Help with Compensation offer...
Help with Compensation offer...
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BO55 VXR

Original Poster:

4,373 posts

282 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
Hi...

In November I had a collision with a parcel van where he had run through a red light and took the front left corner of my car off.

The other insurer has admitted liability and I have just received their first offer of compensation of £1,250 but this is a "full and final settlement figure and covers injury, pain, suffering and financial loss".

Well, my initial thoughts are f'k you because I have already had to pay out £350 damage XS, £100 initial car hire because insurers could not get me a replacement for a few days, £50 in incidental expenses (travel costs to doctors/physio, drugs etc ) and... this is the crunch.... £525 for physio treatment costs...I was not aware I would have to pay this out of any compensation. So that would then leave me £200 odd as compensation.

Now, this is the first ever full insurance claim I've had to make, had a few simple paint work claims, but not a full on collision so I would like to know if this is this "par for the course" or am I being bent over and shafted?


Dixy

3,669 posts

236 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
Interesting that insurance companies still take the piss like this, they complain that people run up costs by using claims handlers but don't play nicely if you don't. Find yourself a claims handler, someone will be along shortly to recommend one.

archie456

522 posts

253 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
What additional loss are you looking to be compensated for?

archie456

522 posts

253 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
What additional loss are you looking to be compensated for?

BO55 VXR

Original Poster:

4,373 posts

282 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
archie456 said:
What additional loss are you looking to be compensated for?
I was just asking if the net £200 is a fair and just compensation for whiplash?

annsxman

295 posts

273 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
BO55 VXR said:
I was just asking if the net £200 is a fair and just compensation for whiplash?
In order to answer that one your lawyer would need a medical report stating the extent of your injury. With that in hand it should be fairly simple for them to assess the appropriate level of compensation.

ging84

9,548 posts

177 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
why are you bringing your excess and hire car costs into it?
presumably that is being dealt with on the claim for damage to your car, which is presumably being handled by your insurer if you've had to pay an excess, which eventually you will get back when your insurer recovers all the costs from the other party



z4RRSchris99

12,533 posts

210 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
if you and your car are fixed then surely the compensation covering your repair / treatment is great?

or do you want more money because you think your entitled to it for the emotional heartache of going to the physio?

Centurion07

10,395 posts

278 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
Yeah, never mind the complete ballache this must have been, aside from the actual logistics involving the hire care and physio treatment. rolleyes

I'm damn sure ANYONE would be looking for a little more over and above the actual costs of getting them back to where they were.

Norse_mann

112 posts

235 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
Do the other sides insurers know you are claiming your excess back and that you've needed physio, have they seen your receipts for these?

TO be fair, if you've needed physio it sounds a bit more serious than a £1250 settlement would warrant - but this would really need a medical report to asses properly.

Did you have legal cover with your own insurance, if not you should try to get your own solicitor. The other driver's insurer is not there to give you a fair deal, their interest is to settle your case for as little as possible.

I would also be very wary about accepting a full and final without consulting your own insurer and checking to see if they have recovered vehicle damage and the hire car costs, as you might prejudice your own insurers recovery of these outlays.

rumpelstiltskin

2,805 posts

290 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
BO55 VXR said:
I was just asking if the net £200 is a fair and just compensation for whiplash?
I'll tell you what happened to me just as an example.I was sitting on my motorbike behine an articulated lorry at a junction,lorry reveresed into me and crushed the front end of my bike.
Next day after being pestered by compensation companies and the likes i sauntered down to the doctors for a slightly stiff neck,with it being a slow speed impact doctor said what i had was similar to whiplash in that i was pulling back on the bars trying to save myself from becoming pancake like,i ended up getting £2200,which to be honest i didn't even ask for or chase.

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

157 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
ging84 said:
why are you bringing your excess and hire car costs into it?
presumably that is being dealt with on the claim for damage to your car, which is presumably being handled by your insurer if you've had to pay an excess, which eventually you will get back when your insurer recovers all the costs from the other party
THIS. You have provided all the receipts and invoices for all the directly incurred costs, yes? If so, they're not part of the compensation, they're part of the main claim.

BO55 VXR

Original Poster:

4,373 posts

282 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
OK, to answer all questions above (in no particular order).

The car has been fixed but I had to pay the XS and then have to claim that loss back under an "uninsured loss" claim, which is being handled by the motor legal cover team who were engaged right from the off.

My insurers were unable to arrange a replacement car until 2 days later so I had to hire a car in the interim at my own expense (but at insurer's knowledge).... This is also an uninsured loss.

My legal team asked if I was injured and I do have whiplash and they arranged for assessment and was confirmed by physio and have ongoing treatment... The offer letter states that the cost of this would be deducted from compensation payout...eh?



mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

286 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
Once heard a doc say you can't get whiplash from a side impact. Is this not true?

johnfm

13,751 posts

281 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
More like £3k-£4 for even the most spurious injury claim.


jfbrin

415 posts

203 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
Utter tosh.
Wife suffered side on impact in 1988. BMW735 pushed the driver's side of her opel kadett in. Both cars written off.
She was offered £3000 injury compensation which was accepted. Young and naive.
Little did we know that the whiplash would lead to migraines and physio bills for the rest of her life.
She now has had four vertebrae fused together to reduce the pain and it is still painful. More operations necessary and private health are no longer interested as her condition is deemed "chronic".
I would suggest that the potential problems arising from SERIOUS whiplash should not be under-estimated.
The problem is that diagnosis is not a precise science so a mild condition can be milked by the claimant.

Jasandjules

72,671 posts

260 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
Have you added up your total costs/losses to date? (It seems you have to some extent at least) Have you then determined any future losses? (the total cost of ongoing physio, and confirming that the physio expects what % of recovery). Then take it from there.

Or, you can simply reject it. Very few people accept a first offer for anything, and I expect they will have a next offer ready and waiting... Their job is after all to get rid of you for as little money as possible.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

208 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
BO55 VXR said:
Hi...

In November I had a collision with a parcel van where he had run through a red light and took the front left corner of my car off.

The other insurer has admitted liability and I have just received their first offer of compensation of £1,250 but this is a "full and final settlement figure and covers injury, pain, suffering and financial loss".

Well, my initial thoughts are f'k you because I have already had to pay out £350 damage XS, £100 initial car hire because insurers could not get me a replacement for a few days, £50 in incidental expenses (travel costs to doctors/physio, drugs etc ) and... this is the crunch.... £525 for physio treatment costs...I was not aware I would have to pay this out of any compensation. So that would then leave me £200 odd as compensation.

Now, this is the first ever full insurance claim I've had to make, had a few simple paint work claims, but not a full on collision so I would like to know if this is this "par for the course" or am I being bent over and shafted?
Your insurer couldn't get a hire car, but you could?

What is the offer for? General or special damages? You clearly don't know what you're doing so either deal directly with them and get them to explain exactly what this is for and agree a figure, or get a solicitor and bump the cost up by c£500 in fees for them for no real reason.

The parcel van's insurers will be happy to discuss it amd explain it in detail and come to a figure that covers all bases for everyone. Chances are that the £1250 is to cover the injury element only anyway.

mybrainhurts

90,809 posts

286 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
You need Dame Rancid on the case....

trashbat

6,316 posts

184 months

Wednesday 7th January 2015
quotequote all
There's no such remedy as 'compensation' in English law. Many people don't realise this. There are only damages, which is the money required to put right some wrong, like the cost to fix your car.

That's not to say you can't or won't wring more money out of the situation for real, inflated or imagined damages, but you're not entitled to any money for being annoyed or intangibly inconvenienced.