Pursuing a claim can be quite confusing and daunting for people as some companies fail to explain the process in a nice straight forward way- they prefer to speak in complicated legal jargon that many people find just plain confusing and essentially means nothing to them. Unfortunately, this also means that many people may under-settle their compensation claim either because they do not understand or to simply end things as soon as possible.
It is a sad truth that some companies like to end things as soon as possible which can actually be against the best interests of you – mainly insurance companies of third parties like to deal direct with a quick and small settlement as this is advantageous to them as it saves them money! However, under settling a claim can have unfortunate consequences -especially if your injury is serious and has long term affects.
Settling a claim can be quite an exciting time for people, especially if the claim has been ongoing for a while – it is often the light at the end of a very long tunnel. However, it is important to remember that settlement can still carry with it a lot of negotiation and therefore it is imperative that you have a personal injury solicitor that knows what they are doing and has extensive experience in valuing personal injury claims. Quite often, the third party will offer a low amount to try and save themselves a few pennies but of course your solicitor will advise you about the offer accordingly. In personal injury cases, you have the final say – your solicitor is there to provide crucial advice. The decision to settle has to be made by you and therefore you should never be pressured into accepting anything you don’t feel comfortable with or do not understand.
When settling your claim, something you may hear often is “in full and final settlement” which means that once you accept that amount, that is it. You cannot re-start your claim in the future and cannot come back and reject the offer after you have agreed to this.
For example: if you settle your claim for £2,500 in full and final settlement (usually your file handler will break down the offer to show how much is for general and special damages) but you continue to suffer with your injury 6 months down the line, you are no longer able to claim any further damages. Compensation is based on the severity of your injury – simply put, the more severe your injury, the more compensation you are entitled to; therefore if you are suffering further after settling it is highly likely that you have “under-settled your claim”.
As mentioned above, it is widely known that insurance companies try and settle claims as soon as possible by offering a sum of money straight away! However, it is highly likely that by accepting any of these offers you are under-settling your claim. This is why you need to ensure you have a quality personal injury solicitor acting for you! Claiming compensation can be essential in that it helps with any losses and of course compensates for the pain and inconvenience caused by something that was not your fault.
So to avoid the risk of under-settling contact us today, we have extensive experience in valuing claims as we only deal with personal injury. We can advise on offers, counter offers and know when a settlement is simply not suitable!
