Specialist solicitors required for PTSD after RTA
Discussion
Would it be possible if I could have some recommendations for a specialist solicitor for the following situation please.
Driver A was hit from beind in an rta 2023. Suffered soft physical damage, ongoing and not resolved. Osteopath appointment indicates that whiplash was never healed, no physiotherapy was offered. They have been dealing with the pain with pain killers and gritting teeth.
After some time, an appointment to see a psychologist was given to record mental symptoms, they have indicated that many sessions of EMDR CBT are required. Suffering for Possible PTSD.
This was eventually granted by current solicitors. Defending insurance company has admitted full responsibility.
Different phycologist has examined Driver A, have indicated that they suffer from chronic severe depression and PTSD. Score of 21 on the PHQ-9 scale. Work, social life affected. Already been brought up in work for not meeting expectations.
Current solicitors have been slow to respond to questions or instruct vocational experts. So Driver A is now looking to find a solicitor that will actually act in their interests. No confidence in current solicitors.
Current solicitors seem to be a high volume service that only really caters for small scale RTAs incidents, and the current situation seems to be outside of their main expertise.
Thanks
Driver A was hit from beind in an rta 2023. Suffered soft physical damage, ongoing and not resolved. Osteopath appointment indicates that whiplash was never healed, no physiotherapy was offered. They have been dealing with the pain with pain killers and gritting teeth.
After some time, an appointment to see a psychologist was given to record mental symptoms, they have indicated that many sessions of EMDR CBT are required. Suffering for Possible PTSD.
This was eventually granted by current solicitors. Defending insurance company has admitted full responsibility.
Different phycologist has examined Driver A, have indicated that they suffer from chronic severe depression and PTSD. Score of 21 on the PHQ-9 scale. Work, social life affected. Already been brought up in work for not meeting expectations.
Current solicitors have been slow to respond to questions or instruct vocational experts. So Driver A is now looking to find a solicitor that will actually act in their interests. No confidence in current solicitors.
Current solicitors seem to be a high volume service that only really caters for small scale RTAs incidents, and the current situation seems to be outside of their main expertise.
Thanks
Moderator edit: no naming & shaming
spookly said:
No idea. But unless you're in the US an Osteopath is not a trained doctor, so meaningless. I'd wager you'd need a diagnosis from a medical professional.
Must have been a hell of a smash to have PTSD.
Osteopaths are not doctors but they are medical professionals, and their diagnosis is as valid as many other medical professionals who are not doctors, such as physiotherapist, psychologist or a podiatrist. I m not sure you d ever need a podiatrist for a car crash, but evidence provided by a physiotherapist or psychologist is absolutely valid.Must have been a hell of a smash to have PTSD.
Edited by DeadShed on Saturday 17th January 08:00
spookly said:
No idea. But unless you're in the US an Osteopath is not a trained doctor, so meaningless. I'd wager you'd need a diagnosis from a medical professional.
Must have been a hell of a smash to have PTSD.
People’s mileage may vary, slightly different situation but a close friend of mine who had spent years driving manuals was coming through roadworks on the m25 near Heathrow in a hire car, went to s’shift gears into the 50 zone and (we’ve all been there) hit the brake with her left foot and pretty much emergency stopped.Must have been a hell of a smash to have PTSD.
Car behind her smashed into her as expected. She didn’t have whiplash but it took her a couple of years to get over it mentally.
Just saying.
I'm surprised a shunt that caused whiplash would start a condition like PTSD although no one knows what's going on with someone's brain.
Depends what kind of claim they are looking at, my uncle had most of his hand blown off by a gas leak at work, severed artery in the leg too. Was airlifted to hospital and spent a year recovering, his now deaf in one ear and struggles mentally with any loud sudden noises.
He is mid 60s and can't work due to the accident, (class 1 driver) this happened at a huge US owned global company, he had specialist solicitors and after many court cases got just shy of £800k, most of that was due to the need to replace the mechanical hand piece he had fitted every 10 years.
Depends what kind of claim they are looking at, my uncle had most of his hand blown off by a gas leak at work, severed artery in the leg too. Was airlifted to hospital and spent a year recovering, his now deaf in one ear and struggles mentally with any loud sudden noises.
He is mid 60s and can't work due to the accident, (class 1 driver) this happened at a huge US owned global company, he had specialist solicitors and after many court cases got just shy of £800k, most of that was due to the need to replace the mechanical hand piece he had fitted every 10 years.
Hello OP
You say this was 2023. Assuming this is an adult with mental capacity, the claim will be subject to a 3 year limitation period. That means settlement or commence the formal court process (if not already done) by that anniversary.
That could make it harder to find a new firm to take it on, as it is late in the day. I know of a firm, for example, that wouldn't take on new instructions with less than one to the 3 year limitation period expiring, save for exceptional circumstances.
It's not impossible of course, but that is likely to be a factor.
Another factor will be whether any formal settlement offers have been made. If there was a court compliant and well pitched offer already in existence from the opponent, that could also make it hard for a new firm to risk assess and take on, as such an offer could carry cost consequences.
You mention depression (as one aspect). Medical history would be looked at via the appropriate experts to comment on "causation" and whether there were pre exiting issues ongoing or in the past that may be relevant to the current presentation. If relevant, that may result in the injuries being treated as made worse by what has happened rather than the actual cause. A claim can still be made for them, but only to compensate for the worsening as opposed to all those symptoms. That will come down to the overall medical evidence unless the opponent just tries to buy off the claim to avoid court proceedings starting (as an example).
