What is a pre-med offer?
It is an offer of settlement, without the evidence and sight of a medical report, put forward by the third party insurer to the legal representative of the claimant. In today’s economic climate, for some individuals this may be quite tempting to accept at the early stage of an injury claim.
However, despite how tempting and attractive this offer may appear, without a medical report, the valuation of your claim cannot be accurately determined, so a pre-med offer is unlikely to be an accurate settlement amount. Normally the best way to value a claim is to have a medical report which entails you visiting an expert medical consultant for a quick appointment so the expert can report his or her conclusions about your injury and the extent of the impact on your life.
Here are some things that should be taken into consideration before signing on the dotted line:-
- Are you fully recovered from the accident, or do you have any on-going symptoms?
- Are you attending physiotherapy or rehabilitation of any kind, and if so who is paying for the treatment?
- As a result of the accident, did you lose any pay due to time off work?
- Did you have any other losses or expenses that you have either paid out of your pocket for or where the bills are still outstanding?
- Has the accident had an impact on your life with regard to social activities, and have you had assistance with domestic chores and personal care?
- Do you feel that you are 100% in the same position as you were prior to the accident?
Once a pre-med is accepted, the above points cannot be assessed as part of your claim any further, so the amount payable to you is generally made as a full and final settlement and the claim cannot be re-opened once you have signed and accepted the offer.
If this does happen to you, always discuss with your Injury Lawyer prior to accepting any offer, and make sure to take advice on how best to proceed, and what the pros and cons are of accepting such an offer at an early stage.
There are occasions when the third party insurer will contact you directly to offer you a pre-med, without including an Injury Lawyer; the insurer isn’t doing this out of the goodness of their heart, they are doing it to try and save themselves money, regardless as to whether or not they are fully compensating you for your injuries.
Where you do not have an injury lawyer to submit a claim on your behalf, and the third party contacts you directly with a pre-med offer, before accepting anything, take time to call an Injury Lawyer for free, no obligation advice.
Remember that the compensation paid out for injury and any losses should put you into the financial position you were in prior to the accident – you should be fully compensated for your injuries and loss.