A lot of people who ask this question have received what is known as a pre-medical offer. This is an offer received in respect of your injuries prior to you obtaining a medical report.  But what does that mean?

In the claims process you will be asked to attend a medical appointment once liability for your claim is admitted, so that a legal medical report can be compiled.  This is arguably the most important part of your claim because it is enables your claim to be properly valued by your expert injury lawyer.  You medical report will diagnose your injuries and provide a prognosis (how long your injuries will last for) and from this your claim can be valued.  Generally, the more severe your injury and the longer it lasts, the more your claim is worth.

So a pre-medical offer is an offer received prior to you getting a medical report.  Is this a good or a bad thing?
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In April 2010 a new system to deal with road traffic accident claims was introduced and has made claiming quicker and more straightforward.  Before April 2010 the claims process could be a little bit slow – it could take nearly 4 months for the Defendant to admit liability in the most straightforward of cases, and then could take several more months, maybe a year or so, to get settled.  Now you could have your claim settled in just a few short of months!

Under the new system, if you have been involved in a relatively straightforward road traffic accident you will need to submit what is called a Claim Notification Form.  If you have the right injury lawyer on your side they will do this for you.  In any event it is quite straightforward and just outlines what happened in your accident and details those involved.

Once ready, this gets submitted online via the Ministry of Justice Portal to the Defendant’s insurer who has just one business day to acknowledge it.  The Defendant’s insurer then has a further 15 business days to come back with their position on liability – in other words, whether they admit or deny fault for the accident.  Compared to the old system which could take several months, this is a vast improvement.
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If you are a passenger in a motor vehicle which has been involved in a road accident and you have been injured, we have a little good news for you; you are entitled to compensation and your claim has one of the best prospects of success and should not take long at all.

It is very unlikely that as a passenger you were to blame for the accident you were involved in.  You would have had to have been distracting the driver or doing something along those lines to be considered in any way at fault.  If you were in the vehicle whose driver was not at fault for the accident, you are almost certainly going to have a successful claim. 

Likewise, even if you were in the car that caused the accident, you probably won’t have been at fault and again are almost guaranteed a successful claim.
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You should know from the outset of your claim that without medical evidence and without knowing precisely what losses you have suffered as a result of the accident your were injured in, it is nigh impossible to properly value your claim.  This is because a medical report is the only source of information that an injury lawyer can value you your claim from and because your related losses can have a significant effect on the value of your claim.

A medical report provides a diagnosis of your injuries – in other words, what your injuries are and the extent of these, and also provides a prognosis – an idea of how long a medical expert believes you will suffer from your injuries for.  The general rule is that the more severe your injuries and the longer they last, the more your claim will be worth.

In terms of losses, there are many heads of losses that you can claim.  For instance, if you have had to have time off work because of your injuries then you can make a claim for any monies that you have lost out on.  Likewise, if you have had to pay any travel costs getting to and from a medical appointment or have had to pay for medication, these costs can be claimed from the Defendant. 
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I am sure most of us realise that is illegal to drive without insurance – one thing is for certain however, some of us choose to drive without insurance.  In fact, each year, one million people drive on our roads without insurance.

Given that the usual route to getting compensation if you have been injured by a negligent third party in a road traffic accident is by pursuing their insurance company, this begs the question, how do you get compensation from an uninsured driver?

An expert injury lawyer should advise that you can still make a claim for compensation through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau who were set up back in 1946 to help those who suffer at the hands of negligent uninsured drivers.  After all, just imagine a scenario where you were unable to get compensation for you injuries simply because the Defendant committed the offence of driving without insurance, this would not be right.  That is why, each year, when you pay for your insurance premium, about £15 to £30 of this goes to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau compensation fund.  You just never know, one day it may come in handy for you!
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If someone asked me what I considered to be a ‘dead cert’ for a claim for compensation, I would say a passenger claiming compensation for injuries they got in a road traffic accident. 

A passenger would have to do something highly unusual, possibly extreme, to be considered to be at fault for the accident.  Under current law, you can be compensated for any injuries you have got through no fault of your own, which is why passenger accident claims are often the most straightforward.

It does not matter whether the passenger was in the vehicle whose driver was at fault for the accident, so long as the passenger themselves cannot be considered responsible for the accident.  Where the accident was not your fault, you can get compensation for your injuries.
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I expect that not everyone reading this blog will know what a pre-medical offer is, let alone have ever received one.  Let me quickly explain.

The claims process is quite structured.  Your injury lawyer will submit a Letter of Claim (in none straightforward road accident claims) which outlines your accident and injuries to the Defendant at the beginning of your claim and the Defendant will be allowed to make investigations. 

Once liability is admitted, you will be asked to attend a medical appointment so that a medical report can be compiled which provides a diagnosis and prognosis.  With your permission, this is then disclosed to the Defendant along with any details of other losses you may have, and offers of compensation are invited.  A pre-medical offer therefore is an offer that is made by the Defendant in respect of your injuries prior to you disclosing or even obtaining a medical report.
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Most people in the United Kingdom drive.  Some are more confident drivers than others, but I think it is fair to say that there is always an aspect of driving that people least prefer.  For some people, the use of roundabouts can be terrifying, or at least, not particularly pleasurable.  Unfortunately accidents on roundabouts occur daily.  But it is not just those people who dislike roundabouts and are nervous when approaching a roundabout that cause the accidents, people who are overconfident often cause accidents too.

There are several types of accidents which happen on roundabouts.  Here are a few examples:

• You are waiting to get onto the roundabout and are queuing in traffic on the approach when a vehicle fails to heed the presence of your vehicle and slow down in time and goes into the rear of your vehicle
• You are proceeding round the roundabout when someone pulls out onto the lane in front of you mistakenly thinking they have enough time to do so and collides with your vehicle
• You are proceeding round the roundabout when someone realises they are in the wrong lane, and without noticing that you are in the lane, they want to be in changes lane and collides into your vehicle

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Whiplash is one of the most common types of injury we come across here at The Injury Lawyers.  This is because the most common type of accident claim is a road traffic accident claim. 

At the end of the day there are millions of cars on our roads, and humans make mistakes – meaning accidents happen.  If you are unfamiliar with whiplash or want a bit more information about whiplash, I have prepared this short guide for you.

What is whiplash?
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One of the most important things in helping to bring a successful claim for compensation if you have had an accident at work is to ensure that you have reported your accident.  If you do this there is a hard record of your accident and there should not be any disputes later on as to whether the accident happened or not.  Reporting your accident really is an excellent staring point.

Naturally, if you require urgent medical attention this you should be the first thing you seek.  At the end of the day, nothing is more important than your being okay.  But, once you have sought medical attention, make sure to get your accident recorded in the accident book at work and to inform your Manager of what has happened.

It is important to know that all employers are required by law to have an accident book and you should be made aware as to where it is kept.  You should also know that all accidents should be reported in the accident book, and near misses should be reported as well. 
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