Compensation Culture

make a claim !you will get 2.5-3.5k!! spend it on some new naim gear!!

GO TO SEE A DOCTOR if you haven't yet. I was driven into from the back about ten years ago. "Real man" as I am I didn't go to the hospital and therefore suffered from whiplash. It just got worse for a year and then it turned round and got better quite quickly. BUT I WAS JUST LUCKY. No money in the world will make you happy if you are in constant pain.

That the use of mobile phones when driving, in any form, should be banned is another thing that won't help you in your current situation.

JohanR

Thanks

Rick the last thing on my mind at the moment is HiFI! I might never play the guitar again! Do you know that as a fact BTW? £3k?

Johan- I saw the doctor this morning - the wife insisted I went to see him 'cause I'm like a bear with a sore whotsit when I'm in pain. The doc told me to expect things to worsen over the next 24 hours. Possible nerve damage.
So far he's been right - It hurts like hell!

P

Steve - The guy that ran into the back of me was doing about 40MPH before he braked about 5m out. It was a bit of a shunt.

P

Thanks Alex.

I'm not an Ambulance Chasing type by any stretch of the imagination but I'm in pain through no fault of my own - well apart from being in the wrong place/wrong time I suppose.

I'm currently working my way through This (warning LONG 95 page pdf download)rather interesting document regarding the "Blossoming" Compensation Scene in this country. Scary stuff.

P

3 people i know have claimed in the last 18 months none thankfully had any lasting damage all had symptoms much like your own they lasted for a few weeks, then gradualy cleared up they got £2800- 3300-3700 do not accept the first offer they make! they will offer more if you hold out!

Blimey. Where do you hang out? The middle of the M25?

Thanks for the info

P

The most important thing for you to do is see your doctor and he will log the injury.

A typical case such as yours will take about 2 years to resolve. You will probably be checked 3 or so times by a totally independant doctor.

The £3k is for pain, distress and discomfort.

If the accident results in loss of job or income, that will be extra.

My Daughter in Law got £12k after 3 years.

That was on the basis of six months bad pain and intermittent pain for the rest of her life. She did not suffer any loss of income. The pain is becoming less intense as time goes by.

So it all depends on the severity of the pain, how long it will last and has it affected your livelyhood. Do not accept the first offer. MY D I L held back for 3 months and the offer went from £9 to £12k.

Regards

Mick

A slightly different view.

The job of your NHS GP is to look after your health and give you appropriate treatment. If you wish to see him/her purely to log your injury, and at intervals afterwards so its progress is monitored and recorded solely for the claim to be processed then they should (and can) charge you a fee for those consultations. They can then take more time and produce a detailed record for your insurer. The standard brief consultation (and note entry that will result) is unlikely to be of great help when you try to claim.

It is a hazy area, but much abused by insurers and complainants. It is not the job if the NHS to act as a facilitator for the compensation industry.

Bruce

I agree with Bruce. I had a lowish speed shunt (even so my car was a write off) which hurt for a few days so I saw my GP for advice to prevent any long term damage. I was not going to pursue compensation because I didn't want to add to the NHS burden or rising insurance premiums. I was all set to let it go, then two things happened. The guy denied that the accident had even happened (plonker), and my wife started having severe pain which she still gets intermittently 3 years later. I received £1250 which I thought was ok for a few days discomfort/hassle. My wife's case is still being pursued and I expect the compensation to be more in line with the figures others have mentioned.

The compensation culture that has developed towards the NHS itself I find more disturbing. The NHS does not have insurance so any payouts come from funds that would otherwise be used for patient care. So if a person has suffered significant loss e.g affected their ability to earn a living due to NHS negligence, then fair enough, but otherwise some other person is going to have delays in their treatment to pay for it.

Ambulance chasers

It would appear that much of the change towards a "compensation culture" is as a result of the introduction of "no win, no fee" conditional fee arrangements. For many it has mean that they are more likely to pursue a claim because they feel it will cost them nothing (not quite true). This has been exacerbated by claims companies springing up (and then un-springing).

Sadly, the upshot is one of rising insurance premia in all areas, particularly private motor insurance.

However, the point is that, notwithstanding the massive number of spurious (read: "fraudulent") claims, there is no reason why a legitimate claim should not be brought. In all likelihood the insureres will not pass it to their lawyers but, instead, choose to settle.

Quantum for claims is set according to various rules, so it is important to log properly any missed work, extent and severity of discomfort, prevention from carrying out other activities, etc.

P, if you have legal cover as part of your insurance, speak to your insurers and provide them with all relevant information. If not, visit a decent solicitor who knows what s/he's doing. Hope it all works out and that you're fighting fit soon.

As it happens the anti inflamatories are woorking and I'm not as leaden but my neck and back hurt more. Groan.

Thanks for the advice Bruce. I'll bear your comments in mind.

I've always railed against the Ambulance Chasing mentality myself but how much have I paid into the system over the years?
I've had one operation, an apendectomy - and that was only done on the NHS because I was diagnosed with peritonitis and rushed into Hospital immediately. I only ever go to see a GP if I'm at deaths door. I've had BUPA and paid for BUPA for the past 20 years or so and never ever used it. And what about the ludicrous amounts paid out by the MOD?

