The pre-accident protocol is designed to make straightforward PI claims quicker, easier and more cost efficient to settle, and avoid the necessity of going to court where possible. The protocol helps govern how claims are processed by the solicitor handling the claim until settlement or going to trial.
Once a lawyer is instructed to act on your behalf, and we have informed you that there is a good chance your claim will be successful, a letter of claim is sent to third party who we believe to be responsible for your injuries. This letter contains details of the circumstance of your accident, the allegations of what the party did wrong, the injuries you sustained in the accident, and that we are acting on a No Win, No Fee basis, and finally a list of documents they will need to provide us in the event the claim is disputed.
From the date the letter of claim is sent, the defendant has 21 days to respond to us, and after this point they then have a further 3 months to investigate the allegations made against them. We have found that is the majority of cases this information is passed onto an insurance company who will work on behalf of the defendants. This company will then take on the responsibility of paying any compensation owed to you. Within the 3 month time frame, the defendant must admit or deny liability.
If liability is admitted then we can begin to gather evidence to support your claim and settle it as quickly as we can. The first steps will be instructing an independent medical expert to examine you and determine the injuries sustained in the accident and how these have affected you thereafter. The next step will be gathering all information on the financial losses incurred as a result of the accident, e.g. Loss of Earnings, travel expenses to A&E or Local GP, and prescription costs.
If liability is denied then the defendant should disclose all documentation in accordance with the letter of claim. This information will then be passed onto Counsel (a professional barrister) who will advise us if the claim has more than 51% prospects for success. If counsel advice is positive we will begin to obtain medical evidence and details of financial losses, as well as do our homework and gather evidence to help prove your case. If counsel advises against proceeding with the case, we will normally obtain a second opinion from another barrister. If the second counsel agrees with the first, we may unfortunately have to discontinue the case under the No Win No Fee – you, the client, will of course not be charged.
Sadly, without the evidence from the defendant it can be difficult to ascertain whether you have a strong case or not. That is why we investigate the case with them, get the documents we need to review whether they are liable by law to pay you, and then make the decision to either continue of discontinue from there.