Loss of earning claim in RTA

[E9CSL]

Hi All,

Need some advice please.

I was involved in a RTA in Jan 2009, off work for whiplash, soft tissue damage, back of shoulders, headaches come and go, pins and needles in both of my arms. went for a check up with 3rd party doctor, in march 2009, who told me i needed physio for 1 year and then i will recover fully from the above injuries. i lost my job as a 7.5t delivery driver as i could not carry out my job duties.

i went to the job centre, explaned the above to them and i was able to claim for income support for a year.

from march 2009 to 2010, i was having physio treatment and was on income support.
fully recovered from my injuries, income has now stopped, as i am fit and well to look for work.
my solicitor, has advised me to accept a offer of 7K, 2k i have to give to DWP for claiming income support and the rest is for my injuries, plus 3rd part will only pay for 4 months loss of earning because they said the doctor put in his report, i was able to do light duties???, define light duties.

can i change my solicitor, as they wish to close the case and get paid and are not interested in my losses.
i have lost my job, plus a years wage of basic 1k a month and 3rd party have made me a part 36 offer of 7k, take it or leave it.

thxs for all your advice

[edo]

E9CSL said:

can i change my solicitor

You can do what you like, but I would suggest another one wont wont to take it on at this point.

Take the money and get on with your life.

[NoNeed]

Goodluck with job hunting.

I would tell them to stick it. There is no way any court in the land would offer less, but i suspect it is probably to guage your reaction/ get you tempted so 10k won't sound so bad.


I don't know about changing solicitors as I have never made a claim, but I would tell this one to get serious or get lost.

[Mr Gaga]

I was hit hard in an rear RTA and had similar issues but that amount is all you get...

You could not do your job though. That's a tough one. Was your old employer looking to make staff redundant?

[Nickyboy]

I'd be a bit careful after getting the doctors report, my brother had an work related accident and was off work for 2 years, he rejected an out of court settlement for loss of earnings as he was told that he would get 10x that at court, doctors report stated that the injuries healed within a year and there was no physical reason that he could not work, the fact the doctor stated you could do light duties means in the eyes of the court and insurers you could work, whether you could get work or not is another mnatter

Edited by Nickyboy on Monday 12th April 22:39

[DavidHM]

Nickyboy said:

I'd be a bit careful after getting the doctors report, my brother had an work related accident and was off work for 2 years, he rejected an out of court settlement for loss of earnings as he was told that he would get 10x that at court, doctors report stated that the injuries healed within a year and there was no physical reason that he could not work, the fact the doctor stated you could do light duties means in the eyes of the court and insurers you could work, whether you could get work or not is another matter

Edited by Nickyboy on Monday 12th April 22:39

This. Kind of at least.

The fact that you can't go back to your usual work is not sufficient to show that you couldn't do any work. You are expected to mitigate your losses and take any job you are able to do without further injuring yourself. On the other hand, the insurer can't get a windfall either - if you could show that you had applied for work and wouldn't have found it, and that your being out of work was due to the fact that you were injured, they ought to pay a much higher proportion of the claim.

How does the award break down? Usually offers made to claimants are net of CRU, i.e., the amount payable to the DWP is calculated behind the scenes and you get an offer of what you will receive, not what it will cost the insurer.

I expect it works out something like this:

£3k for 12 months' pain, suffering and loss of amenity
£1k/month x 4 for loss of earnings, net of tax you would have paid and benefits you've already received
CRU
Costs to the solicitors (ca. £2,500 + VAT and disbursements IIRC)

Only the first two of those will be stated to be within the figure put forward in the p.36 as the other two are going to be payable whatever or dependent on the size of the settlement reached.

Were you actually applying for work after four months? If not, do you disagree with the contents of the medical report? If the loss of earnings figure includes, say, a further six weeks for the additional time you probably would have been out of work had you applied for light duties, the offer probably isn't too far off. But you do have a duty to mitigate (i.e., minimise as far as is reasonable and practicable without hurting your interests) your loss.

