If you’ve had an accident, you should take the first step and instruct your own specialist lawyer. If you’re thinking of accepting the one your insurance company nominated — who’s probably paid them a referral fee —you have to think carefully first.
At the very least, ensure the lawyer you choose is up to scratch
You’ll find a list of what a good specialist injury lawyer should do for you. You might not need every step, depending on your case… but the first steps are, in many ways, the most important of all. So, don’t delay contacting a lawyer. Let him get to work for you as soon as possible.
REMEMBER: it’s not what happened to you, it’s what you can prove
The Initial Interview
Your first interview is often done over the phone. If your case is particularly complicated, a face-to-face meeting may be better.
It’s okay to start by completing one of those online claims forms you see on websites, but be suspicious if you don’t get a telephone call back quickly. You must have communication and dialogue with a real person because the truth is always in the details. A real human being has the critical skills needed — patience and expertise — to ask the right questions and get to the heart of your case.
At the end of your call or interview, your lawyer or paralegal will prepare a statement to include:
- Your contact details including email, landline, and mobile telephone number
- Details of exactly what happened in a clear chronological order, showing someone else’s fault and negligence caused the accident
- A note of all your injuries
- Your car’s registration number and the registration of the other vehicle
- The other driver’s contact details
- Your own insurance details
- The other driver’s insurance details (if known)
- Your GP’s address, details of any hospital or physiotherapy treatment you had, and a note of any occupational health referral you might have had
- A note of all your wage losses or other financial losses
- A note of your insurance excess
- Details of your own vehicle’s damage, where it’s stored, and its status as a write-off or repaired
- Details of any relatives who helped you during your initial period of injury (e.g. washing, dressing, housework)
- Details of any work you were unable to carry out for your family (e.g. decorating, mowing)
- Witness details
Gathering all this information will take some time — particularly the details of exactly what happened during the accident and immediately afterwards. If you’re simply asked to fill in a questionnaire, you’re in the wrong hands. Find someone else.
The Initial Investigation: Immediate Action!
Any competent specialist lawyer will immediately start to collect the evidence which, if necessary, will prove your case in court. This means getting names, addresses, and contact details (especially mobile numbers) of every witness and getting their witness statements.
Seeing is believing and photographs are crucial. There is no more compelling evidence than photographs taken at the time of the accident. Mobile phone photographs are fine and you may already have taken them. If you haven’t taken photographs at the accident scene, you should at least take photographs of your damaged car before it’s repaired.
You may wonder why your lawyer is going to all this trouble if he wants to settle the case by correspondence with the at-fault insurers. The reason is: strong evidence will immeasurably improve your bargaining position with the other insurers.
The Agent and Client Care Letter
Your lawyer must send you a client care letter explaining how they can charge fees, the file handler’s details, any communication protocols, and whom you should complain to if you need to.
If your lawyers will take a percentage uplift on fees if your case is successful, they’ll ask you to sign and return a written fee agreement.
If you believe your lawyer has skimped on the initial investigation and evidence details, don’t let them act and don’t sign any fee agreement. Ditch him and get a different lawyer. If your lawyer doesn’t prepare your case properly at this stage, it’s guaranteed to ruin or at least reduce the value of your claim.
The Letter of Claim
Your lawyer will send an intimation letter (a notification letter of claim) explaining the allegations of fault. As long as you’ve given your lawyer all the registration details, the at-fault insurer can be traced. Your letter will go directly to that insurer.
The letter of claim is an important document. If it contains misstatements of fact or omits critical information, you can be sure this letter will resurface as a credibility problem at any negotiation or litigation stage.
The Medical Evidence
A specialist personal injury lawyer will send you a medical mandate to sign which will enable him to see your medical records relating to the accident.
You must do this before you get the medical report on your injuries because the examining doctor must see them so he can refer to them in your medical report.
In most accident cases, a specialist personal injury lawyer will instruct a specialist consultant, like an accident and emergency consultant or an orthopedic consultant. A GP’s report simply doesn’t carry the same weight with an insurer or with the court.
In most cases, your report will come not from your treating doctor, but from a wholly independent consultant.
Special damages evidence
You’ll remember from the Consumer Factsheet that you want to recover your excess, all outlays such as repair invoices, and any other expenses caused by your accident.
If you were off work your lawyer will establish your net wages before the accident and calculate your loss as a result of it. Be aware that very many large employers, like local authorities or the NHS, will require you to repay any sick pay you received out of your damages. Your lawyer will want to see your contract of employment.
Special rules apply if you’re self-employed. In most cases, you’ll need a loss of earnings calculation from your own accountant.
Negotiation and Settlement
Nobody wants to go to court, which is why we have something called the Compulsory Protocol. It’s designed to force you and the auto insurance companies to focus on settling — so only those cases which can’t be settled go to court. It’s why we do all this investigation and correspondence.
A specialist personal injury lawyer will prepare a schedule of damages with supporting documentation, which will set the negotiation agenda with the insurers.
The insurers will then raise questions about the accident circumstances and try to argue there should be a deduction for any part you played in the accident. They’ll generally try to argue down your valuation.
The insurers want to reach agreement at this stage and they know you want to do so as well. They always want some kind of discount on the true value of your claim. Where injuries are modest, you and your lawyer can usually reach an acceptable compromise.
Once you’ve reached an agreement, you’ll be asked to sign a document discharging your legal rights to take any more action on this accident. You should expect to receive a cheque within four to eight weeks.