cycling accident

[Andrew_P]

A friend in the insurance industry once gave me an excellent piece of advice I have used more than once ...

Offer 1 is what they hope to get away with.
Offer 2 is what they think that can get away with
Offer 3 is the most they will go to without taking it to court

Always turn down offers 1 and 2.

Pretty much what I was going to post, certainly do not accept the first offer. Are you doing the negotiation? If you are maybe say you do not think the offer is fair and you are considering going to a no-win no fee solicitor. They will know that this would automatically mean their costs will probably double so they will want to settle.

 

[numbnuts]

....a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush

 

[AndyRM]

Sounds like a pretty bad one, I hope you make a full recovery.

Going off my own experience, I think you should receive higher compensation. Relative to your injuries, mine were minor and I received £15k, having been offered £16k. I accepted the first offer.

Drop me a PM for more specific details if you want to.

 

[redcard]

A friend in the insurance industry once gave me an excellent piece of advice I have used more than once ...

Offer 1 is what they hope to get away with.
Offer 2 is what they think that can get away with
Offer 3 is the most they will go to without taking it to court

Always turn down offers 1 and 2.

My lawyer advised me to accept the first offer as he couldn't go to court and legitimately argue that I had incurred more expenses than what they offered.
If I had turned down the first offer then there's a good chance it could have went to court and I could have received a lesser settlement as well as being landed with legal fees.
So the advice wouldn't have been excellent in my situation.

 

[redcard]

Thanks for the posts
Just to let you know the vein with the clot has closed up completely and have been informed by doctors that this is ok and wont effect day to day life
I have put in a bill for about £1800 for loss of earnings, bike and kit replacement and all the small things so there only offering about 6k for personal injury.

How's the shoulder now Redcard and did you except the 10k?

I would have been very happy with £7K, but I was expecting between £5K and £6K.

I can only think my lawyer put forward a very convincing case.

 

[400bhp]

there only offering about 6k for personal injury.

Are all your issues from this accident behind you?

Think long and hard and be honest with yourself, but are you chasing the £ or is it really something that deserves more than £6k?

No one can relly answer that but yourself. You have to be honest with yourself though.

And remember the £6k is tax free, so it's more like £10k. How many months/days wages is that? That's another way of looking at it.

 

[fatblokish]

Your solicitor should be able to look up a database or book of PI cases and establish quantum based on precedent. I used Sweet and Maxwell when I was unseated last. Ask Solicitor to show you how he/she believes the 10k offered compares against similar cases.
Don't forget to include inflation against these figures.

 

[CopperBrompton]

My lawyer advised me to accept the first offer

Almost certainly a sign that you had the wrong lawyer. Lazy ones just want to get these cases through the books as quickly as possible. No insurer jumps straight to their ceiling in their first offer.

 

[redcard]

Almost certainly a sign that you had the wrong lawyer. Lazy ones just want to get these cases through the books as quickly as possible. No insurer jumps straight to their ceiling in their first offer.

Absolute nonsense.
My case took around 9 months to settle, and he certainly wasn't in any rush.

 

[ufkacbln]

Just for a start, so we understand. How much did you lose out financially?

This is the key, the insurance claim is not meant to be punitive, but to ensure that you are not out of pocket. Now or in the future.

If 10K is a reasonable estimate of the costs to you then accept and if not hold out for a more appropriate amount

 

[The Jogger]

I would say, you never accept the first offer, what have you got to lose?

 

[Pale Rider]

You might like to have a look at the linked document from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

It is not the route you are going down, but it might give you an idea how a court may view your injuries.

There's a long tariff starting from about page 57.

While there are some big numbers for some things, broken bones and the like don't pay very much.

You had no fractures, but may be able to find a category you partially fit into.

I think you need to be wary about going to court because they might award less than £10K.

It could be your lawyer knows what he's talking about.

The risk with negotiating hard is the insurer may say 'sod it - let's take our chances in court'.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads...igible/criminal-injuries-comp-scheme-2012.pdf

 

[Tim Hall]

FWIW, I did take the first offer when I was taken roughly from behind. I don't think the driver's insurance company even knew the extent of my (admittedly not very serious) injuries. I expect they were just scared by the amount of claret. Anyhoo, my insurers said, tjhey've offered £x, standard scale for cut head, concussion and night in hospital is £y. My financial losses were £z. Adding y and z together suggested that the £x offered was generous/over the top, s owe went for it. Reduces the drawn out nature of the whole thing and helped me put it behind me.

 

[buggi]

if you refuse the offer its unlikely you would get less if you went to court and as they have admitted liability, and you're not paying legal costs, i would definitely refuse the first offer and tell the solicitor to make sure they know you will go all the way to court. As said above, they are hoping you accept so they get away with paying less. No insurance company makes a full offer first time round. Don't forget psychological damage. Are you nervous on your bike? Their driver did that. I had whiplash once bcoz driver went into the back of my car. I got £3k for a sore neck! And £2k for my car. Total of £5k and i wasn't even hospitalised. Don't let them fob you off coz you were on a bike.

 

[400bhp]

if you refuse the offer its unlikely you would get less if you went to court and as they have admitted liability, and you're not paying legal costs, i would definitely refuse the first offer and tell the solicitor to make sure they know you will go all the way to court. As said above, they are hoping you accept so they get away with paying less. No insurance company makes a full offer first time round. Don't forget psychological damage. Are you nervous on your bike? Their driver did that. I had whiplash once bcoz driver went into the back of my car. I got £3k for a sore neck! And £2k for my car. Total of £5k and i wasn't even hospitalised. Don't let them fob you off coz you were on a bike.

To the op, ignore this. There is no way some layman on a forum can second guess an insurer, tell you what a court will decide or that a lawyer that knows your case is wrong. Not all 3, sorry.