Your injury compensation experiences

kreyszig

ok so I originally wrote a big long spiel which I then removed because I thought I was about to get crucified.
I am basically asking for peoples experiences with payouts for cycling accidents. I am in the process of suing at the moment and despite already having a medical report done can not get a straight answer from my lawyer on even which ballpark my injury is in. The legal system divides injuries into 3 categories of minor/moderate/major and depending on who you talk to, something requiring surgery + metalwork is either moderate or major.

So if anyone has been through the process and can offer some insight into how their injury was classified I would really like to hear it. Hopefully it will be of interest to others to find out as well!

Yossie

I had to have a new head and received £9.50 and two packets of piggy feet.

I was actually a bit miffed off because I felt that the new head wasn't as good as the old head head, but at least it had a less pronounced frown (probably due to having had to put up with my deaf parents for less time than the old head).

HTH

Y

Redhog14

once got a cup of tea from the GF after I said I fell off and hurt myself.
Sorry didn't realise this was a serious question...

fossyant

Meh ?

Yup it takes a long time to sort - nearly 3 years for me and still not sorted. Still p'ing around with more medical reports - just awaiting my third (nearly £3k in medical reports now, this last one is £1.5k as my file is 2" thick).

Yossie

I think the edit from long story as first post to the shorter more succinct "meh" denotes the fact that he may have been phishing.

Just a guess like.

kreyszig

Yossie wrote:

I think the edit from long story as first post to the shorter more succinct "meh" denotes the fact that he may have been phishing.

Just a guess like.

well that's quite the demonstration of not understanding the term "phishing". You probably mean trolling. which I wasn't. After I saw your reply I foresaw more of the same and decided I couldn't be bothered.

I am genuinely interested to hear how people have gotten on and what they've recieved in payout for which injury...

fossyant

All cases vary, some are simple, e.g. whiplash - about £1-£1.5k with full recovery in 6 months.

Broken collar bone can be about £3k-£4k, with complete recovery.

It's complex, and is down to the individual's injury, recovery time and long term prognosis.

kreyszig

True. I was hoping people might be able to give details on how their injury was formally classified for some insight into how these bands of minor/moderate/major actually play out. we'll see I guess, I might re edit the first post.

thegreatdivide

In May I was hit by a car driving on the other side of the road. Smashed up radius, broken ulna and various rashes and bashes. Titanium plate + screws, 21 staples and a 7" scar.

Driver's insurance company have accepted full liability.

So far I've received approx £3.4k in bike and bits damage. They've offered an extra £500 for 'services' - trips to hospital, petrol, taxis, etc - this is for operation #1. I'm about to go in again on Monday for operation #2 so this will no doubt double. I'll then be assessed by an independent Fracture Specialist and after that my lawyer will quantify an injury claim. No idea what it'll be though.

I've been pretty fortunate to have a best mate who's a lawyer and he offered to do it on a no-win-no-fee basis.

kreyszig

Thanks for the info and good luck recovering!

bompington

Not sure about the formal classification, if your lawyer can't tell you how things are with your claim then perhaps you need a more helpful lawyer.
I was knocked off 4 years ago and had a lot of smashing up of the shoulder area, driver accepted liability instantly and I tried to avoid the whole ambulance chaser scene, but after eventually getting a feeble (£3600) offer from the insurers followed by an even feebler one (£3200) I felt that I had no choice. Eventually settled (just a couple of months ago i.e. 4 years later) for £12,500.
There are categories and standard scales but I think it comes down to your lawyer's bargaining skill as much as anything.

Frank the tank

fossyant wrote:

All cases vary, some are simple, e.g. whiplash - about £1-£1.5k with full recovery in 6 months.

Broken collar bone can be about £3k-£4k, with complete recovery.

It's complex, and is down to the individual's injury, recovery time and long term prognosis.

Like wot he sez!

There can be no settlement until the long term prognosis is agreed upon.

About eight/nine years ago I was knocked off my bike. I lost no pay or time off work, the repairs to my bike were about £600. My pay out was £3,000. More than happy with how things turned out.

mrushton

My partner got knocked off a couple of years back and ended up with £5k but out of that she ended up getting a new bike (Condor Tempo) albeit thro' Cyclescheme,a new back wheel (£100) and having some £200 of physio to redress her injured shoulder. The £5k was good but she'd rather have not found herself in the road after bouncing off a car after being hit by another

izza

Just settled my claim last month.

