Most people want to know how long a claim will take, but in reality any time frame you are given is simply an estimate based on averages. For example a solicitor may say that a typical road traffic accident claim could settle within 6 to 12 months. However, this cannot be relied upon as a guaranteed fact.
The truth is that solicitors cannot say with any great certainty how long a claim will take.
The length of a case depends on a number of factors such as whether there is a liability dispute, a delay in providing documentation, a delay on the part of a medical expert, a GP practice, an insurance company, the longevity of your injuries etc.
Cases involve many different parties and although we attempt to move cases along as quickly as possible, all solicitors rely on outside parties to a certain extent.
There can be a genuine delay to a claim for many reasons. If there is a liability dispute then there is likely to be some delay as the parties put forward documentary evidence and arguments etc.
Ultimately if your solicitor believes you are in the right and you have good prospects of succeeding with your claim, notwithstanding the liability dispute, your solicitor can press ahead with your claim by obtaining medical evidence and ultimately issuing court proceedings if necessary.
If liability is in dispute and no offers of compensation are forthcoming, the only option is to issue court proceedings. It is then for a Court to decide if compensation should be awarded and if so, how much.
A case can unfortunately be delayed due to other agencies such as a GP Surgery or medical expert. After you have seen a medical expert a medical report will be prepared. Unfortunately medical experts are naturally busy people and sometimes it can take a while for a report to get to us. Obviously if we feel that a report is taking a while to get to us then we would chase the matter up by telephoning the medical expert or the medical expert’s secretary.
Insurers often delay cases for one reason or another. It is difficult for me to say why insurers seem to delay matters in some cases. Sometimes I think it is down to the fact of workload. Insurers are often busy and sometimes they do not respond to correspondence. In this situation, if an insurer does not respond in accordance with the guidelines (the pre-action protocols) then a Claimant can make an application to the Court. In some cases an application to Court is necessary to move the case forward. This is not a quick fix but it’s a useful tool at our disposal.
A claim can also be delayed while waiting for GP records from a GP surgery, waiting for treatment such as an MRI scan or x-ray etc. You could receive your medical report to find that there is a factual error within it; in this case we would have to return to the expert which will ultimately cause some delay.
Many of the delays that I have mentioned can occur and in most cases the delay is relatively minor. However every case is different. Here at The Injury Lawyers we try to update our clients as soon as we have news relating to your claim.
