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Your Losses and your Duty to Mitigate
Compensation is meant to put you back in the position you would have been in had you not ever been involved in the accident.
This means that, not only are you entitled to claim back for your injuries, but also for any financial losses you have suffered as a result of those injuries.
In order to give you an idea of what losses you can claim for, I have listed some of the more common types of losses below:
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Third party capture is where a third party insurer settles a person’s claim for compensation against their policyholder directly with them. In other words, it is where an insurance company representing the person who caused a victim’s injuries gets in touch with the injured party who has no legal representative and settles their claim for compensation. In most instances of third party capture, the injured party, the claimant, will have been involved in a road traffic accident – however, it could also occur say where the claimant has been involved in an accident at work or some other accident.
Why is this a problem?
The worry is that the injured party will not receive a settlement that is properly representative of their injuries and need for treatment. It is likely that the insurer will under-settle your claim for compensation and not help you out sufficiently should you require any treatment for your injuries.
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Why to Avoid Referral Fees in Your Claim for Compensation!
There has been a lot in the news recently regarding referrals fees – or as Jack Straw described them, the insurers’ ‘dirty little secret’. Here is a quick guide:
A referral fee is a fee which a law firm pays insurers upon agreement that their insured’s’ contact details will be passed to them where this person is likely due compensation having been involved in an accident whereby they suffered an injury through no fault of their own. This fee can be anything in the region of £200 to £1,000! As such, this has seen the advent of claims management companies, or middlemen, who make their money from buying insured people’s contact details and selling them to law firms for profit. This has been happening for approximately 20 years, believe it or not. Further, as the BBC has reported today, the ‘racket’ goes further than just referral fees – It may involve cold calling or texting potential accident victims who have not provided their mobile numbers to any of them directly.
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Points on choosing a Personal Injury Lawyer
Choosing a law firm to instruct for your claim can be difficult; especially when there are so many firms to choose from. The following blog aims to make this process of choosing easier, as I will point out things to look out for in firms.
A first point to note, however, is that you should go to a law firm directly, and ensure not to use referral agencies or your insurer to direct you to a law firm. Agencies and insurers essentially act as middlemen on claims, selling them on for a fee of what could be up to £1,000 – so, if a law firm has paid as much as this for your claim, it’s likely that they’ll work less on your claim in order to redress the balance in their loss of profits. This can lead to receiving a poorer service, having a claim that drags on for longer than it has to, or the firm failing to maximise your compensation.
The following are important items to look out for in a law firm:
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How much compensation is my whiplash claim worth? This is a common question that many of our clients ask here at The Injury Lawyers. To answer this question with any accuracy is extremely difficult at the early stages of a claim – although we can often give ball park figures using our extensive experience in the area of whiplash claims.
Valuing your whiplash claim…
The reason why valuing a whiplash claim can be difficult at this stage is due to the fact that we have to value a claim using a medical report which is obtained after liability has been admitted on your claim. This medical report not only assesses your injury, but also details the effects it has had on all areas of your life – areas such as professional, social, and domestic life.
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Making A Whiplash Claim The Process Explained
Ever wondered what you actually have to do to make a whiplash claim for a road accident? Here is a guide on the process, and what you should look for when making a claim for whiplash compensation.
Making a Claim – The Process
If your road accident happened after 30th April 2010, your claim will likely fall under the new Road Traffic Accident Protocol for personal injury claims if your injuries are not classed as too serious. This new process was brought in to play to make the process much quicker, and allow injury lawyers and insurers to exchange information over the Ministry of Justices’ secure online internet portal.
Your lawyers will complete an online Claim Notification Form and submit this to the other side. The other side then has 15 working days to accept liability for your accident for the claim to remain in the new, faster system. So long as the claim stays in the system (i.e. deadlines are met by both lawyers and insurers), your claim can be resolved in a matter of months. The claim may ‘fall out’ of this new faster system for a number of reasons. For example:
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The Injury Lawyers: Proud to never pay insures, claims companies, or other companies money for claims; all of our clients come directly to us, meaning we can dedicate all of our resources on to our fantastic service, and fighting tooth and nail for a maximum payout!
How do you make a claim for whiplash? Here is the best advice on what to do, and what to avoid.
What to Avoid
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Insurers Referral Fees Exposed – The Insurers “Dirty Little Secret”
Legal Expenses Insurance, Motor Legal Protection, and the practice of insurers allocating you a solicitor after a road accident is a topic we regularly cover as an independent firm that refuses outright to get involved in this practice. We have been advising people about the downfalls of letting your insurers refer a solicitor to you for years, and it now transpires that former Justice Secretary Jack Straw has done some investigation into the matter, and has spoken out against what he has labelled as the insurers industry dirty little secret.
Following complaints from his constituents, which Mr Straw followed up aand he has publically brought to light and blasted what he has termed as the “huge racket” of insurers passing on details to personal injury lawyers for extortionate fees; a practice we have been speaking out against for years. The BBC and The Guardian are currently reporting on the matter as we speak (http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9524000/9524476.stm), (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/28/jack-straw-insurance-customer-details).
The reports confirm that Straw has said that “the practice had driven a surge in no-win, no-fee claims this year which put up premiums – all with the insurers’ knowledge”. We often see the insurers complaining that personal injury claims are driving up premiums – as you can see, it’s the insurers themselves that are akin to this apparent problem.
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What is whiplash? How does it affect you? How can you make a claim for it? These are three of the primary questions that people ask about whiplash claims and whiplash injuries. So – Here’s a little advice to help you out!
Whiplash Explained
Whiplash is a general term used to describe the damage to muscles, ligaments and tendons, normally in the neck, back, and shoulders area, from the areas being stretched beyond their normal range of movement. The stretch occurs from a the fast back, forwards, or sideways movement caused normally from a collision or a harsh brake in a vehicle, or even from slipping over and falling fast, or a fall from height.
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A whiplash injury is normally caused after a road accident – it can also be caused after a slip or a fall, however. Basically, anything that involves your neck / head being jolted forwards, backwards, or sideways quickly can cause a whiplash injury. It’s called whiplash for a reason – imagine an actual whip hitting a tree. It flies forward at speed, cracks the tree, and whips back. It’s this sharp movement that normally causes the injury.
When a whiplash injury occurs, your muscles and ligaments are stretched beyond their normal range of movement. This can lead to several symptoms that sufferers will endure; the below are all classis symptoms of a whiplash injury:
- Pain in the neck, shoulders, and all over, or just particular sections of, the back.
- Reduced movement and stiffness in the affected areas.
- Sleeping difficulties caused by the pain.
- Headaches – sometimes drowsiness, dizziness, and even vertigo in some cases.