has anyone sued after a car crash for injuries?

[misdee]

We had a pretty bad car crash a few weeks back after a 32 tonne LGV went into us. the driver has admitted full liability as he cut the corner and was going too fast and didnt see us till he hit us. I suffered whiplash in the crash. but now ( i know its only a short period of time) i am getting more pains in my neck and the gp confirmed today that the neck muscles on the left where the seat belt was at the time are in spasm. i am back on painkillers and anti inflamateries. We have legal cover with our insurence and am thinking of suing the driver of the lorry. Is it a long process? will it be easier as he has admitted liability? I am dresing months of feeling like this and depending on drug use to ease the pain.

Hi Misdee - as many know I work for a firm of personal injury solicitors so we come across this literally every day. The suing process can be long but mainly due to timescales laid down by the Court. Liability being admitted is a very good sign and you will be suing the company the driver works for and not him personally. Enlisting the help of a solicitor will help you to get (a) necessary physiotherapy (private if necessary) and (b) adequate compensation for you injuries. PLEASE DO NOT USE A CLAIMS COMPANY. You can use any solicitor not just the ones your legal expense insurers have on their panel and it won't cost you a penny. I can recommend if necessary or you can look on the Law Society website. You don't need a local lawyer for PI work.
I hope you feel better soon and how are the kids - I hope they're not affected by the crash.

I was in a car accident Jan last year and I'm still sorting out compensation for the whiplash. A lot of the delay though is down to me being crap at returning forms though! I've had an offer, which the solicitors advised me to reject, and I'm seeing some flash Harley Street consultant in June to see whether I have 'on going problems'. I expect that if I had taken it more seriously (only went ahead with it because its part of my insurance - didn't really expect anything TBH) we could have sorted this in about a year - don't expect it any sooner than that!

DSs, who had a bruised shin and grazed forehead between them, are getting £250 each, which is daft - they've done worse to themselves in the park! But I'm not stupid enough to turn it down

Go for it, its what you pay all that car insurance for.

Hi misdee - I claimed for injury through my insurance company, who pass it on to their solicitors and it was dealt with brilliantly,(I would never go to one of the companies I see advertised on the telly) after a whiplash injury gave me pain for years. I had no hospital treatment (as they wanted me to share an ambulance with the man who caused the accident) or xrays but went straight to gp to get it documented.

Luckily the 'fault' side was easy to prove as I had an off-duty police man witness it. The driver of the other car went to court and got 5 points with a fine etc.

The medical side took about 2.5 years to go through, but it was well worth fighting, as I suffered at work to the point where I would ahve probably have lost my job if I hadn't have left. And even later I had to give up breast-feeding early because of the pains in my neck.

I ended up with a good amount of compensation, which helped, but did not really make up for the pain etc. It was well worth seeing it through to the end though.

We are in the process of claiming through our insurers recommended solicitors for an accident we had at New Year. To be honest I was rather unfussed about it to begin with as I was glad to still be alive and have my dh, ds and dd. I actually felt very sorry for the couple that hit us too. Having said all that, we went ahead as my dh still cannot come to terms with what has happened. The accident has made us make all sorts of life changes that we would not have had to think about before, some of which you can't put a price on, I think. Given your situation I would just go for it anyway. Although it is a slow process it may help you in the long run. Gook luck and I hope you are all OK.

Thanks. the crash has affected m,e more than i thought mentally. i started my driving lessons back up after, but last week suffered a panic attack whilst stopping to answer questions on right turns. i freeze whenever large vechiles come near us, and dd1 is always talking about the crash and tells us it will be ok.

How do i go about getting physio sorted thro solicitor? i might see if gp can refer me, but atm he has recommened that i rest my neck muscles as much as possible and has banned me from doing the ironing! (yippee, not that i did it anyway)

Misdee - if you get a solicitor to deal with the other side's insurance company they can arrange (hopefully) for private physiotherapy paid for directly by the insurance company (instead of you paying it and then claiming it back - can be quite pricey) or if you're happy (and the waiting list isn't too long) you could get referred by your GP. Keep all receipts (taxis, bus tickets, prescriptions etc) as you will be able to claim these back as well as your loss of earnings/dh's loss of earnings attributable to your injuries. You will have to go to a medical expert experienced in medico-legal reports (local to where you live) for an assessment at some point in the future (most lawyers I know wouldn't get a medical report before, say 6 months post accident as it is not always clear that the symptoms have cleared up/are clearing up). Don't underestimate your injuries as whiplash can be very painful indeed. Good luck.

we are currently having to hire a car at a cost of 200quid as our insurence comp havent been able to get hold of his insurence comp, but have assured us we will get the money back. this is becuase our new car is a disability car and wont be ready til lend of june and this week we have hospital appointmentrs which are too far to get a taxi to.

we wont have loss of earnings to claim for as neither dh and i work due to dh heart problems and me being full time carer for dd1. its the inconvience thats bugging me.

