Making a claim for compensation following a Road Traffic Accident is now so much easier and quicker than it used to be, if your accident was on or after 30th April 2012.
The Ministry of Justice introduced a new protocol to follow for these accidents: “The Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents”. I know, bit of a mouthful so let’s just say the Road Traffic Accident Protocol for now. This protocol is for claims for personal injury which are worth under £10,000.
The claim is started by submitting a Claims Notification Form. This is a form which contains your information, the information of the at fault party, the details of your injuries and treatment and the accident details. This is sent to the insurer of the at fault party electronically.
Once sent, the insurers then have 15 business days in order to confirm whether liability is admitted for your accident. If the admission is received within the 15 business days then the claim stays within the protocol and information and evidence will be required in respect of your injuries and any other losses which have been incurred as a result of the accident.
The medical evidence is obtained from an independent medical expert with whom you will have an appointment with in order to discuss your injuries and the effects they have had on your day to day living and activities. The expert will then provide an opinion as to how long he/she believes you will be suffering from your injuries.
Once your medical evidence and evidence of further losses has been received and agreed by you, we then forward this to the insurer in the form of a Settlement Pack. This includes the values of any other losses and a value placed on your injury claim, by your solicitor, based on the medical evidence.
The insurers then have a further 15 business days in order to consider the Settlement Pack and confirm whether they agree with the figures provided by your solicitor in respect of your injuries and losses, or whether they wish to make a counter offer.
Therefore, your whole claim for personal injury could be dealt with in a matter of a couple of months. Obviously, as we instruct a medical expert early, you may not be able to fit you in for an appointment straight away but we will endeavour to obtain the quickest appointment available for you in order to keep your claim moving swiftly.
The old protocol had client’s waiting months before a decision on liability could be made. The Ministry of Justice have tried to speed this process up for the benefit of the client’s – and guess what, it is working!
If you have been involved in a Road Traffic Accident on or after 30th April 2010, your claim could be dealt with as quickly as this. Please pick up the phone and call our claims line for advice on your accident claim. Our free claims line number is: 0800 634 75 75
