Insurance offer

D.R cowboy

Last June I was driving down the N11 and basically some "howiya" ran into the back of my 09 GTI golf and made bits of my boot ....... typical:rolleyes:......anyways the compensation for the car has been deal with and that matter is closed.

Yesterday I received a letter from the Insurance company offering 8,000 euro's for the damages caused to my neck and lower & upper back caused by whiplash I received.

I felt this offer was made on the basis of what the injury boards D.R had wrote in his report and I felt the report was very weak and contain evidence of a bias nature....

My solicitor is out of the country playing golf,can you tell one what happens if I reject this offer and what happens? ....do I have to go to court???

In court if the judge decides the offer is acceptable ......... do I get to keepthe original offer or will that be off the table when I reject it .ie 8,000??

Any info will be duly oblige thanking you

JD24

D.R cowboy wrote: »

Yesterday I received a letter from the Insurance company offering 8,000 euro's for the damages caused to my neck and lower & upper back caused by whiplash I received.

I felt this offer was made on the basis of what the injury boards D.R had wrote in his report

Did you receive the offer from the Insurance Company or the Injuries Board??

If Injuries Board...

I would suggest you wait until your Solicitor returns. You have 28 days to accept the assessment. Your gonna be paying your solicitor either way so wait for him to return and get his advice.

If you reject the offer, the Injuries Board issues an Authorisation and your Solicitor can issue Civil Proceedings on your behalf (i.e. bring it to Court).

If the Judge awards you less than the Injuries Board assessment, you could end up with an Order against you for both your own costs and the defendant's solicitors costs. That would pretty much wipe out any award you would get! Not 100% sure how it works if your awarded the same amount e.g. in your case €8000. Think the above applies again.

Best to speak to your solicitor.

PCPhoto

speak to your solicitor

depending on the extent of your injuries I would say its at the lower end of the scale (I work in the Civil Court and hear plenty of claims similar to yours - depending on the extent of the damage done and recovery time - I assume your injuries have healed up completely and you have returned to life as it was before)

if you have not returned to normal life and still suffer - then its not time to deal with the matter, of course your solicitor will advise you on this.

tommy21

JD24 wrote: »

Did you receive the offer from the Insurance Company or the Injuries Board??

If Injuries Board...

I would suggest you wait until your Solicitor returns. You have 28 days to accept the assessment. Your gonna be paying your solicitor either way so wait for him to return and get his advice.

If you reject the offer, the Injuries Board issues an Authorisation and your Solicitor can issue Civil Proceedings on your behalf (i.e. bring it to Court).

If the Judge awards you less than the Injuries Board assessment, you could end up with an Order against you for both your own costs and the defendant's solicitors costs. That would pretty much wipe out any award you would get! Not 100% sure how it works if your awarded the same amount e.g. in your case €8000. Think the above applies again.

Best to speak to your solicitor.

Interesting question. I am in the same boat as you (had accident not caused by me, with solicitor representing). Sent off the forms a few week ago so could be months before hearing but the one thing my solicitor said is that it is highly unusual for an insurance company to contact you when they know you are being represented. Don't do anything until you speak to your solicitor - in fact you can't anyway or shouldn't as you will be breaking your contract with him which you signed (I assumed) that would have stated he has permission to act on your behalf (that last part is guesswork, stands to be corrected:P)

I imagine your solicitor might bump it up a notch outside of court, they always come in with a lower offer, just like with damage to cars you can always get them up another bit. Other times the insurance company might look after the solicitor fees (for instance if he has 6 cases against the same company), leaving you with a bigger chunk, then if you had to pay your solicitor from your own pocket.

eagle_&_bear

Do not accept this offer until you speak to your solicitor.

If you accept it at this stage, it is classed as full and final, so write back to them and say that your solicitor is due to return on X date and you will advise them then once you have had the benefit of legal advice

D.R cowboy

eagle_&_bear wrote: »

Do not accept this offer until you speak to your solicitor.

If you accept it at this stage, it is classed as full and final, so write back to them and say that your solicitor is due to return on X date and you will advise them then once you have had the benefit of legal advice

I hope he comes back thanks for the advice......lads/girls .....I will take all of your advice

Just for the record I was in the right ......and the offer was made by the injury board Ireland just clarify

I will await his arrival.. thanks

Piratez

Yes I would agree too and strongly advise that you wait for your solicitor to return and get his/her advice before proceeding

eagle_&_bear

D.R cowboy wrote: »

I hope he comes back thanks for the advice......lads/girls .....I will take all of your advice

Just for the record I was in the right ......and the offer was made by the injury board Ireland just clarify

I will await his arrival.. thanks

That is no problem at all. You have 28days to accept or reject the offer, and if no acceptance is sent in during that time period, they will consider that you rejected it so dont worry.

You should ring the solicitors firm where your solicitor is and explain to them the situation and that you need to speak to someone. If there is more than 1 solicitor there, speak to another in that firm and give yourself peace of mind.

Also get the advice of your solicitor and see if 8,000 is appropriate for the injuries/damage you sustained. In general, certain insurance companies (and I wont mention names) will offer small money to intice you to go away (simply put) so while 8,000 is good money, if the injuries you sustained (if any) effected your ability to work, your earning capacity, etc then 8,000 is not as great as it looks. Also take into account damage to your car and any medical examinations you have had to undergo - factor everything in.

I wish you the best.