Personal injury claim - has it all gone mad?

Personal injury claim - has it all gone mad?

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daemon

Original Poster:

35,724 posts

196 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
Ok so my son stupidly drove in to the back of someone in slow moving traffic.

Crack to rear bumper of other car, cracked bumper and headlight bracket broke on his car. His car was a 2006 car and we've photos taken at the time. My understanding is he was the only person in the car at the time.

At the time the bloke was all decent and matey but of course after a couple of days we get the inevitable solicitors letter claim. Fair enough, we'd alerted the insurance company anyway.

Got a letter in last week as hes submitted for a court date for the claim. Now i'm assuming the car damage will be added to this but hes putting in for personal injury of £29,000????

I mean WTF? I thought whiplash had been capped at around £5,000???

Will the insurance company just bend over and accept that amount of a payout?

Ultimately we're just spectators in this as its with the insurance company but thats seriously mental for a simple lightly rear ended in slow moving traffic scenario?


4x4Tyke

6,506 posts

131 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
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daemon said:
Ok so my son stupidly drove in to the back of someone in slow moving traffic.

Crack to rear bumper of other car, cracked bumper and headlight bracket broke on his car. His car was a 2006 car and we've photos taken at the time. My understanding is he was the only person in the car at the time.

At the time the bloke was all decent and matey but of course after a couple of days we get the inevitable solicitors letter claim. Fair enough, we'd alerted the insurance company anyway.

Got a letter in last week as hes submitted for a court date for the claim. Now i'm assuming the car damage will be added to this but hes putting in for personal injury of £29,000????

I mean WTF? I thought whiplash had been capped at around £5,000???

Will the insurance company just bend over and accept that amount of a payout?

Ultimately we're just spectators in this as its with the insurance company but thats seriously mental for a simple lightly rear ended in slow moving traffic scenario?7
Yes that sum sounds absurd, but this sort of crash for cash claim should play into your son's hands.

I received £24K for two broken feet requiring orthopaedic surgery, nearly 6 months in a wheel chair and a permanent disability. I had to wait over two years to establish the extent of the disability, before the claim could even be considered and nearly two more years to be settled. Other driver was 100% at fault, emerged past stop line on national speed limit road right into my path.

There is schedule of amounts vs injuries.

Shappers24

816 posts

85 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
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Depends on the guy in fronts circumstances.... if he was self employed, and for example was a builder who lost a £20K job because he couldn’t get to site due to bad back etc then the claim would include the loss of earnings for £20K. But that would be fully documented I would have thought. £29K seems a ridiculous amount of money.

I was rear ended on the M5 about 11 years ago. At the time of impact I had turned my head to the right so head and neck went a funny angle instead of straight front and back. Suffered migraines for about 3 months afterwards, pain in my elbow (that feeling when you knock your funny bone!) caused by the damage to the nerves in the neck. Got about £2K because there were no loss of earning and no long term injuries, and ultimately aside from it being a pita no long term losses. The process was very drawn out, had to see an impartial specialist who wrote a fully medical report and tested full range of movement.... from what I can tell some insurers don’t bother with that they just settle the claim if the third party has been to their GP and claimed ‘stiff neck’....

CYMR0

3,940 posts

199 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
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The amount is excessively high for the normal injury claim - I'd never say never, but either there is a significant loss of earnings or the injury was very significant (broken bones and/or permanent loss of mobiltiy at the least).

If none of the above apply then there is no way that the insurance company will entertain £29k for a minor whiplash claim. Of course, it's not really an issue for your son - obviously, as a policyholder, it's in his interests for other people's payouts to be low, but that applies ot anyone. However, the good news is that personal motor insurance is not really rated on claim size and therefore, having claimed, insurers don't much care whether he's taken out a wing mirror or an entire bus queue full of high earning footballers.

codenamecueball

529 posts

88 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
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How many people is he claiming are in the car?

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
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The "solicitor" (= "Have you had an accident that's not your fault? Call us now!") can put in for the moon, their cake AND eat it.

Doesn't mean they're going to be awarded it.

Magic919

14,126 posts

200 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
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It wouldn’t need a court date if the Insurer was accepting the claim. I’d see that as a good sign.

daemon

Original Poster:

35,724 posts

196 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
codenamecueball said:
How many people is he claiming are in the car?
Just the driver.

daemon

Original Poster:

35,724 posts

196 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
Magic919 said:
It wouldn’t need a court date if the Insurer was accepting the claim. I’d see that as a good sign.
indeed. I cant help but feel hes having a laugh

daemon

Original Poster:

35,724 posts

196 months

Thursday 19th October 2017
quotequote all
Shappers24 said:
Depends on the guy in fronts circumstances.... if he was self employed, and for example was a builder who lost a £20K job because he couldn’t get to site due to bad back etc then the claim would include the loss of earnings for £20K. But that would be fully documented I would have thought. £29K seems a ridiculous amount of money.
Well maybe thats the case but hopefully they will make him evidence that thoroughly.

