What happens after you contact us to make a claim? Most personal injury claims are dealt with under the “Pre-Action Protocols”. The Protocols contain rules that govern how claims progress from when you instruct a firm of solicitors, until it is settled, or goes to court. They are designed to speed up the process of settling straightforward claims as quickly and cheaply as possible and to avoid claims going to court wherever possible.
Once we have advised you that there is a good chance your claim will be successful, we send a “letter of claim” to the party that we believe were responsible for causing your injuries. This letter sets out the circumstances of the accident, what the other party did wrong, or should have done right, and confirms the details of your injuries. The letter also confirms that we are dealing with your case on our Genuine No Win No Fee basis.
Under the Protocol for personal injury claims, the defendant (company / person at fault) must acknowledge our letter of claim within 21 days, and they have a further three months to investigate the claim. In the majority of cases the details of your claim will be passed to the defendants insurance company that provided insurance cover to the party who caused your injury. They will take over responsibility for paying any compensation due to you. At The Injury Lawyers, we always seek to persuade the defendant to deal with your claim as quickly as possible.
Before the end of the three months, the defendant must tell us whether they are prepared to pay compensation for your injury, or whether they intend to dispute this. After the defendant accepts responsibility, the next step is to arrange for an independent medical expert to examine you as quickly and conveniently as possible. We use the report written by the expert to negotiate the amount of compensation that you are entitled to receive. In the few cases where it is not possible to reach agreement during the Protocol stage, we review the evidence and advise you whether to pursue the matter in the courts.
