Stupid Insurance Company!
Many big insurance companies with expensive public relations departments like to blame claimants and their solicitors for a so-called ‘compensation culture’, and for pushing up the cost of insurance premiums by being greedy. By and large, this is complete rubbish. So often it is the insurers’ own incompetence that causes expense and delay.
To take a particularly blatant example, we acted recently for Mr M from Birmingham. He was at work, as a passenger in a lorry driven by his colleague, which shunted into the rear of a car at traffic lights. Mr M suffered whiplash injuries to his neck and shoulder, and pain in his hand. This is easily the most common type of injury in road accidents.
We arranged for Mr M to be examined by a doctor, and based on his report assessed fair compensation at £2500, including some lost wages and other items.
The insurance company representing Mr M’s company soon accepted that the collision was the fault of their driver, and we suggested that they should pay £2500 to conclude the claim. They wrote back saying they were only prepared to pay £600! When we told them that this was far too low, they phoned up offering £1500. Since that was still too low, we started a court claim. When the court papers were sent to the insurance company’s solicitors, they promptly agreed to pay the full £2500, and Mr M had his compensation at last.
If the insurance company had not been so stupid, they would have saved substantial legal costs and expenses including those of the court claim, and Mr M would have been paid his money two months earlier. And yet some insurance companies have the cheek to try and make innocent people feel guilty about claiming fair compensation!
