Road traffic accident claims can be quite quick as a new protocol was brought in in 2010 to ensure this was the case. However, although in the majority of cases your claim can be turned around quickly there are certain things that can delay a claim – some of which are unfortunately out of our control.
Some main ones are:
- The other side’s insurers have not responded to the claim notification form.
- Your injury, medical evidence and rehabilitation needs.
With regards to the former, if the insurers do not respond in the 15 business days as allocated to them in the portal, the claim falls into the personal injury protocol where they have approximately 4 months to confirm their decision. Insurers cannot respond for a number of issues but unfortunately it is more than common than you might think and of course this does mean that your claim may last longer.
The second bullet point is usually the most common reason why a car accident claim can last over 1 year and in these circumstances it is in your best interests that is the case.
When you make a claim you will be sent to a medical appointment where a medical professional will produce a medico-legal report. In this report there are different sections such as effect on everyday life, effect on working life, effect on hobbies etc. and most importantly something called the “prognosis period”. This is one of the most important parts of this report as this establishes how long the medical expert proposes you will suffer with your injury and of course, your settlement is based upon the severity and longevity of this.
For example: a claim with a prognosis period of 2 years will probably be worth more than one with a prognosis period of 6 months, understandably.
It is always recommended for you to wait until the end of your prognosis period prior to settling your claim, as if at the end of this time period you are still suffering, you may require a further examination to ascertain when your injury will eventually heal. If you were to settle prior to this and you continued to have pain you may have under settled your claim and therefore not received the optimum amount of compensation.
Furthermore, it may be considered that you require rehabilitation treatment which the defendants are under duty to provide (if they accept liability) and therefore this could be something that can get started sooner rather than later.
Understandably, many Clients’ wish to get their claim settled ASAP however, this can lead to under settlement and therefore is not beneficial to you in the long term! We can look to request an interim payment if you are really struggling during your recovery and therefore this should always be something you request if you do need it.
So if you are wondering why your claim is taking so long, it is most likely to be because of one or both of the above reasons. It is for your benefit and to ensure your claim is dealt with properly and the settlement is sufficient to your needs.
