Advice on a legal case please!

[sharontillerbrookes]

Long story short, I have an ongoing personal injury claim. Has been going on for just over a year, the person dealing with it has said she’ll come to me with an offer by the 28th of may. It has been a very stressful journey and I just want it over with! Can anyone advise me how long after accepting an offer it’ll take to close the claim and receive the money? She’s confirmed they’re definitely giving me a pay out so I know this. Has anyone got any experience with this, how long did it take for you? Thanks!

How can she predict she'll have an offer by 28 May? That's rather odd to start with. I'd never tell my clients to expect an offer by x date.

We tell our clients to expect 4-6 weeks for payment, even though it rarely takes anything like that. It depends how long they take to pay plus how they pay (FP / BACS / cheque) as to when we have cleared funds to send out.

It took mine about 2 weeks from accepting the settlement to get the money sent to me. But I was told up to 6 weeks. Mine went on for nearly 3 years

@NoWordForFluffy

How can she predict she'll have an offer by 28 May? That's rather odd to start with. I'd never tell my clients to expect an offer by x date.

We tell our clients to expect 4-6 weeks for payment, even though it rarely takes anything like that. It depends how long they take to pay plus how they pay (FP / BACS / cheque) as to when we have cleared funds to send out.

I did make a 'sort of' complaint to them as their customer service has been pretty bad. I get covid has been an issue for companies but I'm still suffering from this accident so it was frustrating at times. A previous case manager left and didn't even notify me. So she said she'd get back to me by the 28th.

But she can't know the other side will make an offer by then, regardless of your complaint. Unless she's saying she'll ask you for instructions on making an offer by then, which would be very slow on her part!

You can't create offers to settle out of thin air.

If you're still suffering is your claim even ready to settle?

@NoWordForFluffy

But she can't know the other side will make an offer by then, regardless of your complaint. Unless she's saying she'll ask you for instructions on making an offer by then, which would be very slow on her part!

You can't create offers to settle out of thin air.

If you're still suffering is your claim even ready to settle?

What do you mean by the other side?? The insurance has agreed they will pay out. Liability has been admitted too. She said she would get back to me by the 28th with an offer, is this incorrect information then? The whole thing has been a mess and very stressful! The whole company comes across incompetent. I'm still suffering yes, a medical report has been obtained which has given a rough estimate on how much they think I will need to spend in total on recovering. They think it'll take approx 40 months for me to recover.. Damages including psychological damages she told me will be all taken into consideration when making the offer.

Your solicitor acts for you and has claimed against the other party. It is the other party supposedly agreeing to compensate you. Therefore it is the other party who needs to make an offer. It doesn't come from your solicitor, but the insurer / solicitor acting for the other party. Hence not being able to promise when an offer will come in. Your solicitor has zero control over it.

@NoWordForFluffy

Your solicitor acts for you and has claimed against the other party. It is the other party supposedly agreeing to compensate you. Therefore it is the other party who needs to make an offer. It doesn't come from your solicitor, but the insurer / solicitor acting for the other party. Hence not being able to promise when an offer will come in. Your solicitor has zero control over it.

I don't have a solicitor? I'm dealing with the insurance company direct.

If you're dealing directly with the insurer, they will make you an offer based on their assessment of your claim. That offer would normally need to be approved by a Team Leader or Supervisor before it's sent to you, so that may be why the case handler needs until 28 May to get that approved and sent to you.

As to how long it takes from that point, it will depend on whether or not you are willing to accept the offer. When dealing directly with Claimants on injury claims, insurance companies will often make their first best offer only. So if you don't think the offer is enough, your recourse will be to instruct a solicitor to represent you, they will need to review the claim and advise you as to the next steps, making a further offer, obtaining any further evidence etc.

If you do accept the offer, then the insurer should be able to send the agreed settlement relatively quickly, provided they have (as they should) a current CRU certificate. Most insurers now can send payments by BACS, which will normally arrive within 2-3 days. A cheque payment is more like 7-10 days.

I don't have a solicitor? I'm dealing with the insurance company direct.

That would've been useful information from the start!

@NoWordForFluffy

I don't have a solicitor? I'm dealing with the insurance company direct.

That would've been useful information from the start!

I didn't think it was relevant. Sorry