WWYD: Car Accident Claim Settlement

[Doodlebug89]

Hi everyone,

Back in October I was involved in a minor car accident (I was a passenger in car with husband, we were stationary at a junction, someone wasn't looking where they were going and went into the back of us. They have admitted it was their fault). I had minor whiplash, with initial pain in my neck (went after a week) and ongoing pain in my upper and lower and back. I have had chiropractic treatment as part of our claim, but I can't have any more as I've reached the limit).

The lower back pain is bad when I teach - I am a University lecturer and deliver 2-3 hour lectures a couple of times a week. In the evenings after these lectures I have bad back pain and sometimes need to lie down. I only started teaching again in Feb (after I had my medical assessment for the claim) so it's only become apparent now that this is elevating the pain (although I did note to the doctor that I was worried that it would hurt when lecturing, as it hurts if I stand for more than 30 mins doing ironing etc). In May/June I'll teach an intensive course where I'm teaching every day, so I imagine it will be quite painful. I'm only 28 and have never had back pain before.

Anyway, solicitor emailed today to say if I'm happy I've recovered sufficiently he will go ahead and try to settle the claim. He values the claim at £2,500 (and the same again for my husband). However if I claim and the pain worsens (e.g. with the intensive teaching) I won't be able to make any further claims. I think it will be more painful when I do the intensive teaching, but I don't think I could evidence it in a way that would affect the claim. When I had my medical exam the doctor said it will only get better with time.

What would you do? Would you settle now or wait to see if the pain worsens?

Also, explain to the insurers that your condition has deteriorated on starting lecturing again - part of your normal occupation - and request a repeat medical assessment.

You can receive private medical treatment at the cost to the insurance of the other party. You shouldn't settle now because if it worsens and you need operating on you will not be able to recover related costs. You should be discussing this with your solicitor. Personally I would never advise a person to settle with an on going issue.

I was in a similar accident, but stationary at a junction when a car turned in and hit me from the front.

I had 10 sessions of physiotherapy paid for by the other parties insurance company. (I think they do this now to save money in the long run as earlier the treatment the better) at the end of the sessions the physiotherapist said, although I could have done with a couple more sessions, the insurance company only allocated blocks of 10 sessions and my injuries were not severe enough to warrant another block of 10. I didn’t even think there was that much wrong with me at the time, but was amazed how restricted my movements were once I had been treated and could feel the difference.

It doesn’t sound like you have had enough treatment.
I would push for them to provide more treatment. It’s not about the money. You need to make sure that you are back to the health you were at before the accident. I know plenty of people who have regular physiological/osteo/chiro appointments stemming from old whiplash injuries.

Get seen by your GP, then contact the solicitors to request further treatment. If they have made an offer, then they have admitted liability. I wouldn’t worry that you will lose out on a payout. For now it’s more important that you get treated.

(I had a neck and shoulder injury, my offer is currently higher than yours and it’s still being negotiated)

For soft tissue damage it's unlikely you will get much more if you hold on, I'd just settle tbh. You've had your treatment, I presume you've had your medical report with a prognosis hence being told only time will heal it. If you think there's a chance you will still be suffering past your prognosis then I'd consider that but tbh it won't get you loads more for soft tissue damage.

I used to work as a personal injury claims handler for a large insurance company.

Can you ask for physiotherapy? A chiropractor is very costly hence the limited sessions, the insurer may grant physiotherapy sessions.

Hi everyone,

I took your advice and booked in with the GP (took ages to get an appointment!). He's sending me for some X-Rays next week to try and identify the source of the pain.

However we found out today that the lady that hit us has phoned her insurance saying she doesn't want them to pay out for our injuries as it was a low speed crash. She seems to be implying that we are faking injuries for compensation. We explained to our solicitor at the start of the claim that it was relatively low speed (no way of knowing as we didn't see her coming, but given where it happened I'd say maximum 20mph possibly even slower). We both had minor whiplash diagnosed by the doctor immediately following the accident. We also have proof from the medical assessment conducted as part of the claim (a few months later). So how can she suddenly dispute this? If she admits that she went into us and that it was her fault, and we have proof that we experienced injuries as a result, surely it doesn't matter what the speed was?

The solicitor has now asked for proof of damage to the vehicle, however we are not claiming for damage to the vehicle. We have a Mini which has a plastic bumper at the back. This popped partly off after the collision but we took it to the garage and they were able to easily fix it back on (it clicked back into place). There was no other damage to the car. The garage is owned by DH's uncle, who we go to for all MOTs, servicing, etc, so he didn't charge us for his time. He could maybe write up a receipt explaining what was done, but I don't see why this is suddenly necessary?

Do you think this might impact the claim?

Yes imo this will negatively impact your claim. How much was the damage to the TPV? LSI is a valid tactic used as leverage to reduce compensation claims. It's is a costly route to go down though, expert engineering evidence is required although ultimately "you can never disprove a whiplash'. Do you have photos of the damage before it was repaired?

Hi @Petal.

That's annoying. I think I will still proceed with the x-rays, even though it may be drawing out the claim and reducing the settlement.

No, we unfortunately didn't. We just didn't think to take pictures. It was also hammering down with rain so DH got back into the car quickly after getting the lady's details. The damage to our car was very minor, I think in part because our car has a big plastic bumper. I think if it had hit the bodywork it would have dented. I'm not sure about her car as DH got out of the car.

Is there anything I can do, or shall I just let the solicitor deal with it and resign myself to the fact that we won't get compensation?