Last February a woman drove straight into the side of our runabout at around 35mph. She failed to even slow down, never mind give way, at a new mini roundabout as we were going straight accross.

I was sat in the passenger seat and my girlfriend was driving.

My girlfriend is still suffering the effects of the whiplash now (genuine injury) where as I was back to normal after 6 weeks (having suffered some upper back and neck pain). We have consultant reports to confirm these injurys.

They defendant didnt admit responsibility for 1 month so we didnt get a payout for our vehicle for 6 weeks. We didnt recieve a courtesy car for that period as the defendant didnt admit responsibility.

My girlfriend was off paid work for 8 weeks (she's a student nurse) as a result of her injurys. She did not recieve sick pay as it was a part time job so is claiming for loss of earnings.

We recieved an offer for her claim today (mine will come through soon). Once you deduct loss of earning we are left with a "final" offer of £2850.

I was under the impression that the compensation for the loss of use of a vehicle alone should amount to £630-£840 (£15-£20 a day).

Our solicitor says "I think this is a very reasonable figure and have no hesitation in advising you to accept".

This sounds a little low to me and I always thought that you should refuse the first offer as the insurance companies try it on. Has anyone any informed and constructive advise as to whether it is, in fact, a reasonable offer and as to what the term "final" means. Has it a literal meaning, i.e. that they will NOT increase the offer under any circumstances, or is it just leagal jargon designed to trick claimants into accepting a lower offer?

Any help as to what we should do would be massively appriciated.

Bren

Trouble is if you refuse the first figure these things have a habit of draging on for months/years.

A couple of years ago my girlfriend had somebody drive into the back of her when she was stationary and suffered whiplash. The car was written off and the money for that was paid out pretty quickly (Well quickly for an insurance company!)

A while later they came back with an offer for the whiplash injury of (I think) £1,250. I advised my girlfriend to take this but her solicitor told her to hold out for more money. This then dragged on for months and months until it got to the stage where it looked like my girlfriend was going to have to go to court for the money. At the last minute (And over a year after the initial claim) they finally came back with an offer of £1750 which she accepted.

Is it really worth all the hassle and waiting for a few hundred quid more?

Mmmm, depends on how low their first offer is. Dont forget theres two claims, my g/friends and mine. If they are both £500 too low then that might be worth waiting for.

Anyone else?

Bren

Bren

ALWAYS turn down the first offer.

TONY

A friend of mine was hit in his Impreza last year. He suffered very minor whiplash injuries (and was utterly honest about this), didn't lose any earnings, and his solicitor negotited a new 525iSE for him to drive while his Impreza was off the road (for 2 months). On top of that he received £2000 compensation.

Given the far greater loss that you and your girlfriend have suffered I would definitely hold out for more compensation. AFAIK you solicitor will just take a fixed percentage of the offer as "costs", so it is in his/her interest to minimise the actual costs ... and that may mean advising you to accept a sub-standard offer.

Good luck ... I know just how frustrating this whole business can be.

Andrew.

I had a car accident in Feb. this year(some old duffa backed out of his drive straight into me as I drove past). I didn't use a solicitor, his insurance company offered a payout (after paying for 10 physio sessions for me) and I turned it down, but I told them what I would settle for and they agreed and two weeks later I had the cheque.
Perhaps you could try this tact.

Once the insurance company admit liability the solicitor will bill them for work done. It isn't usually a %. I was involved in a bike accident 4 years ago. Someone pulled out in front of me, spotted me at the last minute and stopped. They said it was my fault as the car was not moving when i hit it. They offered me 2500.00. Solicitor said take it. I was totally P'd off with them so refused it. They upped the offer to 4k. I still refused and insisted it go to court. On the morning of the case my varrister had filed an injury claim for 20k (apparently these are always massively over inflated). The insurance company asked me what it would take to settle at that point. I said 10k. They laughed. We went into the hearing. The judge awarded me 20k for my injuries found it to be 50% my fault and awarded my 20k for my injuries - giving me a settlement of 10k. Cost the insurance company 25 though, but if they had offered 4k first time around I would have settled. My advice would be to hold out on her claim. I know UK injury payments are lower than NI ones but this one does seem a bit low

Thanks guys http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/smile.gif

My solicitor will bill the insurance company direct, they dont take a fee from the payout. It crossed my mind that they might just want rid of my case because they are busy or because they dont deem the extra hassle worth the money and thats why they are suggesting that I accept the offer??? I know they are always supposed to have their clients best interests at heart but Im not naive enough to actually believe that! http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/biggrin.gif

I think we'll at least wait until see what they offer me before making a move.

Bren

You have inbound...

Bren,
I myself was very seriously injured in a road traffic smash 5 yrs ago this month,My advice to you is to hold out as long as possible and take it from me this things can take forever to settle mine took 5 yrs but that was because of the seriouness of my injuries thanks to a drunk driver, my other piece of advice is if you are having to pay for physio or anything like that hold on to all the bills and give them to your solictor, anything you are having to pay for because of these injuries you are entitled to claim back and you should never be out of pocket.
Hope all goes well mate keep us informed.
Cheers
Colin