Car accident inurance

[debbieg1984]

Hi,

 

I was involved in a car accident 2 days ago, I was stationary at a roundabout and someone rear ended me, upon impact I had pain in my lower right back but I didn't think much of it, no police or paramedics attended and the car was ok to drive home. When I got home and got out of the car the pain in my back intensified so I made an appt with my GP the same day, they said the accident had irritated a nerve and prescribed me pain relief and Naproxen.

 

I contacted tesco(my insurance company) and informed them of what had happened and due to the age of my car they said it would need to be looked at by the total loss team and that they would contact me in a few days.

 

The same evening I received a call from Admiral(the other persons insurance) they asked a lot of questions and I explained that it could be that my may be written off, with that they offered to write my car off and give me a settlement thus closing my claim with Tesco, I explained that I had hurt my back in the accident and was waiting for Tesco legal team to contact me in regards to that. Admiral asked me about my symptoms then proceeded to offer me £750 for my back as full and final settlement, not really taking no or I'm unsure as an answer.

 

I explained to them that I was still in a lot of shock(I lost my brother in a car accident 18 months ago so this has left me very shaken up esp as my children were in the car with me. He said he would send the cheque for full and final settlement in the post( I haven't received this as yet)

yesterday afternoon the left side of my neck started hurting, my shoulders and neck started to feel stiff, by 10pm last night I was in severe pain and was struggling to move my head, I attended the out of hours GP, I have a burning/hot sensation down the left side of my neck, it hurts to touch and there is some swelling. The GP told me that I have sprained the muscle in my neck and that is a result of the accident, she has increased my pain relief and told me to see my GP Monday morning as I will need physiotherapy to assist with healing.

 

My question is can I now refuse the full and final settlement? When does it become legally binding? As I said above I have not even received the cheque and have not signed anything to say that I have accepted it.

I know now that I should have waited before verbally agreeing to the claim but as I said I was badly shaken and the gentleman on the phone was rather pushy, I kept telling him that I would need to speak to my husband and he kept saying well I will send the cheque for you tonight, I will process this now. I'm worried that if I contact them to say I have changed my mind they will tell me that legally I can't do that.

Edited January 23, 2016 by debbieg1984

[BankFodder]

Please would you insert spacing and paragraphs into your posts. It is extremely difficult to read to give you the help you want when it is presented in a solid block of text.

Thanks

[king12345]

You don't have to accept anything.

They are trying to limit their loss by offering you a bag of peanuts ffor an injury that might affect you for months.

When you receive the check send it back with a covering letter explaining that you do not accept their offer and will contact them in future.

Then go to a solicitor and he will contact admiral on your behalf, your insurance might help with this.

They will offer a no win no fee because admiral has already admitted liability.

Let them know that they forced you to accept the £750.

The solicitor will guide you through the claim and you won't have to speak to admiral anymore.

From now on, don't answer admiral calls and don't contact them.

I hope you recover soon, I know how debilitating back pain is.

Keep us posted

[BankFodder]

Thank you for formatting your post.

 

As you have probably realised, by talking to the people on the phone or by having anything to do with them at all, you have made your life rather more difficult.

 

It's a shame that you didn't understand that Adml were not on your side and if they're prepared to offer you something that sounds too good to be true – then it is.

 

I think there are very good arguments here to say that you are not bound by the settlement. However, if you try to explain it to them they will not accept it and also, because you have been talking to Adml I doubt whether your insurers – who technically on your side – would be at all pleased with you.

 

If you want to abandon the settlement and proceed to try and claim a higher figure then we will help you but it may be less than straightforward.

 

A quick word of advice is that in future you should never speak to the other side and anyway you should implement the advice in our customer services guide with your dealing with the people who are against you or even the people who are meant to be on your side.

 

Read the customer services guide now.

 

I would suggest that in the circumstances you wait until Tuesday. If you haven't received the cheque by then, then your position is pretty straightforward because you can simply say that they hadn't stuck by their promise. If you do receive the cheque, then photocopy it but very importantly also photocopy the envelope. If the envelope is not postmarked the date that they said that they would send the cheque out, then you will simply tell them that they didn't keep their promise and so the deal is off.

 

If they have done what they said they would do, which is that they sent the cheque out on the day that they said they would then you should write to them.

 

You should write to them and send a copy to your insurer and say to them that you are extremely unhappy that they have used your personal details in the way they did to make a direct personal phone call to you and to use that opportunity to cajole you and to pressurise you into accepting a payment.