3 years after crash I got £3k. Had originally been offered £2.7k told them I would accept £3.5k straight away but they refused. So three years later we went to court, agreed £3k and paid legal expenses of £7.6k.

The brains (or legal advice) these insurance firms receive is mind boggling - No-one else (except possibly MP's when faced with an expenses claim form, would invest £7,600 in order to reduce £500 of expenditure.

bompington

izza wrote:

No-one else (except possibly MP's when faced with an expenses claim form, would invest £7,600 in order to reduce £500 of expenditure.

That's not the whole story - they must work on a statistical basis, being insurers after all, so they will reckon that for every case where they get burned by fighting it they will get a lot of others where they can either win in court, or at least intimidate/frustrate/bore a high enough proportion of people into settling for a lower sum than they might.

fossyant

I'll add a little about my on-going claim.

Knocked off on roundabout 3 years ago - Driver admitted liability.

Bumps bruises, very sore shoulder, sore back.

Back pain took about 18 months to clear up.

Shoulder - spent £2k out of my money on physio, back and forward for MRI scans/nerve tests. Eventually got my shoulder de-compressed 10 months ago. Still not 100%, in more pain, although mechanically better. I apparently had a subachromial decompression, some shaving done on the a/c joint and some repairs to my bicep sling (muscle). I'm left with pain when weight bearing (climbing/sprinting and lifting anything heavy - so no more honking up hills) and have nerve pain in left arm - burning and shooting pain. Now GP has been pumping me full of drugs (ranging from an anti depressant to an anti seizure drug - side effects apparently block nerve pain - the 'other' side effects are nasty though) and they haven't stopped the nerve pain - just made me very unwell for 4 months) - I now don't take them. Still waiting to see NHS Pain Specialist (again) but the private consultant recons my scalene muscles in my neck are causing much of the nerve grief to my brachial plexus (main nerves that run through shoulder).

Anyway, still paying for physio as and when I can fit it in.

Shoulder classed as a serious injury (£8k-£12k) for that alone, and we are trying to get a managed pain programme sorted out. I've already have two orthopaedic surgeon reports and now a pain specialists - these are about £3k in total, then add on 3 years of legal fees, and anything I might get - silly costs. Right at the start, my GP/physio said you need it decompressing - other side wouldn't budge (private surgery) so it took over two years to convince the Shoulder Surgeon to operate on the NHS - one issue being the fact I'm a fit cyclist - all over my records it says it must not hurt, even comments showing I was keen to get back on bike two weeks after the op.

So as to how much I might get, who knows. Had £3k so far which covers costs (travel/medical bills/bike damage) - what ever amount certainly isn't worth the pain and stress and long term issues, just because the driver wasn't looking, couldn't be ar$ed to slow down aproaching, and ploughed into me at 30 mph. Great isn't it. :evil:

izza

bompington wrote:

izza wrote:

No-one else (except possibly MP's when faced with an expenses claim form, would invest £7,600 in order to reduce £500 of expenditure.

That's not the whole story - they must work on a statistical basis, being insurers after all, so they will reckon that for every case where they get burned by fighting it they will get a lot of others where they can either win in court, or at least intimidate/frustrate/bore a high enough proportion of people into settling for a lower sum than they might.

Fair comment but they delegate the negotiations to the lawyers. So if the lawyers raise their predicted win percentages, insurance company remains blissfully unaware, are told to fight more cases and the legal eagles are kept relatively busier. It became painfully obvious that is what was happening on my case.

The downside for punters is that across the board we pay higher premiums and for those with a genuine claim, it takes a lot longer to get your lost earnings back (even if you have written proof and witnesses to those earnings).

kreyszig

fossyant wrote:

I'll add a little about my on-going claim.

Knocked off on roundabout 3 years ago - Driver admitted liability.

Bumps bruises, very sore shoulder, sore back.

Back pain took about 18 months to clear up.

Shoulder - spent £2k out of my money on physio, back and forward for MRI scans/nerve tests. Eventually got my shoulder de-compressed 10 months ago. Still not 100%, in more pain, although mechanically better. I apparently had a subachromial decompression, some shaving done on the a/c joint and some repairs to my bicep sling (muscle). I'm left with pain when weight bearing (climbing/sprinting and lifting anything heavy - so no more honking up hills) and have nerve pain in left arm - burning and shooting pain. Now GP has been pumping me full of drugs (ranging from an anti depressant to an anti seizure drug - side effects apparently block nerve pain - the 'other' side effects are nasty though) and they haven't stopped the nerve pain - just made me very unwell for 4 months) - I now don't take them. Still waiting to see NHS Pain Specialist (again) but the private consultant recons my scalene muscles in my neck are causing much of the nerve grief to my brachial plexus (main nerves that run through shoulder).

