We received an online enquiry form this week from a lady who wrote “My accident claim settled a long time ago but I am still having problems. Please let me know if there is anything I can do?” When we spoke to her it transpired that her claim had settled over two years ago. She has widespread ongoing pain which limits almost every aspect of her life, yet her claim was settled on the advice of her solicitors for only £5,000.00. She was able to email to us a copy of some of her case papers that she had retained. The issue was quite clear. Her solicitors had failed to challenge the opinion of a medical expert who, unable to explain her symptoms, had simply taken the easy option of stating that, in his opinion, they could not be related to her accident. This was despite the fact that she had no history of similar symptoms before the accident.
As we discussed in an earlier article, her claim against the original defendant cannot be reopened and the only option that she now has is to bring a claim against her solicitor. Sadly, this has become an all too common story since claims companies started to dominate the personal injury market. If your claim is ongoing, always check that the person acting for you is an experienced specialist solicitor. Do not be afraid to ask for details of their qualifications and check them out on the Law Society’s website – if they are not listed, perhaps you should ask questions!
As for our recent enquiry, we have written to the lady’s solicitors, putting them on notice of a claim against them.
If you are in a similar position and would like to discuss your options with one of our specialist solicitors, please call 01225 462871 or complete our online enquiry form.