Advice on claim settlement from Tescos insurance - accident July 2011

[stunning101]

On the 5th of July 2011 my husband and I were involved in a car accident. I was 16 weeks pregnant and our car was stationary on a roundabout when a pile up involving three cars occurred. We were the last car to be hit and the driver in the middle car behind us was badly injured and had a hospital stay. We went to A & E and I also had an ultrasound. I was diagnosed with whiplash and a back injury and my husband an upper back injury. After the accident I developed problems with my hips that started in the left and then right so both were affected. This led to me having 16 weeks off work until my maternity leave begun in November 2011. I was repeadly signed off but the doctors notes had to say that it was pregnancy related in order for me not to occur a disciplinary due to long term sickness. I begun physiotherapy organized by Tescos insurance (The Treatment Network) in August 2011 along with my husband. I had to stop exercising because of the pain and found even after giving birth on the 22nd of Dec 2011 that I still suffered problem with my right hip. Both myself and my husband went back for physio for 4 weeks and I improved. My lack of activity affected me greatly as I was very active prior to this accident and I developed postnatal depression as I had occurred more weight gain and less exercise relief than before.

 

We have been discharged from the physio even though I am still suffering some pain. I have been calculating my loss of earnings as I am sales based and have lost out on a bonus I was 80% away from hitting £2000 (would be taxed and I have back up from my work that they will confirm this to the insurers) and my commission of £53.09 per week (calculated through pay slips during August 2010 to August 2011) for a total of 16.02 weeks is £860.06. The holiday I had to take were 16 days which I worked out to be at a value of £151.40 per day (calc from my last p60 taking off any bank holiday and weekends and dividing by number of days worked) which is a total of £2422.35 which also would be taxed. This is a total of £4882.42 which does not include pain or suffering etc.

 

My question is will they squirm out of paying this. Before I gave birth they wanted to settle at about £2000 not including any loss of earnings. They also will need to pay my travel to and from treatments.

 

This is the only accident I've had in my life and I'm not sure of how this works?

[raydetinu]

are you claiming thruogh your insuranc or directly off the TP insurers?

You need to put in a claim for all your expenses, loss of earnings etc with back up docs. to insurers as soon as possible to get things moving as it can take quite a while to sort.

If they start to baulk or refuse then you might have to consult a solicitor on a NFNW basis or through your own insurers if have legal cover.

[unclebulgaria67]

Agree, you may wish to use a no win no fee company that specialises in making such claims.

[stunning101]

xxxxxxxx are the appointed solicitors who were used by xxxxxxxx the insurers my husband had at the time of the accident. This has been going on a while as we've been getting treatment. They are now very keen to settle this and I want to be able to claim for my loses of earnings and I was hoping that things would speed up so we can get this claim and up it to rest. This evening we have the final assessment for the physio who should give me the all clear. I am exercising now so I know that I am mostly mended an am very pleased as this seemed to go on forever. I cannot find much on xxxxxxxx and we are being represented by [edit] who has been very good so far in helping with treatment. He has and is really leaving the amount we request for pain and suffering up to us and I have no idea of how to work this out so it is reasonable? Any ideas? Being on maternity leave I could really do with getting some of the lost commission and bonus money that I was counting in from my company!

Edited June 18, 2012 by honeybee13
Removing personal details.

[unclebulgaria67]

Try asking xxxxxxx. You may strike lucky on CAG, if someone who deals with such claims happens to see your posts. But most people would not have the knowledge, as to what is currently claimable. Depends on the what cases precedents there have been.

Edited June 18, 2012 by rebel11
Solicitors name removed.

[stunning101]

We have asked but I will ask again now we're further along in the process. I think our claim is small in comparison to some of the larger things that are being dealt with and that is why it has been hard to get advice as it's probably not worth the time arguing in some cases. Wondered if there is some sort of PI calculator or format to follow depending on time off/doctors apps etc. I've read a few other posts on here which are in the region of about £1000-£2000 for an injury that lasts for about 3-6 months with a full recovery so maybe a slightly higher figure than this?

[unclebulgaria67]

All depends on the situation and how the case is presented. From what I have heard, people have claimed more than the £1k to £2k that you have mentioned. I have heard of one case, where someone had a payout of over £7k for whiplash, slight damage to a knee that may or may not last longer than say a year and other various amounts. It is all down to the quality of the information that is provided.

[stunning101]

I will post the results on this page as I have just been for my final assessment and am sending all the documentation over the next few days so a figure should be mentioned soon.

[Ganymede]

You are your husband really need to use a solicitor to make sure you receive the correct level of compensation.

 

The accident was 11 months ago and you have had hip, neck and back pain since then. You need to be medically examined by a medico-legal expert.

[stunning101]

We've had our final examination and are awaiting details of the compensation from the accident in pain and suffering and extra costs. I am also including my lost earnings as this is what has stung me the most as I had expected to earn these and since I was off for so long I lost a total of £4500 from bonus and commission.

[raydetinu]

Absolutely, include everything that is a genuine cost resulting from the injury.

You also need to consider punitive damages for general inconvenience, the pain and suffering caused, as you were not to blame for the incident in any way.

[Ganymede]

We've had our final examination and are awaiting details of the compensation from the accident in pain and suffering and extra costs. I am also including my lost earnings as this is what has stung me the most as I had expected to earn these and since I was off for so long I lost a total of £4500 from bonus and commission.

 

 

 

You need more than just a final assessment from a physio. That is nowhere near adequate and you need to be examined by a qualified medical professional.

 

A quick Google search brings up First Personal Injury, Injury Lawyers for You or National Accident Helpline (others are available).

 

I would call one of the above and let a professional deal with the claim.

[stunning101]

Our assessment was with a Dr and Physiotherapist who works on behalf of the Law Firm. We had to complete questionnaires detailing the symptoms and duration of time effected along with detail on how our life was impacted during that time. This is used to quantify the claim. I did discuss the commission and bonus I lost out on but did not give the wage slips and e-mail from my boss with the details. I am going to send this to the solicitor as I wish for them to be included. I feel that they will make up a large amount of the claim.

[Ganymede]

Ah ok sorry it wasn't clear that you were already using a solicitor, it seemed like you were doing it all yourself.

 

Send all wage slips etc to your solicitor and let them work out your losses.

[stunning101]

Hi Ganymede. I have scanned them today and am sending them. I am only sending the wage slips with commission to prove how much I get on average per week so they can work out my losses that way. Do you think they would want them all. Lots of scanning/copying otherwise! Thank you