he wrote on my doctors note RTA - lower back injury.

soolin, my insurers waived my excess as the other party was to blame and re-instated my no claims bonus but it still seems to knock my insurance up on these online quote systems - think its because where it asks if you've had an accident in the past 5 years i have to say yes even though i was blameless.

I also know a friend who was on a bus involved in an accident and recieved £2,500 and was back at work a couple of days later!!

Dont get me wrong i wasnt expecting that but it seems pretty low for what ive had to put up with.

scheming_gypsy

i wouldn't accept then, with it being a back injury it can have a longer lasting effect. I claimed for whiplash after an accident in August and received £1700 although it all really depends on how 'honest' you were with your medical.
I've had 2 whiplash claims and i've never had the medical with 2 months. It's sounds as though everything is being rushed through and not enough time to see if your injuries have really healed. Once you accept the £200 you can't claim anything if the pain reoccurs or you find it hinders you doing anything.
If you reject the £200 then the other insurance company will either make another offer or want you to see a doctor of theirs and then just play on it a little bit

leew

scheming_gypsy wrote:

i wouldn't accept then, with it being a back injury it can have a longer lasting effect. I claimed for whiplash after an accident in August and received £1700 although it all really depends on how 'honest' you were with your medical.
I've had 2 whiplash claims and i've never had the medical with 2 months. It's sounds as though everything is being rushed through and not enough time to see if your injuries have really healed. Once you accept the £200 you can't claim anything if the pain reoccurs or you find it hinders you doing anything.
If you reject the £200 then the other insurance company will either make another offer or want you to see a doctor of theirs and then just play on it a little bit

The thing is thats what i thought i had, whiplash. I seeded to have the symptoms for it but then again im no doctor.

I shall be speaking to my solicitor on Tue before i sign anything because i think i got whiplash.

leew

Another thing is the accident occured in June and the solicitor sent me to see there doctor in August seems strange as i did recover by then.

scheming_gypsy

did you tell the doctor you'd fully recovered? From what i've experienced, as the solicitors make money from the claim as well they like to hold off as long as possible so it goes on longer, you get more claim money and so do they..
2 months seems really strange.

leew

Well sort of said i'd recovered, after all it had been 2 months since the accident but he made that assumption aswell i think.

Do you think its a good idea to speak to my solicitor then and tell them in not happy about the settlement?

Not sure what to do although im not happy with that figure, caused me alot of stress.

Alison_B

I was involved in an accident in April. I was a passenger in a car and somebody hit us from behind. I suffered quite badly with whiplash and am still having problems now. The physiotherapist said it could take up to 18 monts before feeling completely better. I haven't heard anything at all from their solicitors - so I would say your is pretty quick. I haven't even had an appointment to see an independant doctor yet.

My friends neighbour was involved in an accident in November last year and had everything sorted and settled by February but she wasn't too badly hurt.

Bossyboots

I have received an offer of £1000, before any medical reports have even been prepared. I have whiplash syndrome following my accident and will not be settling my claim before that is resolved. I am a rather perturbed by Alison_B's info that she has been told it could take 18 months. (From a pain point of view, not the money) My physio has not yet given a time scale but I hope that one he has my neck and back cracked back into line he will use the acupuncture he mentioned to relieve the symptoms.

leew, have you seen the report. You should have seen a copy of it and authorised its release before it was sent to the insurers. My solicitor had indicated to me that if I was symptom free at two months post accident, I would be seeing the doctor for a medical report. It is now seven weeks and it is looking unlikely that I will be seeing that doctor yet.