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At The Injury Lawyers, we provide hours of free legal advice each day to prospective new clients. Our dedicated claims team with their own direct claims line telephone number are on hand every week day between 9am and 10pm, and weekends between 9am and 5pm to help you out with any potential claim you may have.
We come across a whole host of different types of claims, some of which are harder than others to advise on; however, as a specialist firm of injury lawyers, we are sure to be able to answer all your questions. Our job is made a whole host easier though when people ring up or enquire on our website about potential injury claims where they have been a passenger in a motor vehicle – you almost have a definite claim for compensation, and there is simply not a lot more we can do other than just getting the ball rolling on your claim should you want us to do so on the very same day.
The reason you have an almost guaranteed claim is straightforward – Those who use the road owe other road users a duty of care not to injure them. For example, as a driver you have a duty of care not to negligently cause an accident. So, if you are a passenger in the vehicle, both the driver of the car you are in has a duty of care not to cause you injury, and any other driver owes you the same duty of care as well.
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Third Party Capture, Personal Injury
Last week I blogged about Christmas time pre-medical offers. Essentially I wrote that in the run up to Christmas it is not uncommon for insurers to make you an offer for compensation to settle your claim there and then, and that the reason for this is because they know that at this time of year money can run a little short, and if they make an attractive looking offer given the circumstances, insurers can often get away cheaply from the claim. Here is another little bit of guidance on offers of compensation – again from insurers – but this time prior to you seeking legal advice from an expert injury lawyer.
At The Injury Lawyers we often come across people who have settled their claim in full and final settlement before they have even considered legal advice and representation. In such circumstances, it looks as if they have been captured by the third party; hence the term ‘third party capture’ which depicts an insurers’ practice whereby they contact the innocent victim directly and settle their claim for compensation almost straightaway.
What this means is that they cannot later ask for more compensation having consulted an expert injury lawyer who has advised that they have under-settled their claim. It is essentially a tactic by the insurer to get away from a potential compensation claim cheaply.
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Despite numerous safety awareness campaigns, at The Injury Lawyers we have found that it is not uncommon at all for people to drive without wearing a seatbelt. This is despite the fact that not wearing a seatbelt is illegal, that should you be involved in an accident, a seatbelt could save your life. You would have thought it would definitely be worth wearing one!
It is important to know that the law states that it is the driver who is responsible for those in their vehicle wearing a seatbelt. So, if you are giving someone a lift and they are not wearing a seatbelt, you could find yourself in hot water. The law on wearing a seatbelt is relatively straightforward in respect of adults.
If you are over the age of 14 and travelling in a car or a van, you must wear a seatbelt. A child under the age of three must use an appropriate seat restraint, whilst a child up to the age of 12 or 135cm in height can also use a seat restraint, and children of 12 and 13 years must wear a seatbelt where one is available. A big exception is buses, where passengers are not required to wear seatbelts. This does not apply to coaches where seatbelts have been fitted.
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What is a pre-medical offer?
A pre-medical offer is an offer which is made by the Defendant to settle your claim for compensation prior to a medical report being compiled and disclosed to the Defendant. The typical course of action in a personal injury claim is for the Claimant to attend a medical appointment so that a medical report can be compiled and later disclosed to the Defendant. Having possession of a medical report enables both parties to value the claim for compensation and see if they can reach an amicable conclusion to proceedings without the need of going to court to allow a judge to decide on the amount of damages.
Why would the Defendant make a pre-medical offer?
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It’s that time of year again – Christmas! We are all busy buying gifts and decorating our houses and seeing family and friends. But for us here at The Injury Lawyers, it’s that time of year again for a different reason; yes, it’s Christmas – but it’s also the time of year for insurance companies to get rid of Road Traffic Injury claims as quick as possible and they use the costly Christmas period to lure clients in by offering them pre-medical offers as a final settlement payment for their claims.
For anyone at this time of year, £1,000.00 seems like a dream come true – but don’t be fooled – your claim may be worth a LOT more. Don’t let insurance companies stop you from getting the compensation that you deserve.
