Acknowledgement of solicitors letter

[closetoyou]

Please can someone help with some kind of timeline. In July 2012 I fell down a large pothole in Tesco car park and broke my ankle and elbowI contacted a Solicitor and she told me that the other party have 21 days to reply to her letter acknowledging and the 3 months for their investigation after which they will give their result. He told me that he had sent a letter at the end of July and by Sept, had not even received the 21 day acknowledgement. she eventually got an acknowledgement from Tesco in Dec.....she is now telling me they have 3 months from the date of their acknowledgement in December- to do their investigation March 30th is a cut off date. Can this be right? If a company ignore several letters to give an acknowledgement , surely all they are doing is deferring things. Should the 3 month investigation period not start from 3 weeks after my solicitro sent the letter, I mean what if a company does not acknowledge for say 6 months..Is it right they can legally defer it? Thank you

[Ganymede]

It's not right really but not a great deal you can do about it I'm afraid.

 

At least it is being sorted now.

[Conniff]

We see the same thing from courts where is has been ordered that xx gets their paperwork in by a set date only for that not to happen but the courts not making judgement on what they have but giving them another xx amount of time to submit. To me if regulations give a time limit, that time limit should be adhered to or face the consequences.

 

I would pay a visit to that Tesco and see if the pothole has been repaired properly and if not, take a photo of it. Because you are using a solicitor (who will cost you half of any compensation you might get), that doesn't mean you can't take action as well.

 

Drop a line to the CEO - [email protected] - and let him know what is happening, you can bet he isn't aware. Someone in the office will have responded to you in between having coffee. Tell him how disappointed you are with their lack of action which is on the point of contemptible.

There can be no reason whatsoever why it would take 3 months to walk across a carpark, look at a hole, read the hospital notes of your treatment and send it off to their insurance company.

 

Solicitors just fit you in in between other work and charge hundred of pounds for very little.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Conniff

[Ganymede]

Bit of scaremongering there. I highly doubt that the solicitors will take half of the OP's compensation. I would imagine that the case has been taken on a 'no win no fee' basis.

[Conniff]

'Taking half' is just a generic term but I don't see what is scaremongering. She should ask the solicitor for a copy of the acknowledgement from Tesco so the date can be checked. It's not unusual for solicitors to 'forget' something.

[Ganymede]

The point is I doubt that the solicitor will be taking any of the OP's compensation, their costs will be paid on top should the claim succeed, so you are just worrying the OP unnecessarily.

 

As I said previously, it's annoying that Tesco took so long to acknowledge the claim but really there is little that can be done. Court proceedings can't be issued and a pre-action disclosure application under CPR 31.16 would be risky in terms of recovering the OP's costs.

[Conniff]

There is more than 'little' that can be done. She can email the boss as I said and ask him what he intends to do about it.

[Ganymede]

What do you think can be done about it?

[closetoyou]

I certainly think that if there are time limits they should be adhered to.My solicitor told me it was "protocol" rather than anything set in stone that the 6 weeks to acknowledge and the 3 months to investigate were made. I just wondered if that were the case. I have taken another 3 sets of photos of the pothole which is still there and gaping wide, in fact I was so incensed when I went to the branch just before Christmas, that I dragged the duty manager out to have a look again. All the car park lights were out as well so it was obvious how seriously they took it all.The solicitor I have was recommended through a large police organisation and belongs to one of the most successful civil proceedings company it appears. Thanks for your help it is much appreciated.I just couldn't find anything anywhere one the 6 week 3 month rule and whether it was law or not.

[Ganymede]

You are talking about the pre action protocol for personal injury claims which is part of the Civil Procedure Rules.

 

The protocol is actually 21 days for the Defendant to acknowledge the letter of claim and then 3 months to investigate.

 

Like I said earlier there is not a huge amount that can be done other than leave them to investigate.