blip

My girlfriend was in a nasty accident last week when a landrover towing a trailer ran into the back of her stationery car at high speed. Her car was destroyed, and she was very lucky to walk (or more like wobble) away from it. She was very badly knocked about in the smack and was very shaken by it.

Anyway she has been totally wiped out physically from the crash and can hardly do anything. She is in constant pain and having been to see her GP twice has been put on very strong pain killers. The doctor told her she has moderate to severe whiplash.

She is self-employed and can't work at the moment and so needs to claim for all her losses as the other driver was 100% to blame (he admitted it, the police confirmed it, etc). Her insurance company has sent her details of their preferred claims solicitors, but I want to make sure I get her hooked up with the best firm that have the best chance of getting her some decent compensation from this.

I looked on the web and found loads of 'No Win - No Fee - Whiplash Specialist Solicitors - Etc, Etc'. But I don't have any experience of using any of them and would really appreciate any help or advice on these firms, and of any particularly good ones people have used in the past.

Many thanks

AllanB

I'd appreciate the same sort of info after being rear ended whislt stationary on the A1 and having blidning headaches for 2 months now and terrible neck pain and now missing work as a result. Not what I need when I have targets to hit

Hope it goes well for you as its not on when somone is genuinely loosing out thought the carelesness of others



AllanB

gingerflyer

her insurance may know a good lawyer for her,

get a claim in, dont take the first offer,
my claim was offer of £1000 in the first year lawyer claimed £4.500,
but stuck it out for 2 year 11 months, got offered £3,500 and
lawyer told me to accept that,

red_dog104

I'd go with the insurance company solicitors. I got £1,800 for whiplash and didn't miss a days work! Trust the insurance company. No win No Fee are a last resort and as she has a water tight claim then no need to consider them!

Stephb1986

i had a car crash 18 months ago i was badly injured i went with my insurance company's solicitor and she is fantastic she is claiming for everything. my car was wrote off and everything, i have severe whiplash, tinnitus in both ears, deafness in one ear, fractured knee and 3 ribs. tell her to get her ironing done as she cant do it herself. im getting around 25k just for injuries

blip

Many thanks for the replies , I was hoping someone might have used one of the 'No Win - No Fee' firms and could give me some opinions on them??

eldudereno

Why not go through your car insuarnce then, they're the experts?

OllyK

If you took out legal protection with your car insurance, use that, it's the easiest and you can expect between £1000 and £4000 payout depending on doctors reports etc.

The Mrs was hit from behind a couple of years back, she took the first offer of £2500 as all she wanted was to cover the physio costs and the excess on her insurance.

Izzy

Go with a well recognised firm of solicitors either used by, or recommended by your insurers. Avoid the "no win no fee" brigade - most of them are only in it for the quick buck & the money they can make for themselves. It's also worth noting that most injury claim handlers will also tell you that they are likely to deal with the more recognised firms more efficiently & fairly, purely because they have more mutual respect......

little-ginge

Agree with Izzy avoid the no win-no fee numpties at all costs but saying that..

Have a whiplash claim underway atm.. was hit last May when a chap ran a red light at a roundabout. Am going through insurance co. solicitors.. have had physio accupuncture etc, and today have received a letter saying they want a report done.. it's only taken the solicitor 5 months to sort this referral out..

Have been told by loads of people not to expect any sort of outcome for this claim for at least 2 years... I didnt believe it at first but seeing how long it takes to get things done I can see it now

Hope your other half begins to feel better soon

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

Why

Why

Really

wrx-kris

i think the average amount is £1800 going up to 5k...
might be wrong tho.............

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

There is no "average". A claim is based on any number of things including severity of injury, hardship and indevidual circumstances.

Seek advice from an APIL - Welcome to the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) website - recognised solicitors. They are the specialists in Personal Injury and are not there just to rush through claims as fast as possible to recover the meagre fees given to them by insurance companies. Not to say APIL rip you off as No Win No Fee is available from them as well but they will on the whole do a better overall job.

CrisPDuk

The difference between reputable solicitors and 'no win, no fee' ambulance chasers is a great as the difference between reputable mortgage lenders and Carol Vorderman's friends

Just as Vorderman is for the pikeys and chavs with a million CCJs and no brain, Ambulance Chasers are really aiming for the retards who's own stupidity brought about their predicament, but are looking for someone to blame

No Win, No Fee means exactly that. the reason they can afford to operate in this way is that they charge exhorbitant costs against the cases they win

gatecrasher3

Funny how so many people become experts having received payouts from whiplash claims

gatecrasher3

How do the costs they charge affect the amount recovered for their clients? I think you'll find that any costs and disbursments will be recovered from the defendants/loosing party and regardless of who is claiming them back they can only claim what is reasonable.

Also I think you will find that the majority of solicitors on your "ambulance chasers" panel will in fact be APIL registered.

It's not profitable for any company to take on a case that doesn't have reasonable prospects for success!

Phil

I used a reputable local firm who looked at my case and said they would take it on simple because it was not proving fault just justifying the claim

Had a sensible payout for the level of injuries

Phil

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

Oh you did did you....... Judas

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

The type of case we started off talking about was an RTA with whiplash.

