1500 worth of damage to car, 65k+ claim

jon1981

just venting, had a small accident 3 yrs ago, i hit a guy from behind. doing no more than about 10-15mph...the claim is still unsettled but i noticed quinn direct have set the estimate at 65k!! :eek:

the guy a week later went about claiming he had a sore neck...fair enough...but how the hell is the claim that high? it would have been less expensive to kill the guy, its madness. does anyone know if there is there max time a claim can stay open for?

Barr

They have 2 years to make a claim and no time limit for it to be settled. Was it €1500 done to ur car or his ?

Mr Benevolent

Legal and consultant's fees can easily push it up that high. Loss of earnings is another factor.

unkel

Confab wrote: »

Legal and consultant's fees can easily push it up that high. Loss of earnings is another factor.

That and the highest medical bills in the world of course. I saw a specialist the other day. The consultation lasted 10 minutes and it cost €200 me :rolleyes:

Barr

Another point is just because Quinn have reseved it for €65k , it may settle for half that or less. Insurance companies have to estimate on the highest potential of the claim.

Mr Benevolent

unkel wrote: »

That and the highest medical bills in the world of course. I saw a specialist the other day. The consultation lasted 10 minutes and it cost €200 me :rolleyes:

Yup, but legal fees are the biggest factor of all.

RentDayBlues

In terms of the injury, this is a restriction on what can be claimed. Also, is this going through the court system?

This will give you an indication of the injury claim and loss of earnings http://www.injuriesboard.ie/eng/

Its there to stop people putting in ridiculously high claims and scamming!

maidhc

Confab wrote: »

Yup, but legal fees are the biggest factor of all.

Really? As a Solicitor I find those comments irritating. Insurance companies very often make the insured jump through all kinds of legal hoops, waste about 3 years of everyones time and then complain about legal fees. Quinn are the worst kind for this.

There is a notion going around that lawyers make big money. They don't! Some are comfortable, a few are very well off, but many are on the breadlines, and a fair few on the dole.

If the OP injured a person, then so be it. A judge will make an award based on the evidence, i.e. medical evidence that is proven and that stands up in court. No one gets a free ride, believe you me. I have worked for both plaintiffs and defendants, and it is rare a scam works.

I also suspect the 65k referred to does not include costs.

Eoin

Injuries board estimator here:
http://www.injuriesboard.ie/eng/Estimator/#neck

maidhc wrote:

Really? As a Solicitor I find those comments irritating. Insurance companies very often make the insured jump through all kinds of legal hoops, waste about 3 years of everyones time and then complain about legal fees. Quinn are the worst kind for this.

There is a notion going around that lawyers make big money. They don't! Some are comfortable, a few are very well off, but many are on the breadlines, and a fair few on the dole.

Saying that legal fees are a factor doesn't necessarily mean that you think the solicitors are earning a lot of money. If there are all sorts of legal hoops to jump through, then does it not follow that the solicitors have more work to do?

maidhc wrote:

I have worked for both plaintiffs and defendants, and it is rare a scam works.

Is it not the case that whiplash can't be disproved? If that's true, then surely it's not that hard to milk it.

maidhc

eoin wrote: »

If there are all sorts of legal hoops to jump through, then does it not follow that the solicitors have more work to do?

Exactly, but the implication often made is that lawyers are making up random numbers.

Barr

At the op - do you know what stage the claim is at ? for example has a PIAB application been made

newbie1001

maidhc wrote: »

There is a notion going around that lawyers make big money. They don't! Some are comfortable, a few are very well off, but many are on the breadlines, and a fair few on the dole.

.

jon1981

hey,

the 1500 was done to his car, my car was grand, a little dent in the bonnet, corsa vs jag ( i had the corsa at the time). he wanted the rear bumper replaced because there was a crease in it...fair enough.

I gave up following the case after a year as it was clear Quinn were doing nothing to settle it. for what i gather your man was not playing ball at all and make out to have all sorts of stuff going on, trapped nerve, whiplash... etc..so quinn are happy to let it run all the way to the courts...its annoying because i want it shut so i can move insurers!

maidhc

jon1981 wrote: »

hey,

the 1500 was done to his car, my car was grand, a little dent in the bonnet, corsa vs jag ( i had the corsa at the time). he wanted the rear bumper replaced because there was a crease in it...fair enough.

I gave up following the case after a year as it was clear Quinn were doing nothing to settle it. for what i gather your man was not playing ball at all and make out to have all sorts of stuff going on, trapped nerve, whiplash... etc..so quinn are happy to let it run all the way to the courts...its annoying because i want it shut so i can move insurers!

Why can't you move?

Anan1

maidhc wrote: »

Why can't you move?

Most insurers won't quote if there's a claim pending.

PeakOutput

the 65k est is a fixed number for any minor injury claim

i never worked for quinn but the company i did work for did this all the time

5K est for damage only rising up infinitely to serious accidents but most are settled for far less

chances are he will get his doctors fees and out of pocket and maybe a few grand if he is really convincing about the injuries. if he gets his doctor to say its more serious than soft tissue damage though it could go up far more

it dosnt really matter to you either way though your policy is affected the same way

you probably could change insurers if you really tried they just wouldnt give you a no claims bonus obviously

maidhc

Anan1 wrote: »

Most insurers won't quote if there's a claim pending.

