The only way to value a claim for personal injury compensation is by getting examined by an appropriate expert who then produces a medico-legal report, that is in turn used by a fully qualified personal injury lawyer who will review the evidence and value the claim based on the correct legal guidelines.
On top of that, if you have suffered any loss of earnings, or medical expenses, travel expenses, care and assistance from friends and family etc, these can be added in as well.
So you have a claim that is made of two parts – General Damages for the pain, suffering, and loss of amenity the accident and injuries have caused you; and Special Damages which covers your losses and out of pocket expenses.
If all bases are covered on the losses front, and your lawyer is an expert personal injury lawyer with the right skills and experience to maximise your claim, they will tell you whether any offer that comes through the door is good or not.
So, the question is more about whether you trust your lawyer or not…
Although before I move on to whether you should trust them or not, if you’re dealing with insurers directly then it’s probably the case that the offer isn’t right.
If you think it’s wise to go directly to the insurers and cut out the ‘middle man’ I can tell you now that you’re making a mistake. Remember that the company you are dealing with directly are the ones responsible for paying out to you, and they are a profit making organisation whose duty is ultimately to their shareholders.
We have a lot of articles on this subject, so to be brief – we get calls day in and day out from people who have settled directly with insurers, realised they have under settled, and call us to try and reopen the claim. The fact is this – once it’s settled in full and final, it’s game over.
Back to those of you who are doing things the proper way with a proper lawyer – so as I said, you need to trust that the lawyer you have is making sure to maximise your claim. This I suppose is down to your opinion of them. We couldn’t tell you whether the lawyer you have is the best one – but what I can say is this…
| “Don’t have unrealistic expectations for the value of the claim (as many people do have). Researching figures online and comparing your case to others is not a good way of finding out if your amount is right. Each case is different and is settled on its own merits.” |
| Check for testimonials on the lawyer’s website. If they have plenty of quality testimonials from real clients who are pleased with the work and the amounts they have received, you should be on to a winner.” |
| “Ask your lawyer how they have reached any valuations they provide. They should be able to explain to you in detail how they’ve achieved this figure.” |
| “Finally, always remember that if your lawyer was referred through an insurer or a claims company, they have probably paid a referral fee to the referrer which comes out of the running costs for your claim. This means they have to run the claim cheaply which could affect their ability and motivation to maximise your claim.” |