Medico legal reports are often essential in valuing your claim for personal injury compensation and proving that the injuries caused were a result of the accident or incident you are claiming for. The expert will produce a report that will provide their findings.
But what many people don’t understand is that the expert is independent and their duty is to the court. As such, we can’t just ask them to produce a favourable report. They must put their reputation on the line and give their best professional opinion.
So what happens if you don’t agree with their opinion? What options do you have?
Firstly I’ll split this in to two parts – one for if you have not got a solicitor acting for you and you are dealing with this matter directly and secondly if you have a lawyer.
Dealing Direct
You’re at serious risk here because although the experts are independent, some do more work for claimant solicitors and others more work for defence solicitors or insurers. The defence solicitors and insurers will normally pick their favourable ones and there is no way a solicitor can dispute this for you because you don’t have one!
Now that the insurer has seen the report, their mind is concluded. They won’t want to pay for another one in case the expert gives a different opinion. Essentially, the evidence that could really hamper your claim is now in the hands of the people who are going to compensate you.
The other thing is that you are statistically going to under settle the claim by up to four times by not having a lawyer. So you’d best get one: quick!
With a solicitor
So if you have a lawyer, what can you do if you don’t agree with the report?
We can always get another one. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as easy as it sounds in some cases, but as long as the other side haven’t seen it we may be able to get one as we can write fees for certain reports off. If the new one is more favourable, your bacon may have just been saved!
But sometimes an opinion is an opinion, and you may be disagreeing with it unreasonably. The classic cases are those where an expert states you have a pre existing condition that you didn’t know about. The fact that you didn’t have any pain or problems before an accident doesn’t mean you don’t have a pre existing condition. Sometimes an accident brings forward symptoms you will have had later in life.
For some people, you may not agree what is reasonable when it comes to suffering but again, the experts opinion is their opinion. Sometimes it’s difficult to overturn it.
