insurance claim query - the missus needs some help!
Discussion
Hi all,
At christmas the missus had a bump in her car. It was only minor, no-one was hurt, the car was still driveable after and its a bit of wing damage and paintwork.
She says the other car cut across her at an island. There were no witnesses.
She informed her insurance, but didn't intend to make any claim.
A few days later she had a call from a solicitor who had the details of the accident. She thought they were representing her insurer as she has legal cover. She ended up agreeing to make a claim and a personal injury claim. She says they were putting words in her mouth, pushing her down certain answers to their questions. She felt bullied into the whole thing.
She had lots of paperwork though, and as yet has not returned any of it. However an engineer has already visited to assess the car and an appointment has been set for her and her young son to see a medical person about injuries.
On seeing the paperwork myself I became extremely worried about the liability she might face for expenses and disbursements on the claim. Although its no win no fee, I am concerned about how many exceptions there seems to be for this in the paperwork. I have never been through this type of thing myself though so I'm struggling to advise her properly. She is worried about this too and wishes she'd never started the whole thing.
The latest letter says that the insurance recommends settling on a 50/50 basis. This is what I expected.
We now don't know what impact this will have on the supposed injury claim. The repair estimate was £1600, and the letter says that as its 50/50 everything is halved, including excesses. We don't know what this means, what she will get (if anything), what she'll have to pay out (if anything). It's all very confusing.
Can anyone help?
At christmas the missus had a bump in her car. It was only minor, no-one was hurt, the car was still driveable after and its a bit of wing damage and paintwork.
She says the other car cut across her at an island. There were no witnesses.
She informed her insurance, but didn't intend to make any claim.
A few days later she had a call from a solicitor who had the details of the accident. She thought they were representing her insurer as she has legal cover. She ended up agreeing to make a claim and a personal injury claim. She says they were putting words in her mouth, pushing her down certain answers to their questions. She felt bullied into the whole thing.
She had lots of paperwork though, and as yet has not returned any of it. However an engineer has already visited to assess the car and an appointment has been set for her and her young son to see a medical person about injuries.
On seeing the paperwork myself I became extremely worried about the liability she might face for expenses and disbursements on the claim. Although its no win no fee, I am concerned about how many exceptions there seems to be for this in the paperwork. I have never been through this type of thing myself though so I'm struggling to advise her properly. She is worried about this too and wishes she'd never started the whole thing.
The latest letter says that the insurance recommends settling on a 50/50 basis. This is what I expected.
We now don't know what impact this will have on the supposed injury claim. The repair estimate was £1600, and the letter says that as its 50/50 everything is halved, including excesses. We don't know what this means, what she will get (if anything), what she'll have to pay out (if anything). It's all very confusing.
Can anyone help?
danlightbulb said:
Hi all,
At christmas the missus had a bump in her car. It was only minor, no-one was hurt, the car was still driveable after and its a bit of wing damage and paintwork.
She says the other car cut across her at an island. There were no witnesses.
She informed her insurance, but didn't intend to make any claim.
A few days later she had a call from a solicitor who had the details of the accident. She thought they were representing her insurer as she has legal cover. She ended up agreeing to make a claim and a personal injury claim. She says they were putting words in her mouth, pushing her down certain answers to their questions. She felt bullied into the whole thing.
She had lots of paperwork though, and as yet has not returned any of it. However an engineer has already visited to assess the car and an appointment has been set for her and her young son to see a medical person about injuries.
On seeing the paperwork myself I became extremely worried about the liability she might face for expenses and disbursements on the claim. Although its no win no fee, I am concerned about how many exceptions there seems to be for this in the paperwork. I have never been through this type of thing myself though so I'm struggling to advise her properly. She is worried about this too and wishes she'd never started the whole thing.
The latest letter says that the insurance recommends settling on a 50/50 basis. This is what I expected.
We now don't know what impact this will have on the supposed injury claim. The repair estimate was £1600, and the letter says that as its 50/50 everything is halved, including excesses. We don't know what this means, what she will get (if anything), what she'll have to pay out (if anything). It's all very confusing.
Can anyone help?
Why would she claim for personal injury for two people when nobody was hurt?At christmas the missus had a bump in her car. It was only minor, no-one was hurt, the car was still driveable after and its a bit of wing damage and paintwork.
She says the other car cut across her at an island. There were no witnesses.
She informed her insurance, but didn't intend to make any claim.
