Personal Injury - Settlement Advice

spen666

W1 wrote:

....

If he felt adequately compensated, who are we (or you) to say what his claim was "worth"?

Clearly he did not feel adequately compensated - hence why he has rejected the offer.

also OP was sensible enough to realise he needed help in dealing with his claim and valuing it- he sought that help- he was sensible enough to realise the limitatioon of his knowledge


Are you suggesting people should not seek help to establish what something is worth if they do not possess the specialist skills to value it? Their lay mans valuation may be far from accurate and may cost them £thousands. Are they not better served by learning what it is worth properly?

What is the intrinsic value of a broken arm? Impossible to say. We've tried to put a figure on that through court decisions and analysis, but that's still based on the fact that it is actually impossible to "value" pain and injury. We can only compensate for it. And if the injured party feels that the compensation is sufficient, then "justice" as such is served.

See above - the OP did not feel he was adequately compensated after learning what such a claim could be worth.

Interestingly the counter offer was not for a couple of % more, but was for 48% more IIRC. That suggests a substantial undervaluation by the original offer

If the OP never sought advice, and went through the rest of his life content with the settlement offer, that would be bad because he could have got more, even though he was happy with what he got? Is that what you're saying?

I have not said any of what you put in the last paragraph. Neither have I implied it or suggested it.

Your approach assumes the OP will never realise he was entitled to far more than he got. He can't go back later and say "please sir, I want some more". Once compensation is awarded that is the end of it. To avoid being in this situation I am saying the OP did the right thing and sought advice from an expert on the value of the claim


My point in all this is clear, namely:

The OP has done the right thing by seeking help to the true value of his complicated injuries. He cannot be criticised for initially undervaluing his injuries before he sought expert advice

DonDaddyD

W1 wrote:

spen666 wrote:

so you can't / don't know how to value these injuries.

The OP doesn't know how to value these injuries. So he takes the sensible course of action and goes to see an expert in valuing such claims.

the expert will amongst other things, be able to interpret the medical evidence and the prognosis. He will be able to value the claim using a combination of experience and reference to relevant decisions of the courts in similar cases. He will also, probably refer to Kemp & Kemp on damages.

The courts award compensation for injuries. As you ssay, it is not possible to auction a broken arm, thus making it even more difficult to a lay person to know what a claim is worth.

If the OP thought compensation was worth £100 and accepted that much, then found out later his claim was actually worth £100,000 what would you be saying to him? "Tough luck, you should have sought help in valuing your claim?"

If he felt adequately compensated, who are we (or you) to say what his claim was "worth"?

'We' aren't anyone. A professional armed with informed knowledge and experience will be able to advise what is the an appropriate amount of compensation. They will make the suggestion based on the precedent set by past examples.

What is the intrinsic value of a broken arm? Impossible to say. We've tried to put a figure on that through court decisions and analysis, but that's still based on the fact that it is actually impossible to "value" pain and injury. We can only compensate for it. And if the injured party feels that the compensation is sufficient, then "justice" as such is served.

Justice can only prevail if ignorance has been eliminated and all parties are informed.

Therefore it is not enough to say that the injured pary feels they have been compensated sufficiently. They need to know they have, based on plausible rational. So professional advice is sort past cases are looked at a precedent set and adhered to.

If the OP never sought advice, and went through the rest of his life content with the settlement offer, that would be bad because he could have got more, even though he was happy with what he got? Is that what you're saying?

Yes but the recommendation is that in doubt you should always seek advice, so that in the grand scheme of things you get what you a really entitled to, aren't taken advantage of or marginalised.

mrc1

Greg66 wrote:

BigMat wrote:

His lawyer (who is the expert and who knows the full facts of the case) thinks not,

This bit slightly puzzles me. IP plainly had a view as to what the injury was worth. An offer comes in which is a lot higher, and then the lawyer says he can go higher still.

I infer from that that the lawyer hadn't (pre offer) advised IP as to the value of his claim (or perhaps changed his mind dramatically, but the tenor of IP's post doesn't really support that).

I would have thought that the value of the claim (even on a ballpark basis) ought to have been discussed early doors.

My experience of decent personal injury solicitors is that they don't discuss the value of a claim until very late on in the process, on the basis that they do not want to tell the client "Your claim should be worth x" and then receive an offer of x-lots as that would be misleading. A proper assessment can only really be made after medical reports have been provided and any treatment carried out (which is the reason the process takes so long in most cases), as prior to this point the solicitor cannot judge the severity of the injury.

Of course this differs in the case of claims handling outfits who try to sell their services by having a little body diagram that you hover your mouse over to find out how much you get per damaged body part.....

W1

Spen,

The OP said "it's a figure that is higher than I was expecting. Significantly higher if I'm honest.". He only rejected it after seeking advice - initially he was happy, right? There hasn't be a counter offer made yet, just what his solicitor has suggested he may or may not get.

What you've failed to do is properly address my question - if the injured party is content, who is to say that he should have got more or less, on the basis that "valuing" an injury is intrinsically impossible? Surely that comes down to what the individual thinks is "fair" to him?

