Car accident insurance claim advice

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Last week dh was a passenger in a car which was stationery at a junction when the car behind who wasn't concentrated accelerated into them.

Dh & his colleague spent the afternoon in A & E. he is in a lot if pain & was off work the next day. GP says he has whiplash & a slipped disc. His colleague has a fracture & has been signed off for two weeks.

Dh is unable to drive & is on very string painkillers. His work is 40 miles from home & dd also goes to school there.

In order to get there & back his parents have been driving an 80 mile round trip twice a day to take him & dd which is unsustainable so we have arranged for dd to go into the boarding house for the next couple if weeks at a cost of £15 per night. (Shoukd be £30 we negotiated a discount) That means dh can get the train one way & his parents only have to do the journey once a day. The train would not get dd there on time.

This is a hell of a lot if expense we could do without. Dh shouldn't really be in work, he attended a staff meeting yesterday & his back seized up for example. He is likely to need physio & the dr says it will be about 6 weeks before he starts to feel better.

I'd assumed we could claim these costs back from the drivers insurance company but my mum told me there is a limit you can claim now because all the insurance claims were getting out of hand. She thinks it unlikely we will get dds boarding costs or dhs parents extra petrol money.

This is worrying me because we are spending money we haven't got in order to get dh to work & dd to school.

I have to both take ds to school close to home & get to work myself so i can't do the run myself. If dd came home on the train she would not get in til 8.45 each night & as I said before she would only get into school by 10.00am rather than 8.45am.

I know it was our choice for her to go to school so far away but it wasn't our choice for someone to drive so carelessly!

Much as I hate the no win no fee companies I think you should call one for advice

Sounds like he will have a valid claim and a good lawyer will argue these things for you and advise on what you can and can't claim for

I hate them too! Someone is currently suing our works policy for a minor bump, crawling stop start traffic bump, no damage to car , claimant took no time off work & didn't visit a & e or GP til a week afterwards. And he's asking for thousands for whiplash & two physio spots/over the counter painkillers.

Dh is drugged up on co codamol & extra strength ibuprofen to get him through the day.

The fact you have medical records of an afternoon in a&e as well as gp reports should make your claim a lot easier

Generally there is to much of a blame and claim culture over here now and rightly so the insurance companies are fed up of it

But when you have a genuine claim and have received medical attention as a result of an accident and are suffering out of pocket expenses as a direct result of that accident then you need to get a claim in progress from someone who knows the system and can get you everything that is due

Dh did have someone run in the back of his car writing it off about 10 years ago. He was off work for 6 weeks on that occasion as his job involved a lot of driving. He suffered for years after that with his back but has been pain free for about 5-6 years.

Do you think they'll try to claim his back problems are a re-occurrence of the previous injury?

His colleagues insurance company are sending him a form. Sounds like she has come off even worse.

Much as it galls me to say it though I think he needs an appt with an accident specialist company.

Do you have legal expenses cover either under your home insurance or your husband's own motor insurance policy? If so, the company who provides this cover should deal with claiming for your husband's injury and the financial losses arising from this incident.

In the meantime make sure that you keep all receipts as you should be able to claim reasonable costs incurred as result of the accident.

I think they've put a limit on how much you can claim for injuries. But out of pocket expenses shouldn't be limited if they're legitimate. I think you need a personal injury lawyer.

I think dhs car insurance does have legal cover (will they get involved if his car wasn't involved)

If what viva says is correct that's RE-assuring. We are not out to make money, just not be out of pocket.

It will depend on the wording of the policy. Some motor legal expenses cover is only there where your car has been involved in an accident, others also cover you when you're a passenger in someone else's car. Worth investigating though as, if you've already got the cover there, it'll save the hassle of finding and appointing a solicitor/accident management company.

There's a general obligation on the claimant to mitigate costs to the insured as much as possible, so be very careful about racking up huge bills in the assumption "the insurance will pay".

Well we are trying to reduce costs eg by negotiating a reduced rate for overnight boarding for dd & by dh getting lifts/trains into work instead of going off sick for the next three weeks I hope.

He's had a letter from his colleagues insurance company offering to act for him so he's going to give them a call.

I was involved in a rear ending of a vehicle last week. No damage to the other vehicle as mine hit the tow bar. It was my fault. Other driver very not to contact insurance. I can get mine fixed without great cost. so suits me to not notify them. He agreed to never contact us again. 3 days later he is claiming to have pain in his shoulder! could we make a "goodwill gesture" to get it looked at. He still doesn't want us to contact insurance. Where so I stand? He won't sign a letter to say the incident is now closed. Am I at risk? Any advice?