I don't know about insurance companies procedures, but once a claim is in the legal system is has been made, and can no longer be said to be pending.

I.e. If I have a crash in 2009, the matter may well end up decided in the High Court in 2012. My no claims bonus will start to accrue from zero from the date of the crash however, not from the date of the award.

Interesting about 65k being a standard figure allocated.

pburns

I had a minor car park shunt a year or so ago - 5-10mph - reversing speed. I admitted liability straight away and a garda was called to the scene. The guy was making a HUGE fuss about a very minor prang and I said nothing until he started rubbing his neck and claiming he was not ruling out whiplash. I f*****g exploded and basically made a snide remark hinting he was looking for an easy lob of money. The ban garda stepped in and said she failed to see how a personal injury could have occured from such a minor prang and that's how she was writing it up. You should have seen his face!

PCPhoto

OP ... it would be possible that the insurance company have earmarked a settlement offer based on previous cases and that is the sum that you mentioned earlier.

it is possible that the person could have suffered these injuries at such a slow speed, it is also possible that they could be exaggerating their injuries.

if the insurance company were willing to investigate the case properly they could hire a detective to check if the person is exaggerating or faking their injuries, it would cost them money but could be a waste of time and money if he is genuine.

has the file been sent to PIAB yet ? if the insurance company are disputing the facts then its either the Civil (max €38,500) or High Court (at judges discretion - but for a simple PI (Personal Injury) I doubt it would goto the High Court as it would be seen as a ridiculous case - they mainly deal with Med Negligence or serious cases where the person is maimed or killed...or disfigured/brain damaged.

Anyway - you or the insurance company could hire a detective to investigate if the claim is genuine or not but that is expensive (prob €1500-2000 a week)

oldyouth

maidhc wrote: »

I don't know about insurance companies procedures, but once a claim is in the legal system is has been made, and can no longer be said to be pending.

I.e. If I have a crash in 2009, the matter may well end up decided in the High Court in 2012. My no claims bonus will start to accrue from zero from the date of the crash however, not from the date of the award.

Interesting about 65k being a standard figure allocated.

It's probably better to describe the claim as outstanding rather than pending and the no claims bonus will affected from the 1st renewal date following the date of the incident

El Guapo!

Someone ploughed into me 3 years ago and I was on my mothers policy at the time and even though he was totally at fault and admitted liability cause he went into the back of me at 50mph, I still wasnt able to get my own policy or switch insurers until the claim was settled which was only a few weeks ago!! :eek:

Barr

Most insurance companies ask when giving a quote - had you a claim in the last three years . If you had they simply wont quote you.

tricky D

pburns wrote: »

I had a minor car park shunt a year or so ago - 5-10mph - reversing speed. I admitted liability straight away and a garda was called to the scene. The guy was making a HUGE fuss about a very minor prang and I said nothing until he started rubbing his neck and claiming he was not ruling out whiplash. I f*****g exploded and basically made a snide remark hinting he was looking for an easy lob of money. The ban garda stepped in and said she failed to see how a personal injury could have occured from such a minor prang and that's how she was writing it up. You should have seen his face!

Symptoms of whiplash rarely occur immediately and usualyy take a day or two to appear. Also the symptoms aren't that easy to fake.

Macers

Quinn's reserves are always based on the worst possible scenerio - ie. the worst possible outcome.

I've no doubt that Quinn have sent the injured party for medicals etc.

There very well be some degeneritive changes (even happens at slow speed). Other factors such as loss of opportunity (like Smyth vs. Manchester in the UK) where the injury could affect and future job opportunities the injured party may have been interested in etc.

65k sounds high alright - this would include legal fees also which is based on a fee structure however.

Very much doubt it will settle for anywhee near that but you wouldn't know without sight of the medicals

Barr

If he has straight forward whiplah is probably worth 15-20 k , factor in medical for say €1k and legal costs of 40% , its worth less than half the Quinn estimate. He has to be claiming for more serious injury or is throwing in a big loss of earnings claim.

Either way with a low impact speed he seems to be milking it.

daRobot

pburns wrote: »

I had a minor car park shunt a year or so ago - 5-10mph - reversing speed. I admitted liability straight away and a garda was called to the scene. The guy was making a HUGE fuss about a very minor prang and I said nothing until he started rubbing his neck and claiming he was not ruling out whiplash. I f*****g exploded and basically made a snide remark hinting he was looking for an easy lob of money. The ban garda stepped in and said she failed to see how a personal injury could have occured from such a minor prang and that's how she was writing it up. You should have seen his face!

While i'm sure that the guy mentioned was probably faking it, the ban garda was foolish to be assuming that damage couldn't have been done.

Whiplash occurs far more often at very low impact speeds than higher speeds, bizarrely enough.

Voodoomelon

Interesting statistic on whiplash on Wiki:

"In the UK, 430,000 people made a claim for whiplash in 2007 (75% of the UK's motor insurance claims), accounting for 14% of every driver's premium[4], with a resulting payout cost of £1.9 billion[5]."

Mr Benevolent

Really? As a Solicitor I find those comments irritating. Insurance companies very often make the insured jump through all kinds of legal hoops, waste about 3 years of everyones time and then complain about legal fees. Quinn are the worst kind for this.

Exactly. I've worked for insurance companies. I never said anything about solicitors being overpaid though.