Hi,
I have finally got an offer for my personal injury from my accident last August. The insurance company has offered £1600 and I wondered how and if it is possible to negotiate. What do I need to prove to get more money? Anyone got any advice? Thanks for your help.
Raquib
Asa general principle, always reject the first settlement offer from an insurance company but do it in a way that you can always fall back to it rather than “burning your bridges”.
I hope you are getting legal advice on this (you need it) so get your solicitor to do the work. All the legal fees can be claimed back separately from any compensation.
What injury did you sustain?
Well done for getting it sorted so quickly, I’m still in a settlement claim nearly four years latter.
I accepted the first offer because I didnt even intend to claim any personal injuries when I contacted Rider Support after my accident in December. They sorted everything with a really good outcome for me.
If you think you have sustained injuries that are “worth” more, you will need to go for a medical assessment to prove it and they will also want a report from your GP or a copy of your medical records to check that these injuries are new and that you saw a doctor after the accident.
Its definitely worthwhile having a good legal team advising you as it will drag on for ages - really depends whether you expect to get much more.
Good luck
Yes you can and i did a few weeks ago and the 2nd offer they gave me was a lot better.
My solicitors said to take the 2nd offer.
Your solicitor should tell you whether or not the offer is right for the injury, if its far short of what it should be then they’ll tell you whether you should reject it and press for more.
This is based on previous cases valuations.
agrees, your solicitor will know whether its best you accept or can claim more, all depends on the circunstances of your accident, evidence, injury’s, who’s at fault, witnesses etc. 
Ive rejected the first offer on my pa claim (broken fib & tib, plus burns, non fault bike accident in Sept 2007), have got to go back to the insurance doctors and be reviewed as im still in pain/ seem to have nerve damage, got legal cover with my ins so im using the solicitor to help the process.
agreed with above, all insurance companies have a PA claim limit for each thing… Like I sustained a nonbreak injury but could not walk for a few days…
I got the limit £750 had it broken limit was say £2k etc so check to see what the limits are as well…
I didn’t break anything but badly bruised both knees and also had a stiff/sore neck as a result. I was on crutches for 3 weeks and couldn’t walk without knees swelling and stiffening for 5-6months.
I’ve got a solicitor and they told me the injury is worth £2k and I should go with that as a counter offer. I’m happy go with their advice but wondered how long the process will drag on for then. I’ve already had a medical examination done.
Can take anywhere between a few months to a few years, my accident was in 2007, i had a offer made last year but turned it down due to issues still with my leg , mine could take another 3 years to complete
it all depends on how much you trust your solicitor
you can reject whatever you like! its your claim! but civil law is based on what is “reasonable” to the average joe and you need to bear that in mind
if you want to research and see what prices the law prescribes for cases and as a guide on injuries (“Quantum”), go to a good library with a Law section and have a look at: “Quantum of Damages in Personal Injury and Fatal Accident Claims, Volume I, Special Edition” published by Sweet & Maxwell, Edited by David Kemp, ISBN 0421366001.
i doubt you will be able to take it out as it’s like a £400 book, but it should be in the reference section and breaks down the types of accidents and what can affect the price.
then you can go back to your solicitor on an informed basis and see what they say (bear in mind there could be cases published after the book was last edited which change things slightly, but this is a good place to start).
Now that is advice. Sometimes I become a bit blah blah about visiting this forum, but occasionally you get input from someone who really knows their stuff. Thanks for this.
that book is very good
what you should do is ask your solicitor for a photocopy of the relevant pages which cover your main injuries - its very informative
Cheers for that, great advice. I’ll go have a scan of the book.