If you can show that your work experience is only of heavy lifting and you have few transferable skills you will do better in showing that you could not have gone to work and done light duties, e.g., taxi driving, clerical work, call centre work, checkout work etc.

Edited by DavidHM on Monday 12th April 23:44

[saaby93]

How did you choose solicitor?

[jmn]

Would your solicitor have been recommended to you by your insurance company?

[E9CSL]

yes, i am using the brief that my insurance company gave me and what a waste of time they are. i am doing all the case work ie posting them paperwork and asking them to ask 3rd party for this and that info etc etc.

Edited by E9CSL on Thursday 29th April 14:25

[E9CSL]

Hi DavidHM,

my main skills are driving, loading and unloading vans, 7.5t. i have no other sklls ie to work in a call centre, office work etc etc. for a year i was on income support benefit, (you can only recieve this benefit if you are unable to return to work because of a disability,injuries, etc etc) and recieving physio once a month, for a year, as the 3rd party doctor recommend. after 1 years physio, i would fully recover from my injuries and i did. what is the meaning of light duties?, as in the doctors report??.

Regards

sandhu

Edited by E9CSL on Thursday 29th April 14:23

[notalways]

E9CSL said:

Hi DavidHM,

my main skills are driving, loading and unloading vans, 7.5t. i have no other sklls ie to work in a call centre, office work etc etc. for a year i was on income support benefit, (you can only recieve this benefit if you are unable to return to work because of a disability,injuries, etc etc) and recieving physio once a month, for a year, as the 3rd party doctor recommend. after 1 years physio, i would fully recover from my injuries and i did. what is the meaning of light duties?, as in the doctors report??.

Regards

sandhu

Edited by E9CSL on Thursday 29th April 14:23

The problem you have is not with your solicitor but the opinion of the instructed medical expert.

The loss of earnings that you are able to recover is only for the period during which your medical expert says that it was reasonable for you to have been off work as a result of the injuries you suffered in this accident. In your case, that appears to be for four months.

Your solicitor can only work with the expert medical evidence in front of them. You won’t be successful in claiming for loss of earnings out with that four month period as your medical expert doesn’t support it. And it is the opinion of the medical expert that the courts are interested in when it comes to the question “given ‘X’ injuries, how long would it have been reasonable for Mr Y to have been absent from job ‘Z’?”

If your aren’t happy with this medical report, you could fork out for another. But it is quite likely to say the same thing. And even if it says what you want it to say, your initial report is still out there. Which isn’t the best.

[littlegreenfairy]

You're getting more than I did for an injury that 6 years later means I can't sit for extended periods of time and all sorts.

Sadly, those claiming for "whiplash" right left and centre are the cause of the people with proper whiplash not getting proper payouts.

[Jasandjules]

E9CSL said:

yes, i am using the brief that my insurance company gave me and what a waste of time they are. i am doing all the case work ie posting them paperwork and asking them to ask 3rd party for this and that info etc etc.

Edited by E9CSL on Thursday 29th April 14:25

That is a shame. Is 7k the first offer?

Ok, so various issues revolve around your losses. Now, if you calculate how much salary you've lost and then add in all benefits that your employer paid. Then deduct from that a job that you could have done - I am assuming by light duties what they mean is that you could not lift heavy things and deliver them but you could have delivered small, light packages - then look to see if there is any kind of job that would have done that. Also, did you employer see the report which said light duties and did they still make you redundant ? I take it that you were made redundant on the basis that you could not undertake your previous occupation? You won't qualify under the DDA as I read what you've written and so the employer would not have a duty to look into reasonable adjustments.

Then you add in loss of enjoyment etc. (which is not much I am afraid) and then all the physio costs - including a taxi or fuel to get there and back can be recovered.

Once you've calculated the amount you think you could recieve in court (having deducted if you can find a suitable job - it could also be helpful to ask the DSS type people what jobs they could have got you and perhaps they will say nothing...) then you can decide whether the offer is "acceptable".