For any drivers out there, you probably know where I’m coming from for this article. I do a lot of driving on a weekly basis which involves a long 40 minute to an hour commute on motorways to and from work twice a week when I visit my partner (she doesn’t drive – so it’s always me clocking up the miles!). In my time of driving I have had my fair share of near misses (me being blameless in all), and I unfortunately happen to go across a few roundabout well known in my area to be a bit of a hotspot for accidents and traffic jams.
Every time I see an accident or avoid one myself, it really hits home just how easy it is to end up involved in a road accident. For many it can be a little scary and confusing, as you just don’t know what to do, and you may have already been inundated with calls from your insurers, claims companies, and even solicitors you have never even spoken to offering you money and services.
Well – step back, take a breather, and have a read of this article for what you should be doing if you end up involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault.
Vehicle Damages
If you hold a policy of fully comprehensive insurance, your own insurance company should sort out the vehicle damages directly with the insurers for the driver at fault. If you only have Third Party (and / or Fire and Theft), then your insurers may not get involved at all.
But don’t panic! – your Injury lawyer can sort your vehicle damages and hire car needs for you with no cost to you at all.
Personal Injury and Getting a Lawyer
It’s more than likely you will end up injured after a road accident – normally suffering from whiplash, which commonly affects your neck, shoulders, back, and arms – it can also cause headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, and pins and needles. If you only had your accident in the last 48 hours (sometimes a little longer), and you’re feeling fine, I have some news for you. Statistically, you will wake up one morning in pain, or even agony. You will end up suffering from whiplash, which commonly doesn’t make itself know until hours, or sometimes days, after an accident. Waking up a common trigger of the symptoms arrival.
If you are injured, you need a fully qualified injury lawyer to represent you for a claim for personal injury from the other insurers. You are well within your rights, and you are even covered, for personal injury in the driver at fault’s insurance policy.
You Must Avoid
- Dealing with insurers directly for personal injury claims. In this scenario, there is no one fighting your corner for the claim, no one fully qualified to value your claim, and it is likely your claim will be under settled.
- Getting a lawyer through your own insurers: your insurers may offer you a lawyer through “Legal Expense Insurance” or “Legal Protection.” In reality, all your insurers do is refer the claim over to a solicitor for a referral fee; leaving you with a solicitor with less money to spend on maximising your claim, and even less compensation. Read here for more information on this (Legal Expense Insurance, Legal Protection – The sorry truth).
What You Need
- A fully qualified expert injury lawyer representing you for your claim. This is a firm with years of experience in specialising in injury claims to represent you for your claim. This should ensure you have the most highly qualified team ensuring to maximise your claims value.
- A Genuine No Win No Fee –this means that you pay nothing whether your claims wins or loses. A lawyer will only take the risk of your case on if they believe they have a good chance of winning; so in the event it loses, you should never have to pay anything to your lawyers: ever! If the claim is a winner, you receive 100% of any compensation awarded; no deductions, no hidden charges. The Genuine No Win No Fee means your lawyer’s fees are limited to whatever they recover from the other side – this means they cannot charge you for a successful claim at all!
- Medical Care – a good injury lawyer will arrange for private medical care from the outset of the case at no costs to you whether it wins or loses.
Always take care to thoroughly read through any No Win no Fee agreements before entering in to one. It should be clear to understand that you will not be charged at any time if the claim wins or loses. Don’t let a solicitor tell you that it “has to be worded this way”, or “we would never use this to charge you” – it should clearly state in black and white that you will not be charged.
For expert advice for a road accident, feel free to contact our team at any time.
