was hit by an old biddy on a roundabout just before xmas, when she t boned us from the left. to cut a long story short my passenger suffered whiplash and the old lady admitted full liabilty. my passenger has already been offered a grand for her back, no questions asked via the 3rd party insurers. my question is, should she play safe and take the offer or knock it back and aim higher? first time ive been in an accident. my bmw suffered 2k worth of damage which the insurers have agreed to pay. thanks for the advice

 

Don't claim anything unless your passenger was seriously hurt as it's all this culture of I been in an accident now I got a good couple of grand coming which is why we are all paying high premiums for insurance, don't be like everyone else.

 

+1

Uninsured losses claims are fine but "whiplash'....

 

+1 premium will rise plus your renewal

 

No it wont

Liability admitted by the Third Party. (the other driver)


She'll get like Ł1500 at a push... depends if she's desperate or not.

 

your premium and renewal wont go up if the claim is not on your insurance mate.

 

the initial offer is generally a "pre-medical" offer, its a way of sorting the claim well before it gets any where near court. the 3rd party insurers will be looking for a quick and easy (cheaper) conclusion to the claim without the added solicitor and medical report costs, and court costs later if it goes that far.

your solicitor will probably recomend not to accept any sort of offer before a medical examination as fuck knows what could show up.
the medical examination will be at a local private centre by an independent expert, an at the cost of the 3rd party insurer. they will probably also request a copy of your medical records to make an accurate prognosis, the finished report will be fed back to your solicitor and then another offer of compensation will follow from the 3rd party.
if you decide to knock this back your solicitor will probably negotiate with the 3rd party for the best settlement and if that fails then make arrangements for court proceedings.
don't forget though they've admitted liabilty and there is financial pressure on the 3rd party to sort it out quickly and cheaply which gives your solicitor the upper hand in negotiations before court proceedings. i understand though it is considered good working practise for both sides to settle the case before taking up the courts time.

at a guess the medical will be about two months after the claim has been acknowledged, the post medical offer will probably be a bit more than pre medical offer (but not always and there's no garauntee) if the whiplash is soft tissue damage only and will heal ok in 6-12 months, obviously if the injury is worse than feared thats a different story, hence why your solicitor will probably recommend waiting for the medical in the first place.

 

even if you involved in a non-fault accident, your premium will still go up regardless, as you are more of a 'risk'......

it won't go up as much as if the accident is your fault, obviously, but the fact that you were involved in an accident whether your fault or not will affect your premiums at renewal.

 

+1 ^^^
insurance premiums do go up with non fault accident as mine did 3 yrs ago.
solicitor's will always tell you not to accept as it will end up making more money for them chasing a claim. call me cynical on this but that is what i honestly believe.

 

I can appreciate the 'dont claim' attitude, but having seen the bills that get tagged on to even a small bump, a genuine injury claim is piss all.

Insurance firms needs to get tough on the fraudulent claimers, crash for cash scum and cut down on what is paid out for minor stuff etc, if you are genuinely hurt then I see no harm in it.

Next door to me had a bump, light panel damage, admited liability, nobody hurt, even the infant in the baby in the other cars passenger seat didn't wake up. A month or so later he gets letter from some solicitor trying to get him to cough up for personal injury to everyone in the other car, neck,back, mental issues and anxiety etc!! They wanted the lot and was all b*llocks. His insurance had said no chance so they got onto an ambulance chaser to try their luck.

But, in this all going on he found out that the claim cost was...Ł20k !! for what?? no personal injury awarded at that point, he didnt make a claim for his damaged vehicle thinking it would save money on the claim, and he admitted liability on the spot for the same reason, so what costs Ł20k - the damage was a few grand at best to the other car.

Insurance firms needs to tighten up, and stop using solicitors that try to force you to claim for as much as possible, I have had them in the past suggesting I said I had just filled up with fuel and maybe had some belonging in the car that got damaged so they could claim for more, this was a solicitor supplied by my insurance!!!

 

Ł1000 is standard fettle,it's been nowhere a real solicitor that's come directly from the Ł6 an hour call centre mong.
The longer you sit it out the more you get,simples.
The missus got Ł17500 for her claim as she kept rejecting the Ł1000/1500 offers made,it was 100% genuine btw and my premium never increased,in fact I never involved my company as the other party admitted full liability.
If she's not desperate for the cash leave it at least 7-8 months and it should go to about Ł2500/3000.
The old biddy genuinely hit you so she's not taking the piss in anyway.
Guys please stop all this nonsense that personal injury claims are solely putting premiums up,the whole industry is corrupt and a pisstake,I mean how can someone hitting YOU through no fault of your own make you a higher risk?
It's shite,all a big fucking con to the point where even the fucking second biggest crooks the government want to know why their ripping people off so much.
If it was optional like in America I wonder how much cheaper it would be?
Their taking the piss and taking advantage,your premiums will always increase unless you shop around and then realise that the same company your with is insuring you anyway for 1/2 the price elsewhere?
Take these cunts for whatever you can.
Coming from someone who knows just how big a group of CUNTS they can be.

 

im still waiting for the personal injury claim from when my 3dr was wrote off just over 2 years ago!

will pedley was in the passenger seat doing a spot of mapping when some pikey cunts smashed into the back of us fucking hard and shuned us about 20 foot across the roundabout from stationry!!

will ended up in hospital, and the next day i was fucked, just before xmas so that was good!

the van that hit us was local pikeys, so the promptly fucked off before we had even rolled to a stop, so that maybe is why its taking so long?? took 8 months to get a pay out for the car..

my claim is only for something like Ł1800, but i could barley move for 6 days, and still get neck/back trouble now.

the solicotrs however have a license to print money! the first lot i got onboard, who were fucking useless wer on the case 3 months, when i changed to one my insurers approved they sent me a bill for about Ł2000 - for 14 letters and i think 28 phone calls between myself and the insurance company that the van was insured with (not the drivers...)

robbing cunts! so i can quite easily see how the costs escalate with them, which reminds me to send another email to the solicitor on the case now lol

 

If she has a genuine injury then tell her to claim.Its all well and good for people to moan but its not her fault she got injured.I am being serious,It took my mum 9 years to get a claim settled with someone who was a magistrate of all people.The out come was about 16k but her neck is ruined even after years of treatment.Also from experience when a bus sqaushed me into the car infornt.My mk4 Esc folded like paper,if I sit still for longer then 5 mins its locks and cracks like hell.I think I got 2.5k Its not a lot for a lifetime injury imo.
The point I am trying to make is that she must make sure she has no on going injury before settling an injury claim.There is no going back and asking for more.I await to be shot by the PF firing squad

 

problem is its a vicious cycle now,

You get fucked on the wrecked cars value
you get fucked on your premiums for years
you loose money from not working/takin time off to sort other peoples shit out
untold value of the stress and pain caused

And thats before we get to long term injury losses or any life changing injuries.

these days you need to submit a claim just to cover your premium rise, lost earnings and poor payout on the car just so you break even.

so these days youre damned if you claim, damned if you dont.

And very few of us are in a financial position where we can afford to not bother going for some cash on the basis of our morals.

For many being a few thousand pounds out of pocket because of some bellend cunt driver who got his cousin to pass his test for him, is a situation that can put them under financially.

 

also the medical examinations are massive joke, i was in with the doctor for less than 1 minute!

he asked a few questions and got me to try and touch my toes...

his report however was quite in depth! he didnt even lay a finger on me to prod my back etc!