 

You need to confirm in the letter what you said in the phone call – which was that you were not in a good state of mind and that you needed to take some other advice – and that they railroaded you into making a verbal commitment which you never intended to make.

 

You will have to tell them that you consider that they have treated you extremely unfairly and also that their actions in the misuse of your personal data and of putting pressure on you after you had explain to them that you are not in a position to deal with things in a levelheaded way amounted to unfair communication and contrary to their obligations in ICOBS.

 

Tell them that as a result of that you consider that you are not party to any binding agreement whatsoever and that you are returning the cheque and that if they cause you any problem you will begin an immediate complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service about the way they have treated you.

 

Tell them that you expect them to deal with your insurer and that you expect a proper and appropriate settlement once the whole matter has been examined by doctors and other experts in the field.

 

Tell them that you are not prepared to enter into any other correspondence with them except as part of a formal complaint procedure

[debbieg1984]

I did realise that admiral were not on my side but at the point of speaking to them I only had slight pain in my back, as for my insurance company when Admiral rang me, I told them to ring me back and during that time I contacted my insurers and explained that admiral rang me and what they were offering.

I asked what they would advise me to do and her exact words were... Admiral are a reputable company so it would be fine to accept!

[debbieg1984]

It wasn't actually my insurance company that gave admiral my phone number, the lady that hit me took my husbands mobile number and gave it to Admiral.

[unclebulgaria67]

I did realise that admiral were not on my side but at the point of speaking to them I only had slight pain in my back, as for my insurance company when Admiral rang me, I told them to ring me back and during that time I contacted my insurers and explained that admiral rang me and what they were offering.

I asked what they would advise me to do and her exact words were... Admiral are a reputable company so it would be fine to accept!

 

You have not accepted anything yet. Admiral by sending a cheque would be admitting liability and if you cashed the cheque you would be accepting the offer. Therefore you don't accept tbe cheque and simply return it, saying that no settlement has been accepted and you will allow the claim to follow its normal course.

 

It is up to you who you choose to act for you. If you go down the no win no fee route, the Solicitors can take up to 25% of the settlement, therefore you need to consider best option. If you have Tesco legal cover under your policy you should talk to them about the help available. There are two elements to the claim, the write off value of the car and then the various unisured losses including personal injury. You could accept a settlement for the car, if you agree to the market value being offered and say that the other aspects of your claim will continue to be outstanding.

 

Admiral are trying to save money by jumping on you, which is a bit naughty.

[debbieg1984]

Thank you, I have just contacted Admiral and told them that I will not be accepting the settlement. They were perfectly OK and said that they have now cancelled the cheque.

I have informed them that until I have been fully assessed by the physiotherapy team etc I have no intention of settling a personal injury claim with them.

Thank you to everyone that replied, I can now breathe a big sigh of relief.

[dacouc]

Uncle's post sums it up well.

 

You have not prejudiced your claim, your Insurers will have no problem with you discussing the claim with them in these circumstances eg the other side accepting fault.

 

As Uncle mentioned, you have not accepted their injury settlement as you have not formally accepted it and / or cashed the cheque.

 

As Uncle mentioned, most solicitors will deduct circa 25% from your settlement (even No Win No Fee), however if you have Legal Protection Cover on your motor policy, they should refer your to a no win no fee company who will not deduct 25% from your compensation.

 

You may find if you're a member of a Union, they will also offer the same service eg no deduction.

 

Read whatever you're asked to sign so you understand if there are any deductions etc.

 

There is nothing stopping you from using Admiral to handle the writing off of your car, this is generally financially better off for you as there will be no excess to pay, your own Insurers are likely to deduct any remaining instalments from your settlement if you pay via monthly instalments for your premium which Admiral won't do.

 

If you use Admiral to pay for your car, bear in mind you won't have the protection of the Ombudsman, which can be handy.

 

P.S There's no rush with your injury, you have three years to make the claim, if you're in pain go to your Doctors

[Slimm]

If you want to avoid a deduction from your damages you can always go back to Admiral, they may well be willing to fund treatment or a medical report and then make a better offer afterwards. Just remember never to sign anything in full and final settlement unless you are 100% sure you feel it is fair. The more seriously you take your injury (going back to GP if it doesn't improve, doing treatment etc) the more they will offer. Keep receipts for anything you might want them to reimburse you for and keep a track of travel that was caused by the accident/injury.