A few days later she had a call from a solicitor who had the details of the accident. She thought they were representing her insurer as she has legal cover. She ended up agreeing to make a claim and a personal injury claim. She says they were putting words in her mouth, pushing her down certain answers to their questions. She felt bullied into the whole thing.
She had lots of paperwork though, and as yet has not returned any of it. However an engineer has already visited to assess the car and an appointment has been set for her and her young son to see a medical person about injuries.
On seeing the paperwork myself I became extremely worried about the liability she might face for expenses and disbursements on the claim. Although its no win no fee, I am concerned about how many exceptions there seems to be for this in the paperwork. I have never been through this type of thing myself though so I'm struggling to advise her properly. She is worried about this too and wishes she'd never started the whole thing.
The latest letter says that the insurance recommends settling on a 50/50 basis. This is what I expected.
We now don't know what impact this will have on the supposed injury claim. The repair estimate was £1600, and the letter says that as its 50/50 everything is halved, including excesses. We don't know what this means, what she will get (if anything), what she'll have to pay out (if anything). It's all very confusing.
Can anyone help?
Presumably she can just cancel the claim if she stands firm and tells them to do one.
However OP prepare yourself for a barrage of posts calling your wife a crook/scammer etc etc.
She fell for the hard sell from well trained people who prey on the unwary. She thought it was her insurance company therefore it was legit and got browbeaten into agreeing to claiming.
If they didn't get results by this method then it wouldn't exist.
Take any good advice that you get and ignore the rest.
OP, if no paperwork has been signed, then the no win, no fee agreement has not been signed. There is therefore no retainer between your partner and the solicitor. Without this, they shouldn't be happy to progress matters or instruct medical experts as they will have no way of recovering their outlay, including the cost of the medical report.
As she was wasn't injured, she has no right to claim. She needs to tell the solicitors she does not wish to proceed, ask them to close their file re the injury claim(s) and shred the paperwork. Otherwise she is committing fraud, both in respect of herself and by acting as litigation friend for her son, if he didn't sustain any injuries either.
She should then focus on what losses were actually incurred and recoverable, if any, I.e the vehicle damage in the event that it wasn't entirely her fault.
As she was wasn't injured, she has no right to claim. She needs to tell the solicitors she does not wish to proceed, ask them to close their file re the injury claim(s) and shred the paperwork. Otherwise she is committing fraud, both in respect of herself and by acting as litigation friend for her son, if he didn't sustain any injuries either.
She should then focus on what losses were actually incurred and recoverable, if any, I.e the vehicle damage in the event that it wasn't entirely her fault.
I already said they talked/pushed/pressured her into it. Her 3 year old was running round at the time she couldnt think straight. Im not defending the situation and she just wants the solicitor gone. She thought they were legit. They knew the date of her accident.
From what she has described to me they were incredibly pushy. Putting words in her mouth about her son.
We still dont know for sure if this has been instructed by the insurance company or not. She has now had a letter recommending 5050 split of blame and we dont know what happens next.
Dont see what this has to do with my general view of insurance companies. In fact it backs up my view that the system is messed up if anything.
From what she has described to me they were incredibly pushy. Putting words in her mouth about her son.
We still dont know for sure if this has been instructed by the insurance company or not. She has now had a letter recommending 5050 split of blame and we dont know what happens next.
Dont see what this has to do with my general view of insurance companies. In fact it backs up my view that the system is messed up if anything.
danlightbulb said:
We still dont know for sure if this has been instructed by the insurance company or not. She has now had a letter recommending 5050 split of blame and we dont know what happens next.
Just so you're aware, a 50/50 claim will count as a claim on both parties and the excess will need to be paid, but your OH's car will be repaired. If I were here I would talk to my insurers right away and clarify the situation - tell them that there's definitely no personal injury to claim for, verify that you agree that 50/50 is OK (also send the letter back) and definitely make sure to understand whether your own insurers will be repairing the car.
The insurance side of things is all fine. What we dont get is where this solicitor comes in to it all. She is going to speak to insurance co this morning unfortunately i cant be there. Ive told her to make sure she doesnt agree to anything from the solicitor but things fall on deaf ears sometimes.
She has spoken to the insurance and acepted the 50-50. If she doesnt have her car repaired she wont have to pay any excesses but she will have to declare the accident in future policies.
