What happens next?

[kira000]

Some of you may remember i had an accident in Jan, where a lorry pulled into my lane and hit me, resulting in ongoing neck pain and headaches from the accident.
I have legal cover with my insurers, so have had the motor claim bit and the legal claim both ongoing. My lot are both quite insistent that i am not at fault, and are trying to make the 3rd party admit liability.

Spoke to my solicitor yesterday, who said they are about to write to the 3rd party insurers, and ask them to make an offer to settle, or they will start court proceedings.

I get the gist of what that all means, but realistically, are they likely to settle(do people bluff)? And what is the process with making an offer, will it be a silly one, will i be asked my opinion? And do the solicitors get a cut of it, or is that negotiated separately?

I could ask the solicitor, but he is the worlds droniest man, and i just cant bear it!

[hc4361]

It's very early days. Two years or more is not unusual for personal injury claims. You will get the whole of the offer.

[woozer]

Hard to be specific here - some insurance companies will argue it wasnt their clients fault until they are blue in the face and then give in the minute court action is threatened or started - but I did not see your original post so do not know your circumstances.

Once liability is admitted there is a tariff that is applied to many injury claims - so let your solicitor negotiate he will know what is reasonable in law but no settlement should be agreed without your input. Costs should not be taken out of your settlement.

Personal injury claims can take a long time to settle if the injury is likely to cause long term problems or deterioration in health etc etc - but if the Third party eventually admit 100% liability then there is no reason why you could not ask for an interrim payment at some point - with a final settlement to be agreed once the full extent of the impact of your injury is known. Brace yourself, play some nice music and have a proper conversation with "Mr Droney" he is the only onewith all the facts relating to you. Good Luck

[BertiWooster]

Whether or not the 3rd party insurer admits liability , ( even if court proceedings are issued ) will depend on who they view the negligent party to be .

Different insurers/defendants will not all agree , one way or the other , given the same set of accident circumstances .

I agree , without knowing what your and the other party's full account of the accident circumstaces is or seeing the locus ( accident location ) , or knowing whether or not there are any independent witnesses ; it is very difficult to give an opinion as to who is liable .
The other side may be arguing contributory negligence , going on the very brief allegation you have stated in your question .

However , how quickly liability is sorted out will depend in part on how pro-active your solicitor is .
If he/she is confident that the other party is wholly to blame , then he/she could make what is known as a part 36 offer to deal with the claim on a 100 % liability basis , in your favour .
Indeed , if medical eveidence has been finalised and agreed upon , your solicitor could also make a part 36 offer for damages ; at the same time

The response from the other insurer should give you a fairly accurate sense as to how they ( the other insurer intends to proceed )

Your solicitor Is obliged to inform you of the contents of any offer made by the other side , advise you on the offer , and take your instructions on the offer .

[kira000]

Thanks for the replies, Thats helpful.
I guess its a wait and see. I am encouraged by the fact my renewal just came through today, and they havent taken any years off my NCB despite the fact the other driver hasnt yet accepted liability, whereas the only other accident i had, which wasnt sorted before my insurance renewed, they took the 2 years, and said they would give them back if liability was later accepted.

I shall bite the bullet and keep asking for updates from my solicitor.