And by the way, I'm not critcising him for seeking advice, but I wouldn't criticise him had he not sought such advice and just accepted what he thought was a fair offer.

What are you suggesting then? Because it reads like you think it's wrong for someone to accept an offer that is higher than they expected, simply on the basis that they could get more. My stance is that if they are content, then what's wrong with that?

il_principe

Dudes, why not just chill the f*ck out. 8)

greg66_tri_v2.0

mrc1 wrote:

My experience of decent personal injury solicitors is that they don't discuss the value of a claim until very late on in the process, on the basis that they do not want to tell the client "Your claim should be worth x" and then receive an offer of x-lots as that would be misleading. A proper assessment can only really be made after medical reports have been provided and any treatment carried out (which is the reason the process takes so long in most cases), as prior to this point the solicitor cannot judge the severity of the injury.

Ah. That explains a bit.

But it still doesn't explain why (if it is the case) the solicitor didn't offer any view as to value prior to the offer coming in, but then immediately said "I can get them higher than that".

It makes me wonder whether the "I can get them higher" is based on a reasoned view of the value of the injury, or more simply the mantra that you never accept the first offer.

If the latter, then this talk of the expert view of the solicitor in question may be a little over-complimentary.

il_principe

Greg66 wrote:

It makes me wonder whether the "I can get them higher" is based on a reasoned view of the value of the injury, or more simply the mantra that you never accept the first offer.

I suspect this is the case. We are simply playing the bargaining game.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Il Principe wrote:

Dudes, why not just chill the f*ck out. 8)

Don't blame them! You gave them the ball to play with...

W1

Greg66 wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Dudes, why not just chill the f*ck out. 8)

Don't blame them! You gave them the ball to play with...

It's an interesting topic - I for one am "chilled" about it [shudder].

spen666

W1 wrote:

What are you suggesting then? Because it reads like you think it's wrong for someone to accept an offer that is higher than they expected, simply on the basis that they could get more. My stance is that if they are content, then what's wrong with that?

I am suggesting that where someone doesn't know what the claim is worth.
Better to know what its worth than risk being disappointed later when finding out it was worth more

gtvlusso

Il Principe wrote:

Dudes, why not just chill the f*ck out. 8)

get back to your wedding planning you.......:-)

UndercoverElephant

I think I can make this simple. As it stands, all the money will be going on a wedding. If he holds out for more, he may get to buy a fancy new bike as well.

I'd hold out for more.

greg66_tri_v2.0

UndercoverElephant wrote:

I think I can make this simple. As it stands, all the money will be going on a wedding. If he holds out for more, that will go on the wedding as well.

Fixed dat fer yers.

Kieran_Burns

DonDaddyD wrote:

W1 wrote:

spen666 wrote:

so you can't / don't know how to value these injuries.

The OP doesn't know how to value these injuries. So he takes the sensible course of action and goes to see an expert in valuing such claims.

the expert will amongst other things, be able to interpret the medical evidence and the prognosis. He will be able to value the claim using a combination of experience and reference to relevant decisions of the courts in similar cases. He will also, probably refer to Kemp & Kemp on damages.

The courts award compensation for injuries. As you ssay, it is not possible to auction a broken arm, thus making it even more difficult to a lay person to know what a claim is worth.

If the OP thought compensation was worth £100 and accepted that much, then found out later his claim was actually worth £100,000 what would you be saying to him? "Tough luck, you should have sought help in valuing your claim?"

If he felt adequately compensated, who are we (or you) to say what his claim was "worth"?

'We' aren't anyone. A professional armed with informed knowledge and experience will be able to advise what is the an appropriate amount of compensation. They will make the suggestion based on the precedent set by past examples.

What is the intrinsic value of a broken arm? Impossible to say. We've tried to put a figure on that through court decisions and analysis, but that's still based on the fact that it is actually impossible to "value" pain and injury. We can only compensate for it. And if the injured party feels that the compensation is sufficient, then "justice" as such is served.

Justice can only prevail if ignorance has been eliminated and all parties are informed.

Therefore it is not enough to say that the injured pary feels they have been compensated sufficiently. They need to know they have, based on plausible rational. So professional advice is sort past cases are looked at a precedent set and adhered to.

If the OP never sought advice, and went through the rest of his life content with the settlement offer, that would be bad because he could have got more, even though he was happy with what he got? Is that what you're saying?

Yes but the recommendation is that in doubt you should always seek advice, so that in the grand scheme of things you get what you a really entitled to, aren't taken advantage of or marginalised.

Has someone hacked DDD's account?

fossyant

Never accept first offer.

What IP was expecting probably wasn't the 'going rate' and it's his solicitor who knows what the damages are worth.

So long as you are fully healed, go for it.

My December 2008 off now needs shoulder surgery, possibly two ops (decompression and the a/c joint) but that puts the healing process months longer again...... looking at maybe another year before it's sorted.