Change is coming to the world of Personal Injury Compensation
By Administrator
15 June 2011
As you may have heard, change is coming to the world of personal
injury compensation.
Earlier this year an in depth report was published by Lord
Justice Jackson providing a review of the level of civil litigation
costs, which has prompted much consultation and debate involving
the Ministry of Justice and members the legal profession. It has
been widely reported that there is a new process coming into place
involving claims arising out of road traffic accidents where the
likely compensation for personal injury is between £1000 and
£10000. Many of the claims that we deal with at Lamb & Co fall
within this category. Therefore, we are busy getting ready for the
introduction of this new claims process which is due to take effect
from 30th April 2010.
The majority of reports in the media have concentrated on the
costs implications to solicitors and their practices and the
logistics of incorporating the new process into our current system
of working. Whilst we, as a firm, are of course making sure that we
are ready to start using the new system, we feel it is important
that you, our current and potential clients, are aware of how the
new process will affect you.
One thing we should mention from the start is that the new rules
and procedures will not affect any claims that are already in
progress. Therefore, if you already have a current claim being
dealt with by Lamb & Co your claim will continue to be dealt
with in the same, smooth and efficient manner. However, it is
important for you to be aware of the new process in case you are
unfortunate enough to have another accident in the future and
require our assistance once again.
The overriding aim of the new process is to streamline the
existing claims process in order to deal with personal injury
claims more quickly and efficiently. Whilst we already pride
ourselves on the speed and efficiency with which we deal with
personal injury claims, we welcome any changes which will enable us
to streamline the process even further.
Under the current system, third party insurers have 21 days in
which to acknowledge the initial letter of claim which we send to
them by post at the beginning of a claim and then a potential 3
months in which to investigate liability and provide us with their
decision as to whether or not they will accept responsibility on
behalf of the negligent driver. Whilst we can use some of this time
to substantiate your claim for personal injury by getting you
medically examined and collecting evidence in relation to any
financial losses you have suffered, we cannot take your claim to
the next step towards settlement until this period of almost 4
months has elapsed.
Under the new process, the letter of claim and other major
pieces of correspondence will be sent electronically to the third
party insurance company through a secure electronic portal. This
enables the insurers to receive the correspondence and have details
of your claim straight away. The insurers then have 15 working days
in which to make their decision in respect of liability. In other
words, they must tell us within this timescale whether they intend
to dispute liability or whether they are happy to accept that the
accident was caused by the negligence of the third party.
Once the 15th working day arrives there are three possible
outcomes. The insurers can admit liability, deny liability or fail
to respond at all. If liability is denied or if the insurers fail
to respond at all, the claim will "exit" the new process and we
will continue to deal with the claim as we currently do. However,
If liability is admitted then the claim remains within the new
process and we will potentially be in a position to attempt
settlement of your claim within a much shorter timescale. Once we
have gathered all of the necessary evidence in support of your
claim we will send it to the third party insurers with an offer in
settlement of your claim. Again this will be done electronically to
save time and to eliminate the risk of vital evidence going missing
in the post. Under the new process, once the third party insurer
has made an offer in settlement of your claim, even if it is too
low and is rejected by you, they will have to pay you that amount
within 14 days by way of an interim payment whilst we continue
through the process to secure the best possible final settlement
for you.
Whilst the processes may be changing, our commitment to our
clients to obtain the maximum amount of compensation as quickly as
possible remains unchanged. We will still continue to deal with
your claim on a No Win, No Fee basis. If you have had an accident,
whether in a car, at work, or in a public place, please give us a
call on 0800 085 1755 for free, impartial advice on making a claim.
Please also visit our website www.lamb-law.co.uk to see what some
our previous clients have to say.
