A couple of years ago you could have been waiting a few months just for the other side to admit liability and your claim may not have been settled until a year down the line, but now, most claims can be settled in a few months. This is because of a new protocol led by the Ministry of Justice being put in place, and I will quickly outline this for you:
The first thing you should do is instruct a quality injury lawyer who will recover their fees from the other side for their work and won’t seek to reduce your compensation payout in anyway. They are best placed to do the legal work for you and make sure that everything goes smoothly.
The first step of the new process is to submit a Claim Notification Form (CNF) via the Ministry of Justice online portal. This simply notes who was involved in the accident, when the accident happened, the injuries you have suffered and the Defendant’s details. Once this is submitted to the Defendant’s insurer, they have just 1 business day to acknowledge the CNF and then a further 15 business days to admit or deny liability. Even though they do have 15 business days, most accident claims are clear cut and it is not unusual to receive an admission in just a few short days.
Where liability for your accident is admitted, your injury lawyer will set you up with a medical appointment at a time and place convenient for you so that a legal medical report can be obtained. This will show that the accident caused your injuries, detail the exact nature of your injuries and provide a prognosis as to how long you will suffer for. If you are happy with the medical report it will be disclosed to the Defendant’s insurer along with an offer and it’s just simply a case of your expert injury lawyer negotiating, with your permission, a settlement for the maximum compensation you deserve.
If you have been involved in a road traffic accident and think you are entitled to compensation and wish to pursue a claim, get in touch with us at The Injury Lawyers today where we would be more than happy to advise you free of charge and see if we can help you out.