If the current firm are acting on a conditional fee agreement with a success fee, switching to a new firm on the same basis can result in two such agreements. The existing firm's work would cease at transfer but any new firm would need to ensure the claimant understood clearly how this would all work. If a new firm did come in and achieve a higher settlement, that would become less of a consideration but such an outcome could not be guaranteed. The above is just an example of how claims are funded and any new firm would need to understand the existing funding arrangement and what they could offer and advise accordingly.
The claimant could ask the existing firm to provide them with the judicial college guidelines covering the actual injuries they have suffered as attributable to the RTC by the medical experts. The amounts for injuries are often not that high relatively speaking. This might given them some insight to what they are looking at.
Seeking medical advice is key too, both for the injured person's wellbeing and to comply with their obligations within the claim. The experts in the claim who do reports for the claim are not treating experts. So the injured person should be going to their GP and seek advice and referrals for physio as an example. Even if that has a long waiting list. They can then show they're doing what they can to better their recovery. And if the waiting lists are long and the need for such interventions are clear, the lawyers can ask for funding to look at that privately. That can then come to causation again in terms of what is needed due to the RTC as opposed to other factors, eg if history of physical and/or emotional problems, to what extent have these been made worse?
Rehab can be looked at separately from the claim, but generally that is done early on. This far down the line, and especially if the court process gets underway, the opponent may only provide interim payments to fund any treatment and reserve their position to argue whether such costs should be paid/paid in full. The lawyers will need to advise on that.
Hope this is of some help.
You say this was 2023. Assuming this is an adult with mental capacity, the claim will be subject to a 3 year limitation period. That means settlement or commence the formal court process (if not already done) by that anniversary.
That could make it harder to find a new firm to take it on, as it is late in the day. I know of a firm, for example, that wouldn't take on new instructions with less than one to the 3 year limitation period expiring, save for exceptional circumstances.
It's not impossible of course, but that is likely to be a factor.
Another factor will be whether any formal settlement offers have been made. If there was a court compliant and well pitched offer already in existence from the opponent, that could also make it hard for a new firm to risk assess and take on, as such an offer could carry cost consequences.
You mention depression (as one aspect). Medical history would be looked at via the appropriate experts to comment on "causation" and whether there were pre exiting issues ongoing or in the past that may be relevant to the current presentation. If relevant, that may result in the injuries being treated as made worse by what has happened rather than the actual cause. A claim can still be made for them, but only to compensate for the worsening as opposed to all those symptoms. That will come down to the overall medical evidence unless the opponent just tries to buy off the claim to avoid court proceedings starting (as an example).
If the current firm are acting on a conditional fee agreement with a success fee, switching to a new firm on the same basis can result in two such agreements. The existing firm's work would cease at transfer but any new firm would need to ensure the claimant understood clearly how this would all work. If a new firm did come in and achieve a higher settlement, that would become less of a consideration but such an outcome could not be guaranteed. The above is just an example of how claims are funded and any new firm would need to understand the existing funding arrangement and what they could offer and advise accordingly.
The claimant could ask the existing firm to provide them with the judicial college guidelines covering the actual injuries they have suffered as attributable to the RTC by the medical experts. The amounts for injuries are often not that high relatively speaking. This might given them some insight to what they are looking at.
Seeking medical advice is key too, both for the injured person's wellbeing and to comply with their obligations within the claim. The experts in the claim who do reports for the claim are not treating experts. So the injured person should be going to their GP and seek advice and referrals for physio as an example. Even if that has a long waiting list. They can then show they're doing what they can to better their recovery. And if the waiting lists are long and the need for such interventions are clear, the lawyers can ask for funding to look at that privately. That can then come to causation again in terms of what is needed due to the RTC as opposed to other factors, eg if history of physical and/or emotional problems, to what extent have these been made worse?
Rehab can be looked at separately from the claim, but generally that is done early on. This far down the line, and especially if the court process gets underway, the opponent may only provide interim payments to fund any treatment and reserve their position to argue whether such costs should be paid/paid in full. The lawyers will need to advise on that.
Hope this is of some help.
https://www.brake.org.uk/how-we-help/get-help-if-a...
Have a look there.
Ive always been impressed with HCC when I've had dealings with them at work.
Have a look there.
Ive always been impressed with HCC when I've had dealings with them at work.
ant427 said:
kestral said:
Is there anyone who is hit from behind that does not claim whiplash.
ME!I haven't claimed anything. There wasn't legal cover on that particular car (my oversight as I always intend to add it) and anyone I spoke to including my insurer's own legal arm just pointed me at the statutory service portal which lets you construct your own claim. I was informed I might get a few hundred quid and hence haven't had the time to even think about it.
My insurer is trying to recover their cost + my excess from the insurer of the other car (I thought it would go MIB) and apparently, they are now claiming the identity of its driver was unknown despite him being taken into police custody at the scene. Shambles!
Nothingofnote said:
went to s shift gears into the 50 zone and (we ve all been there) hit the brake with her left foot and pretty much emergency stopped
I can't say I've ever came close to doing that, in fact it's dangerously incompetent driving. Of course the driver behind is at fault.kestral said:
Is there anyone who is hit from behind that does not claim whiplash.
Yes , both my wife and I were in a taxi that overturned after being hit from behind, didn’t suffer any whiplash , realised how lucky we’d both been , claiming for something I never had hasn’t crossed my mind tbh. bunchofkeys said:
Thank you for the replies so far, still 6+ months before the 3 year anniversary.
Apologies for the blunt answers, but I need to keep this as generic as possible.
No offer of formal settlement so far.
I work in this field on the Defendant side. If i were you, I would approach someone like Irwin Mitchell or Higgs LLP - someone like that. You've already got your admission of liability so anyone decent should take it on for you.Apologies for the blunt answers, but I need to keep this as generic as possible.
No offer of formal settlement so far.
Where are you located in the UK?
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