After the event insurance

[JournalistElect139]

I was wondering if someone would kindly, in laymans terms, explain the after the event insurance.

 

The reason why I ask is that one of my parents had a nerve operation in 2011 that hasn’t worked out at all and has seen my parent’s condition worsen to the point where she is struggling with day to day things. We are in the process of speaking to a solicitor of putting forward discussions or a case to the hospital in regards to claiming some compensation for this operation failure which they said would be fine etc.

 

The solicitor wants use to see whether our home insurance includes the above insurance as he said it would help with costs etc? Having briefly checked it, it seems to me that the solicitor wants us to do this so he gets some money back whether we win or lose so question his motives to be honest.

 

Would after the event insurance already be attached to my home insurance when I took out the latter policy or would it be something that I’d have to call up and add on?

 

Any advice thoroughly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

[unclebulgaria67]

Your Home Insurance is not an after the event policy in the true sense. Home Insurance legal expenses is just an Insurance that might help with legal costs up to a certain value. You normally have to use the Insurers own panel of Solicitors, but they may accept you using another Solicitor of your choice.

 

Unless your parents live with you and are part of your household, then your own Home Ins legal cover would not be able to help. It would be your parents Home Ins legal cover that would be the one that is relevant. But your parents would have to contact their Insurers claims department to start a claim and they will have to provide a lot of details, before they are advised whether they will receive any help with their legal costs.

 

After the event legal Insurance is a specific policy that you can take out, but I think the premium relates to the risks of going through a court process. It is protection against being liable for costs awarded by the court against you above a certain level.

 

Just going by your post, I would question whether this Solicitor you have seen is the right person to help. Either you have misunderstood what they have said or the Solicitor is not very good at explaining matters. You parents really need to see a Solicitor who specialises in medical cases.

Edited September 26, 2013 by unclebulgaria67

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I agree with UB about seeing a different solicitor. I think you might even be able to do a medical case on a no win no fee basis. You can check the Law Society website for specialists in your part of the country.

 

My best, HB

[unclebulgaria67]

Hello there.

 

I agree with UB about seeing a different solicitor. I think you might even be able to do a medical case on a no win no fee basis. You can check the Law Society website for specialists in your part of the country.

 

My best, HB

 

Yes there may be no win no fee companies who can help. Be aware that currently most of these will want at least 25% of any award that is won.

 

If your parents have Home Ins legal cover, that may be best avenue to look at first, but I have my doubts as to whether they will be interested in a medical type claim. They can be very expensive to pursue as they can go on for a long time and need expert witness reports to be done. Unless your parents have a very good case that is documented, I suspect that the Insurers will decline.

 

So your parents are then left with looking for Solicitors that are best placed to help them.

 

I think you need to ascertain whether you need to go through the Hospitals complaints process first, before you go legal. Perhaps the Hospital Doctors did discuss the risks of the operation with your parents and your parents signed the form understanding the risks. If this is the case, then unless you have evidence from several medical experts saying that the operation was done wrongly or should not have been done at all, then I would think it would be difficult to proceed.

[JournalistElect139]

Unless your parents live with you and are part of your household, then your own Home Ins legal cover would not be able to help. It would be your parents Home Ins legal cover that would be the one that is relevant. But your parents would have to contact their Insurers claims department to start a claim and they will have to provide a lot of details, before they are advised whether they will receive any help with their legal costs.

 

I live with my parents. It's my father who has the home insurance under his name so does that insurance cover all the people living in the house as the issue concerns my mother, rather than my father?

 

I think you need to ascertain whether you need to go through the Hospitals complaints process first, before you go legal. Perhaps the Hospital Doctors did discuss the risks of the operation with your parents and your parents signed the form understanding the risks. If this is the case, then unless you have evidence from several medical experts saying that the operation was done wrongly or should not have been done at all, then I would think it would be difficult to proceed.

 

We’ve already pursued things through the complaint process and received a response that we were expecting, i.e the surgeon saying he told us how the operation would go and the risks but the latter was not foreseen in the way that it has worked out for my mother.

 

We’ve spoken to a few medical professionals who’ve said they’ve never experienced a response to an operation, which is successful without issues, like it before.

 

It’s difficult for me, in a personal opinion, to ascertain whether what has happened is due to a mistake that’s being hidden or whether it was something unforeseen and it JUST happened. But I feel they completely ignored what my mother was saying to them in the early days after the operation, that she couldn’t feel her feet and struggling to urinate, and were dismissive rather than take that as urgent sign to investigate promptly.

 

And also, the solicitor said a bank account may include before and/or after the event insurance, again would this have needed to be something my mum would have needed to add onto her bank account?

 

Thank you for the responses, appreciated.

[ericsbrother]

Give the home insurance legal cover details to the solicitor and they will tell you if it covers the case. If it doesnt you can buy a policy that will cover your costs should you lose the case for about £75. It is basically a conditional fee insurance and is designed to pick up a proportion of the other sides costs

[Mwynci]

Sounds like a standard question to me, I'd be more concerned about a solicitor who didn't explore this option.

[Ganymede]

ATE is exactly what is says on the tin. It is insurance cover taken out after the event to protect you against any costs and disbursements you have to pay if you are lose the case at Court. I think the cost of an average policy these days is around £35.00 to £40.00 that you either pay out of your compensation if you win. Most policies are self insuring so you don't pay the premium if you lose.

 

 

BTE on the other hand is insurance that was in place before the accident and would sometimes be included in home cover or added as an optional extra.