Accident & Compensation

Hi people,

 Always been a lurker for the last couple of years but thought i would register and start to talk to some fellow riders, but unfortunatly this is my first post.

 I'm hoping to get some advice or wise words of wisdom from others who have been through the same as i seem to be at lost roads shall we say.

 I will explain but please bare with me as this was a while ago now and memory is not too good, could be the stress who knows.

 Got taken off my bike back in early 2004 by a taxi driver who jumped a red light, i hit the side at approx 20/30mph and flew over the bonnet and down the road.

 Luckily big built chap i managed to get away without breaking anything but i now have several problems with my neck and lower back and have been confirmed many time with MRI Scans which i have had enough off.

 I have suffered a severe whiplash injury as well which has greatly disrupted my life, even nearly 5 years on i still struggle with things like watching TV or being a great reader struggle reading for more than 10 minutes. I could write a list but trying to keep it all short. I also suffer severe migrains and sickess on average of 2 times a week or they last for 2 1/2 days. If i havnt got a migrain i have this constant fuzzyness in my head really hard to describe.

 NHS keep me waiting every 3/6 months for treatment which is a nightmare!

 Apart from being hounded and under survaliance my life has and still continues to be a missery, and i have been very depressed and stressed out to the point of self harming and suicidle thoughts thanks to all the above.

 Life has changed from having everything to losing all, which included moving back to parents which was the last resort and loosing my trade as a self employed HGV mechanic which i will never return to due to my lower back problems.

 Over the last 6 months have really been trying to get my life back on track with the help of my lovely partner and wife to be, just trying to get some normality back in my life and hopefully returning to a volunteer job to give me that much needed boost.

 My solicitor seems to have given up and now seem useless and asking me to consider making a Part 36 offer of £39k.

 Don't seem bad you may say but after paying back benefits which i have been on to help me live this leaves £16k, then theres debts to pay off which then leaves me with £3k.

 I really feel like telling my solicitor to stuff it all, i've been through hell for the last nearly 5 years, or i may even take my case to another solicitor. I really dont know which way to turn.

 Does anyone still think £39k is a fair amount as i simply dont have a clue?

 I might let is all goto court.

 I might of missed a few things, but if i remember i will let you all know, sorry memory isnt too great since the accident. I dont know if this is purely stress or the bang to the head, no one seems to know.

 If anyone has been in the same boat or have advise i would be really grateful from you fellow bikers.

 Many thanks for listening.

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"Force has no place where there is need of skill" Herodotus 450BC :burnout:

Sorry to hear about your problems and it's taken a long time to get this far. It doesn't seem like your solicitors advice is fair under the circumstances. Is it one of the solicitors who advertise a 'No Win - No Fee' service?

If he can get a payment I can only assume that the insurance company involved must have accepted that their client was liable. I'm sure any decent solicitor would be asking for an interim payment to relieve your financial distress. I think you should be looking for a new solicitor, although I've never been in a similar circumstance.

IMO. 

Hi and many thanks for the replies its appreciated.

Im still on the road to recovery but its taking so long which annoys the hell out of me at times but waiting for hospital treatment takes the time with waiting for appointments that take up to 6 months at a time.

Yes it was a specialized Motorcycle No Win - No Fee service at the time which was recommended to me. Now wish i went through my insurance company but at the time didnt know it was included until they told me but was all too late.

Liability was accepted a month after the accident which my solicitor did not tell me until a year ago but the Police told me 2 years after the accident when i reported Private Investigator activity.

Have asked for a interim payment on 2 occasions which seems to get avoided.

Seriously thinking about moving the case to another solicitor as said but dont really know how easy this is to be honest.

Tough one as the type of practice you're using a re a pain to get rid of. They usually dream up some bill you have to settle if you want to move the case.

You need to get some legal advice. Ring up any practice and tell them you need advice about moving a case to another practice as you are disasatisfied with they service you are receiving. They'll normally give you a free 30 minutes consultation.

Sit down and document the details of your case. Put as much detail as you can. Date of incident, dates you were in hospital, dates of any court appearances, copies of all correspondence, etc.

If you can get a file ready before seeing a solicitor they will have a better idea of how to proceed. It takes a bit of effort but it seems like your current solicitor has lost interest.

There appears to be two parts to this, firstly the accident & compensation and secondly the surveillance piece.

First off, you need to go back to the company under your legal expenses policy on the insurance; this situation is what it's for. Also, following AC's advice and speaking to a proper legal practice would help you get a clearer picture of what to do. The firm you are with are clearly disinterested in the case, as an admision of liability one month after the accident makes the payment process very simple, the fact this has run for 5 years is ridiculous / concerning.

Tbh, I'm not even sure that Part 36 offer is relevant, as the accident was before the launch of this type of offer, so Calderbank may be more relevant.

Secondly, the surveillance is an interesting one. A lot of the symptoms you describe are "psychological" and unlikely to be proven one way or the other. Sadly, there are a lot of scammers out there, so surveillance may be purely to check that you aren't faking it. By the same token, it might not even exist and be a remnant of your impaired memory (not an insult, just an observation).

I think that 5 years is plenty of time to resolve this situation, normally 2 years before legal proceedings start and then 12 - 18 months for a resolution.

You need to see the other sides paperwork, as I get the impression that they think you are "faking it" and have some evidence to support this, otherwise your solicitor would have commenced proceedings. The Part 36 suggestion may be a ruse so that he can get something out of the claim, as if it is disproved, then he gets nothing, if you accept even £100, then he gets all his fees paid.

Did you ever hear anyone say “That picture had better be banned, because I might look at it and it might be very damaging to me”

Many thanks for all the replies.

Im looking into other companies and looking up information on what some of you have said.