Motor Insurance Policy Claims

Road traffic offences are defined under the Road Traffic Acts and other relevant legislation. The Police will carry out enquiries as to who caused the accident.

If they believe they have sufficient evidence to convict you of a criminal offence they will refer the papers to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Crown Prosecution Service will decide whether or not you are to be charged with any offence. The usual offences are:

• Careless driving
• Dangerous driving
• Causing Death by Dangerous Driving.

In addition to your compulsory car Insurance, you may have taken out a policy which covers you for Legal Fees if you have suffered a loss which is not covered by your standard car Insurance policy. Examples of these losses can be personal injury, hire charges, loss of earnings and medical treatment fees. Your Insurers may put you in touch with a Specialist Firm of Solicitors who will provide full guidance on what to do when bringing a claim for compensation. The policy itself will only be active if:

• The accident was not your fault.
• There are reasonable prospects to recover damages from another party.
• The Legal costs in pursuing your losses will be proportionate to the sum to be recovered.

There is a limit to the amount of costs cover applicable. It is usual that cover can be extended to occupants of your vehicle, eg, passengers who may have suffered similar losses. As per the compulsory Insurance policy, you must co-operate with all reasonable requests made by the insurers or your solicitors.

A Part 36 offer refers to Section 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The idea of a Part 36 offer is to allow either party the chance to make offers on any basis, both before or after the issue of proceedings.

If before proceedings, you are prepared to accept settlement on a 50/50 basis, we can write to the other party suggesting 50/50 and making this proposal on a Part 36 basis.

Similarly, if we have a Medical Report and value the level of compensation at say £2000.00, we can write to the other party making a Part 36 offer of £2000.00 to settle your claim.

The other side have 21 days, from the date they receive the offer, to accept or reject this proposal. If they accept it, they will be bound by the terms of that proposal. If they reject it and at a later date an award either at Court or by agreement is made equal to or greater than the earlier Part 36 offer made, then the other party will have to pay additional costs and possibly interest.

Generally, negotiating with the other side's Insurers can bring your claim to an end more efficiently than by resorting to further legal proceedings. There is a requirement under the Civil Procedure Rules to follow guidance set out under the Personal Injury Protocol.

The issue of proceedings should be seen as a last resort and you will need to show to the Court all reasonable attempts have been made to negotiate your claim before suing the other party.

Negotiations can be by letter, telephone call or face to face meeting. Negotiations can sometimes take weeks or months. It may be the other Insurers or Solicitors need to take further instruction from their own customer on points put forward by you. If the other driver's insurers are delaying matters, or their offers are unreasonable, then court proceedings are the best way to move your claim forward.

If ever an offer is made by the other party, we may need to take your instruction even though we may consider the offer unreasonable. We will, however, provide you with our advice on whether to accept or reject the proposal.

In addition to your compulsory car Insurance, you may have taken out a policy which covers you for Legal Fees if you have suffered a loss which is not covered by your standard car Insurance policy. Examples of these losses can be personal injury, hire charges, loss of earnings and medical treatment fees. Your Insurers may put you in touch with a Specialist Firm of Solicitors who will provide full guidance on what to do when bringing a claim for compensation. The policy itself will only be active if:

• The accident was not your fault.
• There are reasonable prospects to recover damages from another party.
• The Legal costs in pursuing your losses will be proportionate to the sum to be recovered.

There is a limit to the amount of costs cover applicable. It is usual that cover can be extended to occupants of your vehicle, eg, passengers who may have suffered similar losses.As per the compulsory Insurance policy, you must co-operate with all reasonable requests made by the insurers or your solicitors.