Simon Lau

long story, on october 1st this year i was driving my car, with my wife, mum and sister's 9 year old daughter home after a nice lunch when suddenly this **** of an excuse for a driver in an ML 320 cut into my lane. result smashed up car (mine), fractured neck (me) but fortunately the rest of the family are ok. photos showed the mercedes back tyre mark on my driver side door so you can imagine where the back end of the his vehicle was? scared the crap of out me

after 3 months of police investigation into this traffic accident court proceedings will begin against that ****.

here's my situation:
i left my job of 6.5 years on the last day of septemper and was looking forward to a change of employment. i didn't have job to go into so was thinking of taking a couple of weeks off first. then as fate would have it this accident happened and since then i have not even been looking for work due to my neck injury. i have had numerous doctors and physiotherapy appointments at the local hospital. the injury has got better but it still hurts [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

burden
from the time of the accident until now i have spent thousand of pounds on repairing my car, general living expenses, household bills, personal loan, credit card payments and etc...

firstly i need to get myself legal representation, but what can i claim this idiot for?



[Edited by Simon Lau - 12/31/2003 2:35:03 PM]

Scooby96

You wont get anything for specific expenses like your credit card - I would think that your solicitor would apply for a loss of earnings, or potential loss of earnings in your case which should then be sufficient to cover your outgoings over the period and this should be adjusted for the predicted period this injury may be the cause of you not being able to work.

I would think the 3rd parties insurers will try a cheeky early offer which should *always* be rejected (just IMO).

You may also be able to seek additional expenses such as extra interest on loans that you have been unable to pay (if thats the case).

Good luck.

I would say however hasnt your solicitor advised you on this?

[Edited by Scooby96 - 12/31/2003 2:40:13 PM]

Simon Lau

well, i've not asked a solicitor for advice since the police had not concluded who was in the wrong. the letter only came though the post today!

nice result on the last day of 2003

Redkop

Doesn't your car insurance have Legal Cover included? Sometimes Household Insurance has this cover too.

Scooby96

Ah so its a criminal case - thought it was civil. Can you launch a civil case for damages whilst the criminal case is being heard or do you have to wait?

Or will you accept compo from the Criminal Compensation Board?

Look here

Dazza01

No job, no claim for loss of wages and until either the police or ur insurance company agree that he was to blame for the accident you won't get anything

Simon Lau

the said driver is being charged for careless driving, not reckless driving so i can't see this as being an act of violent criminal assault...

i want to claim for loss of earnings and personal injury if i can!

Scooby96

Potential loss of earnings.

I'm pretty sure you'll have to take out a separate civil case against him

Simon Lau

well, police have concluded after 3 months that the other driver was in the wrong and are instituting court proceedings against him for careless driving...

will check back on the thread later...cheers!

Simon Lau

scooby69, i'll do all in my power because he could have wiped my family out! the silly aszhole [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Dazza01

Been there m8, 14yrs ago, used up my hols, and took last week off work, had new job to goto on the monday, got flattened by a Army truck while riding my motorbike on the friday, broke legs & arm plus other injuires, new employer couldn't hold my job open for the time it was gonna take for me to be phiscally fit again to do it (running up ladders and stuff)so he wrote a letter explaining this to my solicitor giving info on what my wages would have been, without it i would have no claim for loss of wages.

All in all in took a total of 3 1/2 yrs to sort out, because they have to wait until u r 100% fit again and able to resume work before thay can but a figure on what ur likley to get.

edited to add, hope u take the tw@t for sh!te loads thou, cos i did


[Edited by Dazza01 - 12/31/2003 3:16:57 PM]

Scooby96

Simon Lau - good luck matey to55ers like this should have the book thrown at them.

Dazza - thats not entirely true cos whos to say he'll ever return to work.

They may even take into account the previous jobs salary and work from that plus an annual rise probably calculated at base rate.

Cant remember the case but a young lad who had just graduated in law and was walking straight into his fathers legal practice as a partner was awarded £2.5M

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Bloody big off roaders, 90% seem to be badly driven by arrogant tossers, hope you get some recompense.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Simon

Find a specialist Personal Injury Solicitor, preferably a member of APIL which is the recognised specialist body for them, and get them to do all the work on your behalf.

From the sound of it, proportioning blame is not going to be a problem. The CD charge is helpful as it makes things easier in the long run, but you have a good case. The solicitor will likely sign you up to No Win No Fee. This also means that possibly other than some medical report costs, you will not pay anything. When the case is won, the solicitor takes a success fee on top of his usual charges from the other side.


So...

You can claim for any reasonable loss that you have incured as a direct result of this accident.

Vehicle damage/repairs.
Pain & suffering to you as a result of your neck injury.
Employment/wages loss as a result of you being unable to work.
If the injury is likely to be irrepairable and affect your ability to work in the future, then this too will be factored in.
Any (reasonable) expenses occuring due to the accident, such as having to take a taxi (receipts needed) to the hospital as you cannot drive etc etc.

The idea is to try and compensate you for all loss and leave you no worse off than you were 10 seconds before the accident as it were. However, you have a duty of care to mitigate the other side's losses as well, so "bigging it up" is not permitted and might go against you should it come to court.

There are a couple of PI solicitors on the BBS & one user that works for one as a claims investigator or if you wish to mail me, my wife is a PI specialist. But at the end of the day, seek proper professional help from a specialist PI solicitor & not a "claims management" company - APIL Web Site

Simon Lau

cheers for the advice everyone, that 2.5M would be very nice

puff, although i'm based in hong kong the same laws will more or less apply here as we still follow the british legal system to a certain extent (if that still carries any strength). there will be similar bodies out here to those you've mentioned in your detailed reply. so i've taken everything onboard that you've said. thank you!

happy new year everyone it's 2004 2:25am here already...nite nite