The insurance said the solicitor was nothing to do with them. So id love to know how they knew the date of the accident? She has told the solicitor it has been agreed to be 50-50, that she wont be persuing the claim and she has cancelled the medicals. No forms returned either so hopefully the solicitor will have no basis to chase her for any costs? The insurer said to her that if the solicitor tries to charge her for any costs that she should tell the solicitor to contact the insurer and they will deal with them.
So hopefully all will work out ok. Fingers crossed.
The insurance said the solicitor was nothing to do with them. So id love to know how they knew the date of the accident? She has told the solicitor it has been agreed to be 50-50, that she wont be persuing the claim and she has cancelled the medicals. No forms returned either so hopefully the solicitor will have no basis to chase her for any costs? The insurer said to her that if the solicitor tries to charge her for any costs that she should tell the solicitor to contact the insurer and they will deal with them.
So hopefully all will work out ok. Fingers crossed.
danlightbulb said:
I already said they talked/pushed/pressured her into it. Her 3 year old was running round at the time she couldnt think straight. Im not defending the situation and she just wants the solicitor gone. She thought they were legit. They knew the date of her accident.
From what she has described to me they were incredibly pushy. Putting words in her mouth about her son.
Does make you wonder how the human race evolved from living in caves. 3 year old son = can't think straight...so just agreed to everything? Whatever happened to just saying 'I need time to speak to my husband' or 'I need time to think' and asking them to call back tomorrow!?From what she has described to me they were incredibly pushy. Putting words in her mouth about her son.
I agree with you, but not everyone is savvy on stuff like this are they. The world is full of people who are easily exploited and full of people and organisations happy to exploit those people.
Whilst most of us here would tell these people where to go, you can see how these things happen. She has an accident, has legal cover, gets a call from a solicitor a week later who happen to know some of the detail already...its easy to see why she might think it was genuine part of her insurance claim.
Whilst most of us here would tell these people where to go, you can see how these things happen. She has an accident, has legal cover, gets a call from a solicitor a week later who happen to know some of the detail already...its easy to see why she might think it was genuine part of her insurance claim.
Edited by danlightbulb on Monday 7th March 15:12
Edited by danlightbulb on Monday 7th March 15:13
danlightbulb said:
Whilst most of us here would tell these people where to go, you can see how these things happen. She has an accident, has legal cover, gets a call from a solicitor a week later who happen to know some of the detail already...its easy to see why she might think it was genuine part of her insurance claim.
I can almost see my wife here, until it gets to the "putting words in her mouth" part so no injury turns into an injury claim.Bert
I wasnt there when this first call happened. The way she has described it to me is that she was expecting a call from her insurer anyway. She was in the soft play centre with her son and got a call from this solicitor. As i explained above she just assumed that it was the insurer. They started asking her questions like did your son cry after the accident. Have you got any aches even just occasionally. Do you get the occasional headache.
She told the caller there were no lasting injuries several times but then they said well go and have a medical anyway, we'll check your son over etc. We'll send round an assessor to look at the car etc. She genuinely thought this was her insurers normal practice because she had the legal cover. Then she got all this paperwork through and showed me and it became more clear this was a problem. Im so thankfull she didnt fill in any of the forms, it was only because she hadnt got around to it yet.
She told the caller there were no lasting injuries several times but then they said well go and have a medical anyway, we'll check your son over etc. We'll send round an assessor to look at the car etc. She genuinely thought this was her insurers normal practice because she had the legal cover. Then she got all this paperwork through and showed me and it became more clear this was a problem. Im so thankfull she didnt fill in any of the forms, it was only because she hadnt got around to it yet.
Why not call the insurance company and find out if the solicitors are theirs.
If they aren't; the solicitors you have are the opportunist scumbags that call up everyone about their "recent accidents" - regardless of whether they've had one.
If they are, the insurance company will tell you how to proceed.
If they aren't; the solicitors you have are the opportunist scumbags that call up everyone about their "recent accidents" - regardless of whether they've had one.
If they are, the insurance company will tell you how to proceed.
Yeah we did that this morning, the solicitors are nothing to do with the insurance company. I know we all get these calls, but what is still unexplained is how these solicitors knew the date of my missus's accident. Other than that, yeah it could have just been blind luck that the solicitors happened to call up my missus after she'd recently had a bump.
The insurance company seem to think that we'll never hear from the solicitors again. They must get this all the time I guess, I hope they are correct.
The insurance company seem to think that we'll never hear from the solicitors again. They must get this all the time I guess, I hope they are correct.
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