Making a whiplash compensation claim can sometimes be a minefield of stress and confusion. You’re likely to be bombarded with calls, emails, texts, and letters from insurers, claims companies, and solicitors all offering to help you out. Your details can be passed around to claims companies and lawyers by insurers, garages, and even the police.
So what should you do and how do you make a claim for whiplash in the right way?
STOP – Get Proper Legal Advice
When it comes to the personal injury side, you’re best off speaking to an independent law firm directly about making a claim for personal injury compensation. Your own insurers may want you to use their approved panel of solicitors which can lead to poor levels of service and significant charges.
You may also be contacted to deal with the third party insurers directly as well. They’ll tell you to ‘cut out the middleman solicitor’ and save time and money by coming to them directly. They’ll tell you that they’ll pay you more if you don’t get a lawyer as well.
But did you know that solicitors can statistically fight to get you up to four times more when you claim the proper way when compared to dealing direct? You are at serious risk of under settling when you deal direct, and placing your trust in the insurers who are ultimately the ones who must pay you out can cost you thousands of pounds.
We see it time and time again – don’t fall victim to ‘third party capture’ scams.
AVOID Claims Management Companies / Agencies
Go to an independent law firm directly and avoid using middleman claims companies who basically add no value to your claim whatsoever. Their job is to simply pass you to a solicitor.
In the past, they’d receive a referral fee from the solicitor which led to poor levels of service thanks to lawyers blowing their budgets on paying the claims companies. Now, referral fees are illegal – so it’s more likely that they will simply charge you for being passed to a law firm! This is totally outrageous!
Think of it this way – you want to buy a house, so do you see an estate agent or pay a company to give your information to an estate agent? I think the answer is fairly obvious…
What’s best to do?
Your health is of course the priority. You probably won’t feel any pain or stiffness for the first few hours, as whiplash injures normally take a little time to become noticeable. Once you feel the effects, seek medical advice and contact us on 0800 634 75 75 for a free no obligation chat about claiming.
We’re an independent specialist personal injury law firm and we do not deal with claims companies or agencies. Coming to us directly can guarantee:
- Proper legal advice and high levels of service
- No waiting around – we can set up and even submit your claim on day 1 of speaking to us
- Maximum compensation – because that’s our job!