I will explain what I mean by the term “pre-medical compensation” and why we think it can be bad. Pre-medical compensation is basically when you receive an offer of compensation to settle your claim before you have been medically examined by a medic-legal expert (so it’s nothing to do with your GP or a doctor etc). We could never advise acceptance of a pre-medical offer, even it did appear a generous offer. The fact is that without medical evidence covering all aspects of your injury, we are unable to value properly your claim. It could appear at face value that you have sustained a minor whiplash type injury – however we are not medical experts and nothing can be assumed.
Pre-medical offers are, in my experience, often pitched very low. Insurers are not making a pre-medical offer because they are generous; in fact they are likely doing it for the opposite reason – to save themselves some money. For example a pre-medical offer is often pitched at a figure of £1,000 or £1,500. This may be a reasonable value for settlement but before medical evidence is obtained we do not know whether the value on offer is reasonable or not. Therefore if you choose to accept the offer then there is a risk that you are actually under settling your claim.
Think of it from the insurer’s point of view. They may put forward a pre-medical offer of 1,000. If you accept this offer then they pay you £1,000 and they pay the costs. The costs are likely to be low if the case was brought to a conclusion quickly. In addition the insurers do not have to pay for a medical report (which could cost anything from a few hundred pounds or more). In addition they have done less work at their end as the case would be settled quickly. If you rejected the offer and proceeded to obtain medical evidence, then we can properly value your claim. Obtaining medical evidence ensures that we can obtain the maximum amount of compensation possible for your injuries. It is always your decision whether to accept an offer of settlement or not. We will advise you of any offers received and the consequences of accepting or rejecting an offer.
You may receive a pre-medical offer whilst you are still suffering from your injuries. Say you do not recover from the injuries as expected. If you accepted a pre-medical offer then you cannot later come back for more compensation. Your symptoms may take a turn for the worse. Accepting a pre-medical offer brings your claim to a conclusion, you cannot return for more compensation later. It could be that following receipt of medical evidence your claim is valued at less than a pre-medical offer. This is unlikely but it is not impossible. It is even more unlikely when the pre-medical offer is pitched low at £1,000 or £1,500 for example.
We would always recommend obtaining medical evidence before looking to settle your claim. We would normally advise you to reject a pre-medical offer but the choice is always yours. Equally we would not usually recommend acceptance of an offer if your symptoms are ongoing. Obviously with life changing, permanent injuries you will have to settle with some ongoing problems as you may never be back to your pre-accident condition. Your Solicitor will always advise you accordingly.
