I can hear many of you out there when you see personal injury advertisements on the televisions saying – ‘claiming for compensation is easier said than done’. Well, if you end up making a bad decision and instructing the wrong law firm where you have to always chase them for information or for things to be done, then that may be the case.
However, if you chose the right solicitor you may get an all together different experience. At The Injury Lawyers we like to give our clients the most hassle free experience we possibly can – we feel that you have already been through the trauma of an accident, so you shouldn’t have any further unnecessary hassle or bother. Much of the hassle and frustration can stem from not knowing what is going on with your claim and feeling out of control. Well at The Injury Lawyers we update our clients every 2 weeks whether something has happened on the claim or not – this keeps you in the know and so reduces any worry or uncertainty.
When you first approach a law firm with a claim, a solicitor will ask you the accident circumstances in order to assess whether there is a claim and it has good prospects of succeeding – we do not want to waste your time or give you false hope on a claim which will not succeed. If the claim is then taken on and you agree to instruct the solicitor, a Letter of Claim will be produced – this is the first document the other side will receive regarding your claim. The letter will set out the circumstances of your claim as well as request any documents we need in order to assess the case.
The Defendant’s have 21 days in which to acknowledge this claim. It is at this point that they will either inform us they are dealing with the investigations themselves, sending it to their insurers, or sending it to their solicitors. A further 3 months is then allowed for investigations; before the end of this time period we would expect a response as to whether they admit or deny liability (fault).
If liability is admitted we can go on to obtain medical evidence and losses information in order to settle the claim. If liability is denied, this does not mean the end for your claim – the solicitor may assess it and feel that the prospects are good enough to continue.
The above should only serve as a general guide. For road traffic accidents after 30th April 2010 which are within a certain band of value the system is much faster, stream-lined and simpler again. There are also other variants on the above.
For more advice, you are more than welcome to give us a quick call on our claims helpline
