We have blogged a few times in the past, and very recently, about why you should instruct a firm like us to represent you for your claim. You may think you’re being smart and savvy by dealing direct, and getting a quick settlement. You may be able to barter with the insurers and they may even tell you they’ll give you a little extra for keeping the lawyers away from the case.
Think again!
We did a recent study that I blogged about and we showed that on average we get an increase of around 53% for our clients on their offers. And other research has shown lawyers can get up to four times as much just because we are involved.
So when we settled one of our cases recently which is a prime example of this, we thought we’d better blog about it!
Recent Case – from no offers, to £8,000, to £16,000, to £30,000!
When we took on this case initially, which we will refer to as Mrs. W now, we were confident in the circumstances that her employer was in clear breach of The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 when she was asked to lift significant quantities or large objects and sustained an injury at work.
Denial of Liability & Eventual Admission
The insurers initially denied liability – not only claiming that our client had received adequate manual handling training, but denying she was ever given instructions to perform this outrageously large lifting operation by herself.
But whilst other lawyers may have accepted such defences, we do not!
We continued to act on an entirely No Win, No Fee basis and funded a significant degree of evidence gathering from our client, witnesses, and from medical experts. We successfully smashed their defence and left the insurers with no option but to admit liability for the injuries.
It’s quite scary to think that the insurers at one stage alleged an entirely different set of circumstances only to eventually admit fault, isn’t it? This is very common, and is a real example that proves insurers will do anything to avoid paying you out. You must always question their motives.
First Offer – £8,000
Having obtained expert medical evidence, we disclosed the reports to the insurers. Eventually they came back with a poor offer of £8,000 in full and final settlement. This offer was even made by way of Part 36 which means that they consider this a good offer, and should it fail to be beaten at court, they can claim costs from our side. These types of offers can be risky to reject because there is a real risk the Claimant could end up having to pay the Defendants side if the offer isn’t beaten at a final hearing, or is accepted outside of a 21 day period.
Second Offer – £16,000
But we’re not afraid of fighting for more. So after further negotiations with the insurers and hard work on our part to prove the claim was worth more, another offer was made in the sum of £16,000. This was also made by way of Part 36 and the same risks and rules as mentioned previously applied.
We looked in to how we could get more, and in doing so requested extensions on the time-frame of 21 days allowed to accept the offer. During these discussions with the insurers, they made a further increase to £17,500 if it was accepted within the extension period. This is a common tactic to try and entice a Claimant in to accepting an offer.
Final Offer – £30,000
In our efforts to prove our client was entitled to more, we received a further offer which was a substantial increase on the previous offers. This was £30,000 and was again made by way of Part 36 and designed to put our client at risk if they are to reject the offer.
We sought advice from one of our specialist barristers, and we agreed to advise the client to accept the offer which she did. We were pleased with this offer as it is a much better reflection of the pain, suffering, and loss our client had gone through because of the negligence of her employer.
Lessons Learned!
So originally they offered nothing; proving what we always tell people about insurers trying their utmost to avoid paying out. In this case, they even alleged that our clients version of events was untrue – which is tantamount to an allegation of fraud when you think about it. They suggested our client had made false allegations that had caused her an injury. We take this kind of allegation from insurers very seriously.
Having quashed their defence, we got two increases and an overall percentage increase of approximately 275% – that’s almost four times as much as the original offer! Had she have gone direct, they may have either denied to her in the way they did to us, or offered a “goodwill gesture offer” which would probably have been in the region of £1,000. They would have made sure this was an offer that was signed and agreed in writing, barring any further claims to be made. Obviously we can ever tell for sure if that would ever have happened, but the theory is based on our own experiences of this happening to other people in the past.
So take heed! Insurers will try and either avoid paying out or will pay as little as possible! Their duty is to their shareholders as they are private profit making businesses.