KungFuPanda

4,324 posts

169 months

Friday 20th October 2017
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Did you get the breakdown for the £20k figure that's claimed? Repairs to the vehicle, a bit of hire, a bit of hire, loss of earning can all stack up.

Whiplash hasn't been capped at all. Here's a rough guide for valuing general damages http://www.rcsolicitors.co.uk/site-login/resources...


daemon

Original Poster:

35,724 posts

196 months

Friday 20th October 2017
quotequote all
KungFuPanda said:
Did you get the breakdown for the £20k figure that's claimed? Repairs to the vehicle, a bit of hire, a bit of hire, loss of earning can all stack up.

Whiplash hasn't been capped at all. Here's a rough guide for valuing general damages http://www.rcsolicitors.co.uk/site-login/resources...
The £29k? No, other than its for personal injury and loss of earnings. Whatever his car and associated costs came to will be on top of that.

kowalski655

14,599 posts

142 months

Friday 20th October 2017
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Is it actually£29k, or *limited* to £29k? As PI damages are usually not specifically quantified, but left to negotiation or the Judge,as each case is different

daemon

Original Poster:

35,724 posts

196 months

Friday 20th October 2017
quotequote all
kowalski655 said:
Is it actually£29k, or *limited* to £29k? As PI damages are usually not specifically quantified, but left to negotiation or the Judge,as each case is different
No its a specific claim for that specific amount. Seems very odd.

KungFuPanda

4,324 posts

169 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
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Apologies for misreading and thanks for clarifying the apportionment of damages.

Yes you're right, £29k sounds a lot for general damages. When I was in practice many moons ago, we used to settle whiplash type injuries with a 12 month prognosis period for around £2500. This has risen to around £3500 for the same injury. Not sure how the Claimant gets to his figure. Maybe an injury with permanent symptoms? I wouldn't worry about proceedings being issued. You won't be asked to partake as it'll be over quantum only given that liability is settled. Sit back and let your insurer deal with it.

Yipper

5,964 posts

89 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
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Always ask for way more than you'll get. It's called "anchoring" and sets the bar higher from the start.

Ask for 6k and they rule a 50% cut and you'll end up with 3k. Ask for 29k and get an 80% cut and you'll end up with 6k.

Ask more, get more.

The guy is smart.

Emeye

9,773 posts

222 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
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Few years ago I pulled out of a junction and was hit by a pizza delivery driver doing Mach 3 in an old Honda, even though the final impact speed wasn’t that high - I had no injuries and the driver of the other car didn’t appear to have any at the time. My car, an alfa GTV was written off and I got about £3k before excess, his car was worth £1k tops. The final total payout figure after he had claimed for car hire and personal injury (?!) was £14k!

The only silver lining was that I had bought the Alfa for £400 a few weeks earlier without an MOT and spent £100 and a few hour of my time getting it through.

KungFuPanda

4,324 posts

169 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
Yipper said:
Always ask for way more than you'll get. It's called "anchoring" and sets the bar higher from the start.

Ask for 6k and they rule a 50% cut and you'll end up with 3k. Ask for 29k and get an 80% cut and you'll end up with 6k.

Ask more, get more.

The guy is smart.
Some Solicitors do that and you get to recognise which ones. This can work only up to a point though as the claim has to be backed up by medical evidence. Also, if the other side make an offer to settle and the Claimant fails to beat this offer at trial, there can be costs consequences.

daemon

Original Poster:

35,724 posts

196 months

Saturday 21st October 2017
quotequote all
I guess if the guy is self employed then he could claim for loss of earnings. If i was being cynical, if he was say a handyman or painter or whatever he could just not lodge any money in to his business account and thus his accounts would show zero earnings for six months.

It surprises me hes going in for the kill so quickly. The accident was only February - big amounts usually only come after a significant time

Edited by daemon on Saturday 21st October 12:24

BlueHave

4,636 posts

107 months

Sunday 22nd October 2017
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Had to put up with this nonsense a few years ago with an elderly relative.

He was stopped at traffic lights behind a 7.5 TONNE lorry which then stalled as the lights turned green, the relatives puddle jumper nudged the crash guard on the lorry which had caused no damage to the lorry and a small dent on the bonnet of the relatives car.

Pulled over to the side and swapped details, the relative accepted responsibility and everything was fine and dandy.

Then a few weeks later he got a visit from the police as the other guy had reported him for failing to stop and another from a solicitor.

The 7.5 tonne driver had driven straight to A&E and was off work since with whiplash, sore knee , aches and pains, sore wrists all the above.

Claim was something like £13k which they settled. Within a week the lorry driver was spotted driving around without any noticeable injury.

It was fraud but did the insurance company or solicitors care, did they fk.