Minor Whiplash Injury - 1K Offered - Do I Take It?

Joey122

Hi All,

I was involved in an accident where the guy went into the back of me.

They caused some damage to the car and I was on a busy dual carriage way at the time stationary when the guy shunted me at the back.

I went to see two doctors and one has said that I have significant midline tenderness whilst the other has said that my trapezius looks bulky and reccomended medicine and physio.

I will need to take about four days off work but I will be getting paid by my company for this so wont have loss of earning

The dilema I have is whether I should go to a solicitors or not - Personal injury guys are retty nasty an pushy and I d rather not get them involved

WHat do you think guys and girls?

Careful_with_that_Axe

Nope - don't settle yet - don't rush into anything. You don't say when the accident happened, but how can you be sure that the injury will resolve itself quickly and without complications? It may well do, but you have no guarantee and once you settle, that's that. You don't get to come back years later and say "but now ........."
I ended up with arthritis in my neck some 12 years after the original whiplash injury and the possibility of this was never mentioned at the time of settlement.
If you have Legal Cover with your car insurance, get these guys onto it.
Good luck to you.

Careful_with_that_Axe

p.s. if you can find a local solicitor who deals with personal injury, you don't need to get involved with the "ambulance chasers".

Joey122

Careful_with_that_Axe wrote: »

p.s. if you can find a local solicitor who deals with personal injury, you don't need to get involved with the "ambulance chasers".

Good point- I had the accident four days ago so I am amazed they want to settle so quickly.

Honestly they even offered to Chaps the cash over for today !!!!!!!

mattymoo

A lot of insurers are doing this now - offering to settle claims early so as not to line the pockets of solicitors who would rack up bills of £2-3k on relatively simple claims.

There are pros and cons. On the one hand you are getting cash early rather than after a year or so of correspondance and medical reports. To some people, this is a real benefit. Used to be a very popular tactic of ours in the run up to Christmas iirc.

On the other hand, as CWT Axe says, there can be complications. If I was a young person, no previous medical history, I might be tempted to take the money. But like CWT Axa, I've had 4 rear end shunts in the past 12 years and there is now an early onset of degenerative change - something we all get in later life, but I have it at 39. The tenderness and pain associated with whiplash always cleared within 6 months but the cummulative effect is long term.

Ask them if you can sit on the offer for a fortnight. If you feel better in that time and have a full range of movement in your neck, consider settling. If the pain persists, seek legal advice.

Happychappy

Whipcash is a great little earner, marvellous little industry set up to benefit from it, there really is no difference between the "Local Solicitor" and the ambulance chaser, all there to profit from the premuims paid ; ) only down side is it pushes up the premiums on everyones insurance, although it does pay the ambulance chasers (solicitors) kids private education, so something good for all ; )

Joey122

How much in administrative costs do these claims actually cost?

How much would a solicitor earn on a compenation claim amounting to 4K?

Always wondered

blue_haddock

The amount sounds pitifully small - i had a very very minor whiplash claim about 8 years ago and i got £2.5k for that so a measly grand looks like they are offering you some quick cash in order to save long term.

Incisor

Joey122 wrote: »

How much in administrative costs do these claims actually cost?

How much would a solicitor earn on a compenation claim amounting to 4K?

Always wondered

It's disproportionate. A solicitor will ask for £150 - £200 per hour for private clients [maybe less if he is working for an insurance co]. Over a period of a year or more on a claim of say £2500, he could easily rack up 50 hours - say £7500 to £10000.

Careful_with_that_Axe

On a seperate claim for an injury at work, it cost me £80 for an insurance policy with local solicitor for insurance against losing in a "no win, no fee" claim. I won the claim and also got the £80 premium back.

Careful_with_that_Axe

p.s. (again!) feel free to PM me if you feel I can help/advise at all. Can only offer advice from experience, not from any professional standpoint, but sometimes helps to have an outsiders' view of things.