How Long Does an Insurer Have to Reply to a Compensation Claim?

It is certainly viable and right to pursue a claim for personal injury in this matter. Our specialist Solicitors have successfully acted in similar matters before with injuries sustained through foreign objects within food products.

In your situation, a specialist Solicitor will be needed to ensure that you are able to pursue this matter properly. In most cases, injuries arising from incidents such as the one you describe would be dental or potentially lacerations within the mouth or internally etc. The additional injuries that you have sustained as a result of falling down the stairs whilst calling for help are totally understandable, but one should anticipate a causation denial from the defendants. The scenario you describe here highlights exactly why it is in your best interests to place this matter in the hands of an expert Solicitor.

If you don’t already have a specialist Solicitor acting for you in this matter, please contact us on 01225430285 or use our website to request a call.

In terms of the valuation of any final settlement in this matter, it is simply impossible to give a figure with any accuracy at this stage. Without having had sight of medical records or the contents of a medical experts report (something a Solicitor would obtain through the pursuit of your claim), the value range is unknown. What we can say though is that if the right specialist Solicitor is acting for you and if the medical evidence and an experts report are supportive, the value of your claim could be substantial.

If your Son’s accident happened after 31st May 2021 and did not involve any broken bones or severe lacerations (i.e, if it is just soft tissue injuries), he will have to pursue his claim via the system implemented by Government at the behest of the Insurance sector that sees claimants unable to recover legal fees and being forced to pursue a claim via the Official Injury claim portal without legal representation. The new system is much less fair on people like your Son and has seen the amount of compensation payable for injuries like whiplash or soft tissue damage reduced massively, with many claimants receiving even less than your Son has been offered.

If this is the process your Son is having to follow, he could seek to decline the first offer in the hope that a better offer is forthcoming, but the sad reality is that he won’t get the level of damages that he would have received pre 31st May 2021.

The admission of liability is an important milestone and does mean that the claim will settle. Clearly, the parties need to carefully consider the evidence available in terms of establishing an appropriate settlement valuation and this can take some time. It is obviously (and very understandably) extremely distressing for family members dealing with a claim on behalf of someone who has passed away as a result of their injuries and to have the thought of the claim hanging over them whilst they attempt to grieve and move on, but it is important to follow the process and allow the specialists the time to ensure that the final outcome is correct and appropriate.

As frustrating as this situation is for you, your Solicitor is obliged to give the defendants every opportunity (and more!) to respond/cooperate before they can bring the matter before the courts. However, if the defendants continue to refuse to cooperate or provide meaningful responses, your Solicitor will issue proceedings in order to obtain a Judgement from the courts that would then compel the defendants to cooperate.

Did you make a written request to your Solicitor to have the inaccuracies/discrepancies within your medical reports corrected? Further, do you have written confirmation that those Consultants are happy to amend their reports? Clearly you are in a difficult position and you really need to get to the bottom of why your Solicitor has refused to allow/request any amendments to be made.

Hi Ian, thanks for your speedy reply. I indeed have numerous written requests on file requesting the solicitor ask for these reports to be amended.
I also have on file replies from the consultants saying they’re happy to amend the reports & go on further to state the solicitor has not contacted them regarding amending the reports.
The letter he sent I found confusing as I have only just contacted the insurers. They claim, they’re simply waiting for the medical evidence to move things forward & are not looking to strike out my claim.

Michael.

Hopefully all will be resolved in due course.

I’ve just received a letter from a solicitor asking for the details of the solicitor who has my file. They state they’re acting on behalf of the insurance company the claim is against. Is my compensation claim about to be struck off now?

Why would a Solicitor write to you to ask which Solicitor you have instructed if they are acting for the insurers against whom the claim is being made? Surely they should already have that information?! If the insurer has received notification of a claim from your Solicitor, the insurers already have those details. Perhaps you could politely refer them to their client and state that their client (the insurer) will have that information?

If you don’t have a Solicitor and you have self-represented, you simply need to advise them that you do not have a Solicitor at this time.

There is not a specific time limit for a CNF to be sent to a defendant – although the statute of limitation that requires a claim to be made within 3 years of the date of an accident does require that the claim is made within that period.

In the majority of cases, a Solicitor will send a claimants CNF to a defendant shortly after they have been instructed (Conditional Fee Agreement has been signed and is in place) and when the contents of the CNF have been agreed with the claimant to ensure accuracy. However, in some cases it is prudent to delay submission of a CNF to ensure that evidence can be obtained to substantiate the claimants position or to allow a Solicitor to construct a robust claim with the best possible prospects of success.

The time frame appears correct and reasonable. Claimants must be seen to be giving reasonable time frames when making demands to defendants and the courts will expect to see this has been the case should the matter come before them.

Likewise, if the defendants fail to respond or cooperate within a reasonable period of time, the courts will take a dim view of them and the prospects that you would then succeed with the claim increase considerably.

There is no time limit for settlement, but one should expect payment in a reasonable period of time. Have you chased settlement and issued a deadline for the same?

The issues and frustrations you have raised are commonly held by claimants in the middle of the claims process. We would like to put your mind at rest in that you have succeeded with your claim as liability has been admitted as demonstrated by the interim award of £1,000 that you’ve already received (a defendant would not pay an interim award if they had not admitted liability). This means that you will be fully compensated in due course. The reason for the delay in the process is that your side (on the advise of the Barrister – who is the expert) needs to establish the full extent of the damage and loss caused by your injury. The reason for the 3rd medical is to enable your Solicitor to reach a settlement value that appropriately accounts for the impact that the injury has had on you, continues to have on you and will have on your future.

We would anticipate that as soon as the 3rd medical is completed, that your Solicitor will be able to return to the Barrister to seek guidance on claim value and then approach the defendant with the settlement request. Of course, there will be some further back and forths between the two sides in negotiating a settlement that both parties can agree to, but hopefully it won’t be too much longer.

Although you feel abandoned, your Solicitor will wish to continue with the claim as they will firstly want to see you compensated and secondly, they’ll want to receive their fees! The fact that liability is admitted is a really strong point here.

If you are still struggling financially, you could seek to request a further interim payment against the final settlement value.

There is no set time for settlement to be in the hands of the claimant. In most cases, settlement is usually made within 2-4 weeks, occasionally up to 6 weeks. If settlement is agreed, but is not forthcoming from the insurers, after allowing a reasonable period of time and making some chasing demands, a claimant may seek a Judgement to compel the insurers to provide settlement.