car accident/insurance/ppi/physio - no idea what to do next please advise

[confused??]

I have also posted this in the motoring forum, but maybe here is a more appropriate place?

 

 

Hi all, hoping this is the right place to post and that someone can assist. I was involved in a RTA just under 4 weeks ago.

 

The driver reversed into the side of my car, she admitted liability and my car is in the garage as we speak (damages of £1000 although i fail to see how, yes there was panel damage but £1000!! i am not sure) The car was reversing so only going 7/10 mph or so its only cosmetic.

 

Anyway, i have a question. I did suffer injury - GP says soft tissue damage. I am as bad today as i was the day after the incident. On friday my GP said physiotherapy/chiropractor (sp) would be a good idea but NHS waiting list is long. He said to call the insurance company as the other woman had admitted liability

 

Now, i do not believe in claiming for whiplash etc as although i have suffered pain i have been lucky enough not to have suffered any loss of earnings - i am a stay at home mum, and we go a replacement car whilst ours is being fixed so oh can get to work and back etc so we are happy.

 

i called my insurance co today to tell them what GP said and they said someone would call back - this company urwin mitchell? or something like that have called saying my ins co asked them to do so. I went through all thats happened etc and they said 'they will take on my case' i said i didnt want 'a case' i just wanted physio as per my GP and new car seat as per the local councils road safety team. (The local road safety team have also suggested i purchase a new car seat for my child as you should buy a new one if your vehicle is involved in any accident)

 

But this irwin mitchel company are saying i need to put in a pi claim to get this?

 

Surley this isnt right? I called my insurance co back and i got the 'you have been injured and are entitled to claim compensation for the injuries as you are still suffering 4 weeks later' cr*p..well, yes i am but as i have suffered no loss of earnings i do not want a PI claim, just for physio and car seat to be paid for.

 

What do i do? i have the 3rd parties details do i ring her and ask her to pay for the physio and new car seat? or do i approach her insurance company?

 

I am being made to feel i am being unreasonable for not wanting to claim for personal injury - is this really the culture we live in? or have i got the wrong end of the stick here?

 

Thanks for any replies

Edited March 29, 2010 by confused??

[unclebulgaria67]

I view this in the same way as you do.

 

The people wanting to put the PI claim through are doing so, because they are guaranteed to receive fee earnings from this. But they do also have a point. It is just the way these things work.

 

In regard to the Physio, I think the Insurers/PI people are correct. If you want to claim for this, the 3rd party Insurers will require a PI claim to be submitted to them. Then they will consider compensation for your injury at the same time.

 

In regard to car seat, if this was not damaged due to the accident, but replacement is recommended by a Road Safety Advisory body, this will also need to be part of the claim against the 3rd parties Insurance.

 

My sister was of the same opinion, but received £7,500 for slight whiplash and a slight injury to a knee. It is a bit silly and this is why we have all seen increases in our Insurance premiums. I think most of us have suffered injuries over the years through normal activities and have just got on with it. Now people look to see if they can blame someone to get a payout.

[confused??]

Goodness. I feel like i am making it harder for myself by trying to be honest and saying i do not want compensating for being involved in an accident i simply want the costs associated with it! I have never been involved in an accident in all my years of driving so i am not sure of the ins and outs.

 

I really do not feel comfortable making a PI claim in order to get physio and a new car seat. The car seat is £100 to replace and the doc said i should start with 10 treatments (@ £35 a treatment) and see how it goes (he seemed to give an indication that 10 treatments would usually be enough when combined with excercises to be done at home)

 

It just seems silly that for the sake of maybe £450 costs will spiral with solicitor fees, PI claims, doc reports etc but on the other hand i am not prepared to pay these costs myself when i was not at fault

 

Thanks for the advice tho, i just thought they were pulling the wool in order to make a quick £ off the 3rd parties ins company

Edited March 29, 2010 by confused??

[honeybee13]

Hello there. I can understand how you want to handle this, and good for you. Irwin Mitchell are pretty well known for PI cases.

 

But our friend who suffered whiplash is in touch with the other driver's insurer and having her physio fees paid by them. She didn't accept an offer they made to pay her as full and final settlement, as her neck isn't right yet, and she doesn't know how long treatment will go on and how much it will cost.

 

My best, HB

Edited March 29, 2010 by honeybee13
typo

[trinity_enigma]

Just a quick note to say I agree with Honey Bee. Its worth ring the third party insurers to see what they will do. They obviously don't want to have to pay solicitor fees on top of everything else, but as said above don't accept anything as full and final settlement unless you are completely happy to do so as you will not be able to claim anything further.

 

There is one exception to this rule (possibly others but not come accross them yet) is if the 3rd party insurers are Quinn who in my experience will throw money at you to make it all go away without actually assessing what has happened.

[Trojan1401]

Most insurers now have arrangements in place to help with Third Party losses especially injury and credit hire. This avoids the usual exhorbitant solicitor costs, particularly the Ambulance chasers on a no win no fee basis.

I suggest that you do contact the "at fault" insurers who should guide you through the process if the are set up for this. Most of the reputable carriers will have this in place however a number of the .com transactional ones may not.

Being in the insurance world, it is good to hear from someone who's not into milking the system and literrally looking purely to be indemnified.

If more people were like you then perhaps motor rates would reduce. Ball park suggests credit hire / ambulance chasers put up to £80 on a motor policy & that's without the cost of the uninsured idiots.