"A soldier recently received £387,000 for “negligent treatment of warts”. Has the world gone mad? Who's paying for it all? Us?The taxpayer?

Many years ago a cousin of mine had an epidural go wrong. She's spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair as a direct result and she didn't receive as much compensation as someone who had a wart? The Armed Farces. What a Farce.

So why shouldn't Joe Public have the same level of compensation?

If the case is there. Then I'm all for it.

Times have changed

P

Tom

My employer uses a Traffic Management Company to deal with these matters and I'm currently progressing things.

Thanks for the kind words

P

Speaking of not being able to carry out other activities. How frustrating can you imagine it is to take delivery of a new guitar that you've waited an age on to arrive from the States and and then not be in a position to be able to do anything other than gaze at the damnn thing?
The Law of the Sod is running riot at the moment.
I'm off back to bed.


P

"Speaking of not being able to carry out other activities. How frustrating can you imagine it is to take delivery of a new guitar that you've waited an age on to arrive from the States and and then not be in a position to be able to do anything other than gaze at the damnn thing?"

If you are serious about claiming (which you should be -- being in an accident that was clearly someone else's fauly you deserve to be recompensed for your injury and it's noting to do with "amublance chasing" and spurious claims) then keeping a diary or notes of this sort of thing can be a good idea. This sort of thing will get factored into the amount of any settlement and courts and lawyers like having facts recorded at the time rather than later recollections.

Although this is a serious point, naturally you can lay it all on a bit think if you want.

"April 2nd: Had really great conversation with Mrs P about the excitement of our forthcoming paragliding holiday in the Andes. Then suddenly I remembered. "But I can't. Not with my neck...." and my face fell. At least as far as it can these days without white hot bolts of agony ripping through my body.

"Don't worry darling", she said, "I still love you despite not being able to have our dream holiday together becuase of your neck hurt in that terrible accident about which you still wake up in the night screaming "No, No, Brake you fool!" while checking an imaginiary rear view mirror"

Patrick said "Instead of Insurers being responsible for personal injury claims, Injury could be assessed and compensation agreed without apportioning blame"

Oddly if the other guy is not insured that's exactly what happens. It becomes a criminal act and you get to clain via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

Or at least you did when I was 14 after a mate of mine claimed for being in an accident when he riding in a car stolen by another 14 year-old.

Matthew

...get yourself sorted out; a few sessions with a good chiropractor now will save you a lot of pain (literally) a few years hence.

Of course you should claim for the cost...but its small beer compared with doing-away with aches, pains and stiffness.

I don't want to add to the pessimism but I ended up driving through hedge into a field to avoid hitting a child that ran out into the road from a parked car. That was 20 years ago.

I still get occasional pain in my lower left arm which feels like it is "sunk inside the bone". The standard docs could only perscribe pain killers when it was a much more frequent occurence right after the accident.

I went to an Osteopath (in those days they were viewed as "quacks" by the medical proffession). He immediately diagnosed that the cause of the lower arm pain was originating in my kneck without being told about the "whiplash". He treated it by localised manipulation of my spine in the neck region and it worked a hellava lot better than the doc's pain killers.

The pain is a very rare occurence now but I visit the osteopath when it happens and voila more of the same treatment does the job.

regards
GEOFF

Thanks for the laugh Mathew

I'm off back to the docs tonight Martin.

Getting a bit bothered with the back pain even with CoProxomol.

Typing whilst lying on the floor isn't too easy either!

I'm off for another gaze...


P

Isn't She Lovely?


P

Only I can't bloody well pick her up!

So back in the box she goes.


P

Christ yes go for it with all haste. As has already been said make comprehensive and details notes of everyhting pertaining to the accident, all ailments in the following 6-12 months following the accident, no matter how remote they may seem to you, and keep all receipts and note of all expenses incurred. I would advise to keep a notebook and make a digital backup, to make your solcitor's job easier and hopefully expedite the settlement of the matter. The fairly hefty insurance premiums in this country have been milked in no small part by bogus claimants, so it is your duty as a legitimate claimant to redress the balance.

The Motor Insurers Bureau covers uninsured drivers and I think that they are funded largely by our premiums

One man's compensation is another man's insurance premium.

P

Get that guitar back out of the box, play 'My Generation' loudly and finish with a serious axe-man flail of the guitar, smashing it repeatedly on the carpet. This will be perfect physio for your neck.

Bruce, ever helpful

Geoff I'll be requesting to see a specialist privately right away. The thought of permanent damage is bloody scary.

P

i know that I'm breaking some commandment or other but don't think for one minute that I don't totally covet that axe. Gorgeous. If it was cherry red that would be me hammering down your door and ringing your bell.

Mick - The guy in the white van - a Mercedes Sprinter - y'know the ones you see in the outside lane doing 120MPH all day long? - was in a company vehicle and he's admitted responsibility.

Bruce - if only. IF Only.

P