There are a number of questions that are asked by most people
about their claim. Hopefully this will answer some of them
but please feel free to ask if your questions are not answered
here.
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How long will the claim take
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This depends partly on how co-operative the Defendant's
insurers are and partly on how long you take to recover.
It is not in your interests to settle a claim too early
if you have not fully recovered as claims are settled
on a 'once and for all' basis - i.e. you can't come
back for more if you do not recover as quickly as anticipated.
However, for our part we do not allow any avoidable
delays - for example, if the other side are trying to
drag the claim out, we will issue civil court proceedings
to put pressure on them. However, a note of caution
should be added in respect of 'pothole'
or road/pavement defect claims, as these invariably
take longer.
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What do I have to do
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Hopefully very little - that's what we are here for!
All you need to do is attend a medical appointment
arranged
by us (this will be in your own locality) and let us
have any information that we ask for, promptly.
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Why do I have to attend another
medical - I am already seeing my own doctor or receiving
treatment from a hospital
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Your own doctor or the hospital will only be concerned
with getting you better. For the purposes of your claim
we need a detailed medical report setting out your injuries
and giving a prognosis for your recovery, as this is
how your compensation is valued. Your own doctor will
not usually be considered 'independent' for the purposes
of a claim
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Do I have to pay you anything
for the work you do
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No (but please see the "General
Advice" page). If we win your case, the guilty
party's insurers have to pay our fees, and the fees
for medical reports, court fees etc. as well as your
compensation. If we lose your case we do not get paid.
However, the court fees etc. still have to be paid so
if we have any strong doubts about your case we will
be cautious about incurring these fees (called 'disbursements').
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Does issuing court proceedings
mean that I will have to go to court
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Extremely unlikely. Issuing proceedings simply means
putting the court process in motion by sending a claim
form to the court. There are a number of procedural
steps that have to be followed before a hearing and
the court sets a timetable which the other party's insurers
(or, usually by then, their solicitors) have to follow.
This usually means that we can force them to get on
with dealing with your claim. Very occasionally the
insurers simply won't get on with matters and the case
will proceed to a final hearing (only a very small proportion
of cases). However, these days the courts will often
deal with deciding your case without you having to attend,
at what is called a 'disposal hearing'. So all in all,
your chances of having to actually attend court are
very low.
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About
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