You may or may not be aware but these kind of cases are dealt with under a fixed cost regime. In other words it doesn't matter how long it takes, how much work is done the legal costs are based upon a rigid structure related to the compensation.

So, there are no "exhorbitant costs" in these cases (worth less than £10,000) and given the fact that "no WIN, no FEE" means exactly that, the Solicitors will not be getting paid for the work that they do on cases that don't succeed.

What exactly is wrong with "no win, no fee" anyway. What risk does it pose to you as a customer. If you win your case you get paid compensation. If you lose you pay absolutely nothing. Where's the catch? The only loser is the Solicitor as far as I can see.

You appear to be confusing the funding arrangement with the advertisers on television. It is the claim management companies who do that (albeit a very very few solicitors) It is the antics of the claims management companies who have tarnished the profession. As PUFF quite rightly said, don't use them. Go to a Solicitor directly.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers will put you in touch with a specialist Solicitor who will deal with your case at no cost to you whatsoever.

Sorry, rant over but the confusion is not helping anyone...

Phil

Sorry Mate

This was in my Bugeye Scoob good few years ago before you joined the fold
T&F deal with all my affairs at the moment [Female Lawyers ]

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

I forgive you then, just.

NotoriousREV

Hi Mrs Rev here. I was in an accident just over 12 months ago where a HGV re-ended my Forrester. Obviously not my fault but i did suffer whiplash, not as severe as your girlfriend though. Anyway i didn't have legal cover with my insurance so i went through injury lawyers 4 u , you must have seen the ads, basically the have a panel of solicitors who randomly get allocated cases. I had a medical assesment and was estimated 2500 but has the consultant hadn't made the duration of my injures clear they were asked to clarify this. Basically there second report played down my injuries and i was then told 1200 as an estimate. Anyway the claim was submitted without this second report and i got offered 2k which i have had to take as if i pushed it i could have got less because of that report. However some relatives also had a similiar crash and one got 2600 and the other 3000 plus 500 for chiropractor fees incidently they had legal cover and went through the insurance. I feel a bit hard done by a my injuries where greater and i have not even had my loss of earnings reinbursed. One thing i would say is make sure her Gp fully documents her notes as to the extent of her suffering and injuries as the lack of this let my claim down. HTH.

red_dog104

I was bitten in the face by a dog in the street a couple of years ago and the only ones who would take the case were a no win no fee company HOWEVER i still had to pay them a percentage of my winnings. Don't trust the lazy money grabbing ****es!

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

And people wonder why our insurance premiums are so high.
Its nice to have the option to claim, but don't we all take a risk when we get in our cars? Its a fact of life. The main thing that should be in anyones mind after such an accident is, 'I'm alive!'
Sorry to hear about your girlfriend, hope she gets better soon.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Are you for real? NO WIN NO FEE. You won, so what's the problem with them charging for getting you some money?

Dracoro

You'd get more if you went to a normal solicitor, they'd probably charge a fixed amount (regardless if you won or not, but then again you have a good case, surely so what are the chances of losing?) which will be less than with a no win, no fee types.

Additionally, the normal (more reputable in most cases) solicitors will provide a much better case for you than the no win, no fee who work on the numbers game (i.e. try as many cases as possible to get more fees on those won) which is great for the solicitor but no so great for the consumer.

A no win no fee will probably always 'have a go' with your case whereas more reputable solicitors will give you a more realistic view on whether you actually have a case or not (if you had a weak case, you may even run the risk of being counter-sued).

A decent solicitor will also put forward a better case and thus a better claim award i.e. more money for you. Good solicitors go to good and reputable firms, junior and crap solicitors end up working for these no win no fee companies.

If you lose, you will also have to pay re-imbursements (you can insure against these and I bet I know who knows a good 'insurer' ) to the courts, so while it may be no win no fee, you will end up out of pocket if you lose (remember a better solicitor will recommend you not taking the case to court if you have a poor case unlike the no win no fee ones).

Ask if they adhere to the law society code of practice.

Maybe it was better when solicitors were not allowed to advertise their services but that changed a few years ago (hence all this advertising on chav-tv).

gatecrasher3

Out of interest who do you think deals with the no win, no fee cases (i.e. National Accident Helpline)?

Solicitors perhaps? APIL registered by any chance?

Rage!

It's always 'whiplash' or 'back pain' oooh boo hoo it hurts but look at that.... absolutely no physical evidence of the injury whatsoever. I think the authorities need to look at the payout dates of insurance claims and cross reference with the purchase of plasma televisions and start prosecuting your fraudulent asses.

Dracoro

Well of course However, if they were really good solicitors do you honestly think they'd be working for these tpye of companies? I doubt it. Additionally, the national accident helpline isn't manned by solicitors on phones you know. The case may end up with a solicitor but it won't start there..

Regardless, why use a no-win no-fee when you'll get more money/compo using a normal solicitor.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Fookin heck, I broke my ankle at work last year, 6 weeks off work and I never claimed, maybe I should stick a claim in if she is genuinely injured contact the insurance company and stick a claim in mate, but no offense meant to you, I see claims for whiplash these days where the only damage done has been a broken rear light I am not insinuating that your case is not authentic , just saying that the real cases are being undermined by the freeloading bastids.