A pre-medical offer is a full and final offer to settle a personal injury claim before any medical evidence has been obtained or disclosed, and irrespective of what the future might bring when it comes to your continued suffering and losses. Offers can often be between the region on £1,000.00 and £1,250.00, which can often seem tempting for the client. A nice cheque of £1,000.00 laid out for you, no hassle of medical examinations, or waiting for the case to settle. But don’t be fooled as you need to consider the bigger picture before accepting any offer.
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As Christmas is just around the corner, we all need to be in tip top condition for braving the great outdoors. Getting battered by merciless cold gales, paired with endless queues in shops has somewhat taken away the seasonal jolliness I enjoyed as a kid. Putting my Ebenezer mindset away for a brief moment, Christmas is easily stressful enough without having to worry about receiving an injury of any kind – particularly if this injury is through work!
One of perhaps the simplest and indeed easiest ways to injure yourself at work is through handling equipment or objects dangerously. Your back, although collectively one of the strongest parts of your body as the core, is worryingly easy to injure through lifting and manoeuvring heavy or awkward objects. It is important to realise that when lifting an object, it is not necessarily its weight which predominantly injures, but how you attempt to lift it as well.
Through awareness of how easy an injury such as this is to sustain, it has now become a priority for employers to follow strict rules and procedure highlighted under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 when employing individuals and introducing them to the workplace.
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How Much Money Could I Expect ?
How much is my claim worth? This is probably the question that we at The Injury Lawyers get most asked. In fact, it was only the other day that I was asked this very question and had a somewhat lengthy conversation trying to explain that it is actually impossible to value someone’s injury claim at the very outset. Here is a quick guide as to how a claim is valued:
The law is clear. If you sustain injuries by means of a negligent third party, you are able to receive compensation to put you back in the position you would have been in had the accident not have occurred. It follows that you can therefore receive compensation not purely for your injuries, but also for any losses that arise directly from the accident and your injuries as well. Compensation for your injuries is called General Damages, and compensation for your other losses is called Special Damages.
General Damages:
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Third Party Capture – What is it ?
‘Third party capture’ is a term which describes the practice of third party insurers getting in touch with the innocent victim of their insured’s negligence and attempting to settle their claim for compensation directly with them.
For example, you have been involved in a road traffic accident where someone has collided with the rear of your vehicle and you have sustained whiplash. You pretty much have a dead cert claim – so their insurer gets in touch with you and offers you £300; you agree, and your claim for compensation is settled.
In effect, you have been captured by the third party (the insurer).
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Christmas Time Pre-Medical Offers
I imagine that most of you reading this blog will be well aware that Christmas is approaching. Shops have all their decorations up and have made it only too clear that Christmas is coming. City centres have begun putting up their decorations up as well, and television already has so many Christmas adverts. In fact, I might go so far as to say that we cannot get away from the fact that Christmas is almost upon us!
Christmas is a time for giving; but unfortunately giving can sometimes cost a fair bit of money, especially if you have children, or a close but extended family.
Insurers are only too aware of this fact as we at The Injury Lawyers know only too well. If you have an injury claim, given the time of year and money being that little bit tighter, it is not uncommon for an insurer to put forward an offer to settle your claim now at an early stage in the case. This is what we call a pre-medical offer – an offer to settle your claim, made by the third party, before you have had a chance to obtain medical evidence in support of your injuries. In other words, it is an offer, by the insurer, to get rid of your claim as soon as they can.
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How Much is My Claim Worth? – Pre Medical Offers
So, you might have heard of friends/family who say “I had my claim settled at £1000.00 in a month” or something along these lines. The chances are that this is an early settlement offer they have accepted which we call a “pre med” offer, and although it seems like a quick and easy option, there are a number of risks when accepting pre meds which means it is not always a beneficial thing to do.
To explain what I mean by a “pre-med” – this is the term for an offer made without the use of expert medical evidence. I.e. “pre-medical”. Insurers tend to use these tactical offers at the outset of claims following an admission of liability to get claims settled as cheaply as possible, and off their desks as quickly as possible for them.
In the run up to Christmas, the amount of pre-medical offers we receive significantly increases as the insurers play on the needs of people to have more money over the Christmas period for presents and festivities. Pre med offers are generally around the region of £1000.00 – £2000.00. Without expert medical evidence, it is simply impossible to place an accurate valuation on your injuries.
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