I know it's really annoying. If your insurers can't get hold of his insurers how do you know they've admitted liability. Surely if it was a lorry you would be able to trace the company? A letter of claim can be sent to the company in any event and they have to by law inform you/your lawyer of their insurance company within (I think) 21 days or so.

the lorry driver admitted full liability in front of the policeman, the skid marks on the rd, puts him in the blame as well. the insurence comps have made initial contact, we have had the money for the car that was written off sorted already, its just the last week they have been having probs getting hold of them.

There's nowt like a lawyers letter for getting things moving.... Also please check that payment for the car was in fact ONLY for the car and not for injuries....! Also if you have a motability car does your insurance not cover you for hiring a vehicle? Surely you shouldn't have to pay it yourselves?

our old car was my own car, not a mobility vechile. its just basically we need a decent car and this is the best way to get one now. the payment was just for the car, we have checked all that out. I wasnt too sure on suing to start with, as i belive that people sue for the silliest things as times, and the ads annoy me lol. but in this case, the accident could have been avioded if he was paying attention and not cut the corner and smashed my car up. it ruined our holiday, we spent the last two days of it sorting out a car to get home (insurence sorted out courtesy car for the first 2 weeks as thats in our policy cover), after that its down to us. but as our new car wont be ready for a while, pur insurence comp is ready to get things fioghting with his comp.
The bloke who hit us was really sorry, and his boos has foned us to see how we're getting on and to pass on comp details etc, its just the insurence comp they use are being arses.

I remember reading your thread at the time misdee - I agree a lot of people claim for ridiculous things - cut fingers, bruising, etc which then makes it look "money grabbing" for those who really do suffer. Whatever you decide to do I really hope you use a lawyer and as I say I can recommend a lovely sympathetic husband/wife firm (not the one I work for lol) if you are interested. Was your dh injured in the accident?

actually, while you are about do u know anythign about employment law or what ever its called? dh work keep losing his sicknotes and expect him to provide replacement, which the gp surgery cant do. where do we stand on that?

Actually I don't know much about employment law but I would think that you are complying with your contract by supplying the note. If they lose it then that's their fault. As you say bloody embarrasing and inconvenient to keep going back to the doctor. Surely if they lose the note they should contact your dh's GP (of which they should have details) directly.

Actually I don't know much about employment law but I would think that you are complying with your contract by supplying the note. If they lose it then that's their fault. As you say bloody embarrasing and inconvenient to keep going back to the doctor. Surely if they lose the note they should contact your dh's GP (of which they should have details) directly.

dh was ok surprisingly, so where the kids. its just the fact i'm short and seatbelts dont sit right on my sholder even when adjusted to lowest level so it just caused problems round my neck area. i have suffered muscle spasms b4, but thats lways been on the right side of my neck, and was just starting to see progress in a slight let up of pain there b4 the crash, but ui have put that side out many times. but addding now the left side its restricted my movements a fair bit. feeling pretty pi**ed off about the whole thing really.

cheers for the employment bit. he has been off work for 2years, same condition, u'd think they would get rid of him by now eh!

Sounds like you need a good bottle of wine and a nice massage from your dh

What's wrong with your dh? (if you don;t mind me asking). Can he be pensioned off?

he has a heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy. there is a very small chance he will reocover enough to return to work but theres also a chance he will need a transplant. but as no doc will say either way what will happen (as they dont know) his work wont pension him off. but he is signed off til sept atm.

YOu really are not having a good time are you Misdee? Try not to let your neck get you down too much although it's easy for me to say as I'm not the one suffering. Plenty of lovely painkillers/anti-inflammatory tabs (not washed down with alcohol obviously!!!!

i know. i should be on easteneders on something!

If I get you on the June swap I'll send you some lovely tat to cheer you up!!!