accident injury claim... do I or dont I??

[Lecook]

After being a passenger in my mothers car im unsure on whether to claim or not for the injuries ive sustained, mainly because of the worrie of loosing a claim and having to pay out for whatever costs they decide they want to bill me for...


so, a outline as to whats going on

Basically I got a lift with my mum to collect my missus new car (6months ago) my mother driving me as a front seat passenger... we arrive at the entrance to the car sales forecourt and my mum brakes quite hard... as she does so I look over my shoulder and see the car behind slam on his brakes... he stops inches from out rear bumper only to be hit but a lwb mercadies sprinter which then punts him into the back of us... me being me... I jump out of the car... runn to the sprinters drivers door and wrench it open.. a few choice words later ive walked back to my mums car to find her and the rear seat passenger both in tears and one complaining of bad back/neck pain... so I call the emergency services and try to comfort the rear seat passenger...

Lets cut this a little short.. emergency services arrive roof gets cut off of my mums carand my mother and rear seat passenger get carted away to the hospital.. after everyone had gone im left standing outside the car dealers with slight pain in my lower back but determind not to say anything as I had a promise to collect the missus new car and deliver to her work before she finished (aww how sweet...) so off to the dealership collect car.. drive to hospital to see whats going on with everyobe involved.. everyones ok.. right... off to collect the missus in her new car... back to hospital collect the mother and other passenger...

so that night I didnt sleep much quite a bit of pain in the lowrr and upper back.. 3 days later ibuprofen isnt doing the trick any more so off to the docs to get checked... doc pokes me in the back.. does this hurt.. does that hurt.. blah blah blah... so I get the usual here take these painkillers and come back if it gets worse... awesome.. that was less hassle then I thought..

so a few months go by and I dont think anything of it... just having to take the odd ibuprofen when it gets too much... last month I started a new job.. which involved alot of manual lifting manouvering things on a crane aswell as standing for 8 1/2 hours a day back pains crop up... cant sleep im in alot of pain.. so back to the docs.. more poking .. does this hurt does that hurt ect.. more pills and a number to call for physio

so now were at the point where my mums put in a claim for the injuries shes sustained and shes given this company my details.. theyve been hassling me for 2 days and finally I answered the call to them yesterday.. they took a good hour out of my life and have now sent me some documents to sign over email...

My big dilema is.. do I send the info back and start a claim or do I just say im not interested... clearly its caused me hassle and has caused me a fair few days of discomfort and difficulty sleeping.. but I didnt want to be part of the whole claim for whiplash gang..

now ive got this paperwork sent through theyve said theyll take a max of 25% out of my compo and an extra £138 for some insurance that will stop me getting a bill if I decline and offer and end up in court over it and then loose.. to be 100% honest I dont understand the whole thing.. I cant remeber many of the details and theyre only going from what my mother has told them and ive just agreed with bits that I can remember...

So..
do I claim?? Surely a few quid towards taking the missus out and a few car parts is a bonus right??

Do I just deal with the pain and pay for the phsio

Do I contact this claims company and ask them to explain it better?? (Scott rees & co)

I feel kind of morally wrong for claiming because its part of the reason insurance is so high.. but then I pay my premiums and have done for the last 6 years so why shouldnt I?? (Without sounding arrogent)

Im kinda stuck on this.. I know ill regret it if I dont claim but I dont understand or really have aby knowlage of the proceadures.. I wouldnt know what to look for if the claims company were having me on to taking advantage / mugging me off..

anyone have any advice or info that may help me out a little.. any horror stories or sucess stories

my appolagies for the essay and if your still reading then I guess it made a little sense

all oppinions suggestions advice would be greatly aprreciated

cheers in advance

Lee

 

[homeward]

Talk to an independent solicitor (preferably one on one of the accident registers -- so you don't have to pay anything up front). I had an accident 18 years ago, from which my health has deteriorated badly; and, although nothing can compensate for this, any little helps.

They shouldn't be taking any of your compensation: so your current offer is a swizz. Talk to your insurers: they should have their own recommended solicitors; or the AA or RAC, if you're a member. If you have legal expenses cover with either car or house insurance, you could always try them. Just don't be pushed into doing something too quickly, where you may lose out. :nono:

Currently having a bad migraine: so apologies if this isn't clear. So feel free to ask for more info, if needs be: and I'll reply more cogently, later.

PS: Why do you think it's "morally wrong" for claiming for damage done to you?

 

[AndyRKett]

What you have to consider is that claiming some money isn't going to suddenly fix your back, however a good claims company (unlike the one you seem to have attracted) will organise proper assessment and physio, can organise scans and treatments if needed.

Legal firms make their money claiming legal fees from the other party and should never need to take anything out of your compensation
Legal fee often are many many thousands over and above what you'll get in compensation so they don't get a bad deal.


If you've had problems you should claim, it certainly sounds like you've got pretty typical whiplash injury with an onset of pain many hours after the initial accident which can go on easily for 6months to a year.

But as homeward says you need to find a different better law firm

 

[MadMan0]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Honestly, after dealing with insurers myself recently I would never 'want' to be involved with them again for anything other than a major accident. However, this is what insurance is there for, you don't have to foot the bills for medication and physio.
I would reccomend that you talk to the claim company to understand everything and put your mind at ease, then decide whether you want the help resolving the differculties from them.
Genuine claims are what the insurance is there for.

All the best.

 

[ChrisUK]

I've got one claim company hounding me to claim for £8.50 worth of drugs after my accident.

They're trying to charge the third party insurance £950. Most of which is their fees. I've basically told them to pi$$ off now. hardly worth the trouble.

 

[Lecook]

Cheers for the replies guys.. for some reason I was expecting a bunch of replies saying man up and just take it on the chin... ive never been in the position of needing to claim and to be fair ive never had an accident that I wanted or needed to claim on before... I alot of what has been said makes sense.. the claims company have made it out to sound like theyre trying to move things along quickly.whereas I was suspicious after being asked whether id spoken to any other solicitors.. I guess thats just how they get your business rather then you going elsewhere... it turns out that my mother has sent all the paper work back to them and although it may seem sly I was thinking of maybe seein the outcome of her claim before proceeding with mine... maybe thats an option ?? Also there is a company at the end of my road that deals with personal injury claims that maybe I could go and see.. I just dont want to end up with letters through the door saying you owe this much for this service... ect ect ect.. id rather just not bother...
Im not too clued up as I said before and it just worries me that ill end up out of pocket and still have the same problems

cheers