Anyway, still paying for physio as and when I can fit it in.

Shoulder classed as a serious injury (£8k-£12k) for that alone, and we are trying to get a managed pain programme sorted out. I've already have two orthopaedic surgeon reports and now a pain specialists - these are about £3k in total, then add on 3 years of legal fees, and anything I might get - silly costs. Right at the start, my GP/physio said you need it decompressing - other side wouldn't budge (private surgery) so it took over two years to convince the Shoulder Surgeon to operate on the NHS - one issue being the fact I'm a fit cyclist - all over my records it says it must not hurt, even comments showing I was keen to get back on bike two weeks after the op.

So as to how much I might get, who knows. Had £3k so far which covers costs (travel/medical bills/bike damage) - what ever amount certainly isn't worth the pain and stress and long term issues, just because the driver wasn't looking, couldn't be ar$ed to slow down aproaching, and ploughed into me at 30 mph. Great isn't it. :evil:

Thanks for the extra info, and ouch, sorry to hear you've had so much ongoing pain. And stress by the sounds of it. At least though you have driver details etc, I have read of so many hit and runs which must make it even worse.

I'm intrigued by "Shoulder classed as a serious injury" - was this decided by a medical report? I have a line in my medical report which explicitly states that my injury is "severe in nature", yet my lawyer won't commit to putting me in this class, so I'm a bit confused..how did you end up getting "classified", for want of a better word?

bompington

izza wrote:

bompington wrote:

izza wrote:

No-one else (except possibly MP's when faced with an expenses claim form, would invest £7,600 in order to reduce £500 of expenditure.

That's not the whole story - they must work on a statistical basis, being insurers after all, so they will reckon that for every case where they get burned by fighting it they will get a lot of others where they can either win in court, or at least intimidate/frustrate/bore a high enough proportion of people into settling for a lower sum than they might.

Fair comment but they delegate the negotiations to the lawyers. So if the lawyers raise their predicted win percentages, insurance company remains blissfully unaware, are told to fight more cases and the legal eagles are kept relatively busier. It became painfully obvious that is what was happening on my case.

The downside for punters is that across the board we pay higher premiums and for those with a genuine claim, it takes a lot longer to get your lost earnings back (even if you have written proof and witnesses to those earnings).

True - I was attempting to work out a rationale for the way they behave, not suggesting in any way that it is efficient, never mind moral.

fossyant

The ratings go minor, moderate, serious, severe.

I wouldn't take a one liner in a report as a classification. It's based upon recovery times, what's damaged and long term prognosis - so you'll have to wait !

Mine is serious, rather then severe - you wouldn't want a severe shoulder injury - loss of movement, paralysis, loss of grip/strength. Serious is where you don't heal within two years, have had surgery, and have damage to the brachial plexus.

Now this was the solicitor's reconning over the phone - we haven't had the third report in, and nor have we started negotiations.

There are guides on the web which give an idea of how your injury might be classed but you've got to add in everything (all injuries etc. etc)

kreyszig

thanks for the info. looks like it's a case of wait and see then, still! haha. oh well. I'll post here when(ever) I do find out!

kreyszig

a quick update for those interested.
you can purchase the JSB guidelines from amazon for about £20 and work it out yourself with some degree of accuracy..they aren't very verbose but I ended up coming up with a number very similar to that my solicitor did. (and a lot of the online guides seem to be taken directly from this book).
There are 3 categories for elbow injuries; severe, less severe, minor. As I have some restriction of movement I am at the bottom of the less severe range.
The barrister my case got sent to eventually also looked about 4 or 5 previous cases to come up with the final figure. I haven't settled yet so can't post numbers.

mroli

Run over on a Motorbike by a large lorry. Lorry's fault - it was turning right and the back end swung out over me and over the top of my motorbike - wrote off motorbike and luckily I managed to scramble free and only my right heel was run over.

