We have launched a campaign to encourage people to instruct a solicitor when making a personal injury claim. This is prevent the growing number of people who are settling their claims for much less than they are worth.
If an injured person uses a solicitor and wins their case, the insurance company will have to pay the compensation to the injured person and the costs of their solicitor. Many insurance companies have been trying to prevent the injured person instructing a solicitor who is an accident specialist, so that the insurance company saves money by paying less compensation and not having to pay the solicitor.
Litigation and Personal Injury solicitor and accident specialist Vijay Srivastava explains,
“When a road accident occurs, people always exchange insurance particulars. This means that the insurance company gets your contact details before there is time to instruct a solicitor. When the insurance company recognises that their customer is at fault, they then contact the injured person directly to offer for example to repair their car, arrange for a hire car and pay them immediate compensation (without getting any medical evidence to confirm the extent or the long-lasting effects of the injury), typically in the sum of £1000.”
Settling straight away can be tempting to the injured person because it is a quick fix, without much hassle and inconvenience, but in many cases the injured person is doing themselves a huge disservice. The reality is that most of these injured people are settling their claims for less than they are worth. Firstly the injured person doesn’t know how much their claim is truly worth (because they are not experts) and secondly the way the courts value compensation based on what your injury is and the longer you have been suffering the larger your claim. Settling your claim on day one generally means you have settled at an undervalue. By not getting any medical evidence you simply don’t know what your injuries are, how long you are going to be suffering for, whether there are going to be any long-term effects and consequently you don’t know how much your claim is worth.
Always speak to an ‘Accident Specialist’
Vijay comments,
“We are currently running a case where an insurance company offered £1000 to our client. Our client refused to accept this amount and instructed us. We value the claim in excess of £20,000. We have another case where the insurance company offered our client £1000. He did not accept that amount but instead instructed us. We value the case in excess of £50,000 and consequently the insurance company has now increased their offer to £10,000. We are also dealing with a case where our client was offered £1000. He did not accept it and instructed us. Our investigation of his medical condition and the obtaining of the appropriate medical reports (including a report from a neurologist) showed that the accident had caused damage to blood vessels leading to his head which now cause him dizziness. He has a manual job which involves a lot of bending, consequently he is unable to perform his job any more. His claim will be worth significantly more than £1000.”
For more information or to speak to one of our accident specialists about a possible claim please call us on 0161 785 3534.
Team: Vijay Srivastava and Shalish Mehta
Vijay Srivastava
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