Picking up on the earlier article about parental indemnity settlements, I want to draw attention to the increasing trend by the other side’s insurer to make so called “pre-medical offers,” These offers come into play at an early stage of the claim if the other side admit fault for your accident they will often put forward an offer of anything between £1,000.00 and £2,000.00 (and sometimes several offers in quick succession) to bring your claim to an end. When I first began working in personal injury law nearly three years ago I noticed that these offers were rarely made by insurers but in the last year particularly almost every insurer will make an offer of this kind if they admit liability for your claim.
The rise of this tactic by insurers is probably a result of the fact that more people are becoming aware that they can claim for compensation from accidents and so many insurers are looking to cut their losses by throwing money at your claim which may not necessarily be a fair and accurate reflection of what it is worth.
If you accept these offers they may serve to bring a quick resolution to your claim but it is worth remembering that your solicitor needs to send you to a medical appointment with an expert so as they can provide a report with which to place an accurate value on your injuries. The danger of accepting a pre-medical offer is that it will not include any treatment costs for such things as physiotherapy or MRI Scans (if your injuries are serious enough) or your financial losses – if for example you have been absent from work for a long period of time and you have not been on full pay.
Therefore the risk of accepting pre-medical offer is twofold:
1. You are unlikely to get the right amount of compensation that you deserve for your injuries,
2. You are likely to be left out of pocket as your financial losses from the accident will not be included in any settlement agreed.
This goes against the legal principle behind making an injury claim which is as far as possible you should be put back in the position you were in before the accident happened financially or otherwise.
The lesson to be taken away from pre-medical offers is that you should not deal directly with the other side’s insurers and instead place your claim in the hands of an experienced solicitor (such as The Injury Lawyers) who will be able to negotiate the amount of compensation that your claim deserves.