Immediate operation in hospital, general anaesthetic, kept in overnight, released next day. Big scar on heel, still very sensitive (6 years on), get the ocassional twinge, but nothing too bad. £3.5k pay out after a year and a bit (including for MotorBike, clothes (which were cut off my legs as they couldn't believe that they hadn't been crushed), travel costs etc)

As others have posted, I would much much much rather not have had the money and not been run over. Try not to think about how lucky I was and how worried my missus was at the time. Motorbike was a lovely old Honda CG125 in lovely nick too.

More serious the injury, longer it takes for them to effectively quantify what the long term consequences will be. I was lucky.

petemadoc

This thread is scaring the cr4p out of me :shock:

dilemna

kreyszig wrote:

a quick update for those interested.
you can purchase the JSB guidelines from amazon for about £20 and work it out yourself with some degree of accuracy..they aren't very verbose but I ended up coming up with a number very similar to that my solicitor did. (and a lot of the online guides seem to be taken directly from this book).
There are 3 categories for elbow injuries; severe, less severe, minor. As I have some restriction of movement I am at the bottom of the less severe range.
The barrister my case got sent to eventually also looked about 4 or 5 previous cases to come up with the final figure. I haven't settled yet so can't post numbers.

This is what guides quantum on personal injuries plus cases that have been decided. No one case is the same. Each has it's own set of circumstances. Where injuries do not have a clear prognosis ie recovery is not complete as there are residual symptoms this is where things get complicated. You really wouldn't want to be in the severely injured category unless of course you had been seriously injured - paralysed, brain damaged or loss of a limb(s). Most injuries heal within a couple of years. Where there are mega payouts this is damages to reflect care costs for those very severely injured who will need care for the rest of their lives and particularly so if they previously had a high earning career which they lost because of their injuries.

I am currently going to 'specialists' to assess the degree of my injuries with respect to quantum. The 'specialists' I have seen so far have been a clueless Indian private orthopaedic surgeon and psychologist, both instructed by Premex, who couldn't have cared less and do these private personal injury referrals as they are a nice little earner. See a patient for 10-15 minutes, next! They have both seriously underestimated my injuries and therefore compromised my case for adequate compensation. Fortunately my GP has been excellent who has referred me to a consultant NHS orthopaedic surgeon who has told me I need a decompression of a nerve in my arm which he will do and has also offered to write a report to present to my solicitor for the other side although he currently has NOTHING to do with my claim which is being managed by Premex (previously the Legal Services Group who were censured by the FSA for dodgy practices, so they changed their name to Premex). It's all hassle and being screwed over. The physio has been good though. Two young fit and very pretty girls ............

The pyschologist told me cycling was dangerous, advised me to try cycling in France which is not very practical if I want to ride to work and back via the Alps or Pyrenees. My boss might have something to say about that. His verdict was that I am suffering from a phobia of cycling similar to those phobias that wimps get who won't fly or take the Tube. I was not best pleased with this jerk's conclusions. He admitted to me when I went to see him in january that, no, he doesn't cycle. Reason - because it's too dangerous. I've been knocked down twice. First time I was diagnosed with moderate PTSD as I was knocked down by a speeding car whilst I was riding around a roundabout, smashing up my left side. This kind of stayed with me for a long time afterwards so I didn't ride a bike for several years after, but when I did get back on my bike I have been a very nervous cyclist ever since especially of cars approaching fast or at any speed from behind or any direction really. So this jerk pyschologist thinks that being knocked down whilst riding along minding your own business is likely to generate emotions similar to those who have irrational phobias against flying or travelling on the Tube or who only eating Cheesy Wotsits as they think real food is poison. What a to$$er. My next task is to find out how much this jerk is charging for his crock of sh1t report. Put him on a bike and I'll drive at him just as the chav fecker who knocked me down drove at me and see how this 'specialist' pyschologist sh1ts himself as he thinks he's gonna die which is just how I felt! I tink he might suffer from some PTSD.

It has been just over a year since I was knocked down again and I haven't received a penny although Premex agreed to fund 6 sessions of physio for my shoulder and they have recently agreed to a further 6 as the physio requested more for me before Christmas which was good but it took an age to get the nod so good work that was done previously now has to be re-done.

As to the amount of damages I will get, my solicitor has not given any figure suffice only to say it is worth more than £1k which is the threshold to get a case heard in the county court where he can recover his fees below which solicitors can't as it is Small Claims. It was suggested several months ago that an interim payment was possible but this seems to have been overlooked. I have no idea what I am likely to get. I am due to have the op on my arm in the next couple of months, this will then need time to heal (big scar 5-7 inches I've been told on inside of my arm), then poss more physio which could make the whole thing run on for years ...................

HTH.

hstiles

My experiences.

I was hit on a roundabout by a car last August. I was lucky, clear case of driver at fault for failing to give way and plemnty of witnesses.

I suffered a very bad sprain to my right achilles tendon as a result and couldn't walk for a day.

Anyway, I decided to keep the momentum going so I contacted cycle claims firm who immediately got in touch with third party insurers. I then called insurers and offered to deal with them direct and call off the ambulance chasers if they were fair with me. They promised to deal with claim quickly, so I cancelled agreement with the claims firm and dealt with her insurers.

I got an independent assessment from my local bike shop based on the cost to return bike to as new condition. They basically wrote it off. So, I asked insurers to reimburse me the cost of the bike ASAP, without prejudice. In contrast, cycle claims firm suggested I bought a crap bike or something cheap and cheerful on my credit card to tide me over! Anyway, insurers sent me a cheque to cover cost of bike, assessment and any upgrades within 2 weeks of the accident.

I was still in some pain after 2 months, so insurers referred me to a physio for assessment. I had a few sessions and was advised that exercise would continue to help.

4 months post accident I was referred to an independent doctor that diagnosed a nasty sprain that would take up to 18 months to fully heal and anxiety/stress caused by the accident that would take a year.

I've just today had a settlement cheque for just under £4000. I'm going to use a chunk of it to take the family on holiday to make up for the disappointment of my spending last year's holiday injured.

petemadoc

hstiles wrote:

My experiences.

I then called insurers and offered to deal with them direct and call off the ambulance chasers if they were fair with me.

I've just today had a settlement cheque for just under £4000.

Do you think the insurers were pleased that you didn't use lawyers and so dealt with your claim swiftly and with less fuss. I would guess that you not using a lawyer saved them a good few ££KK in fees.

thegreatdivide

thegreatdivide wrote:

In May I was hit by a car driving on the other side of the road. Smashed up radius, broken ulna and various rashes and bashes. Titanium plate + screws, 21 staples and a 7" scar.

Driver's insurance company have accepted full liability.

So far I've received approx £3.4k in bike and bits damage. They've offered an extra £500 for 'services' - trips to hospital, petrol, taxis, etc - this is for operation #1. I'm about to go in again on Monday for operation #2 so this will no doubt double. I'll then be assessed by an independent Fracture Specialist and after that my lawyer will quantify an injury claim. No idea what it'll be though.

I've been pretty fortunate to have a best mate who's a lawyer and he offered to do it on a no-win-no-fee basis.

It’s nearly 3 months after my second operation – 10 months after the accident - and I’m still waiting on an outcome. I had a lengthy interview for my medical report which was done by the co surgeon of the chap who operated on me. It was quite an impressive report – but it cost £500! This will be recouped from the claim but it was a bit of a sting – that cash was going to go towards some 50mm rims!

I knew the arm was bad, but until I saw the report I wasn’t aware that I’d suffered a nasty comminuted fracture.

On the plus side I’m back on the bike and making up for lost time

napoleond

I just got 1250 for being bitten by an HIV+ HepC carrying drug addict last may. Think I'd be better off getting knocked off my bike...

fossyant

My 3rd medical report came in at the start of January - we bounced it back as I'm on nerve pain meds now for damaged nerves, and just had 4 injections of steroids. Botox next in 3 months time (normally 6 months to go back). All NHS treatment, and my Pain Consultant is really good. Private reports via Premier Medical are 'hissing' me off with delays.

Funny thing yesterday, whilst lay on the treatment bed - Consultant 'did you actually break any bones? ', me, "no !" Him, 'Ah you are better breaking bones as it dissipates the energy, rather than through soft tissue' - Me "yes I thought so".

Off bike and off work today - lots of pain killers - hopefully injections will settle everything down now for a few months.

wastelander

Was punted off from behind a few years ago - clear cut case of driver behind's fault and she actually admitted it! Insurers paid out cost of replacement bike in a matter of week but then wanted to pursue my injury/compensation as a test case - a decision which was condemned by the judge during the settlement hearing given the facts of the incident and previous test case results. Total payout around £3.5k for writing off my CAAD5, bruising, time off of work etc - was a fraction of the total court costs which if the insurers had just paid up the first place would never have been incurred. Probably took 12-18 months from start to finish instead of a couple of weeks :evil: