Is it worth getting a solicitor involved?

A family member had a serious accident over 5 years ago and it was settled last week, thankfully.

Appointed a solicitor from the outset, as it was fairly obvious that it was not going to be settled by PIAB as it was complicated.

Five years later, but still owed some costs to own solicitor.

There were a number of medical reports which the Solicitor settled on behalf of client (I think three at 150 per time, to include these and the PIAB application and some initial letters was about 900 plus VAT)

Very reasonable and worth it.

Brendan said:

My understanding would be that once a claim is settled,the claimant withdraws their claim and the Injuries Board is no longer involved.


Brendan

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Brendan is correct. If the claim is settled between the parties and the Board is notified, there is no need to make an assessment and the file is closed.

First off, thank you very much CurlyGirl for your post, very informative and well put together. You answered a lot of my queries there.
And thanks to everyone else also.

I also rang the injuriesboard, who cleared up some questions I had on filling out forms etc, but they were very cagey on some other questions and refused to answer them( e.g. Which medical professional should I get to fill out the form (a/e or current gp) should I include a physio report? If my shoulder and neck are injured, using the estimator which one should I look to as a guide award? for assessing when the ins co makes an offer). Not answering those questions kinda of makes one feel that you need legal advice.

At the moment I guess I'll just have to decide for myself whether I feel competent enough to take the case to the injuriesboard alone. A solicitor would, as was said, make things easier. So I'll probably think it over for the next week or so. Thankfully Im finally beginning to feel some improvement in my injuries after nearly 3 weeks (valium is great stuff!) Hope to go back to work halftime next week!

As a practisng solicitor of 30++ years experience I agree with Curlygirl's remarks.

Any type of whiplash type injury arising from a violent rear-ender may take a long time to clear up. Apart from seeing the GP and getting physio the patient may gave to incur further expense in MRI scans, pain management specialists, rehabilitation consultants, actuaries etc etc.

Can take years to clear up, and depending on age and other factors may never wholly clear up. There will be numerous reports to process and exchange with the other side, and Notices for Particulars and Discovery to be dealt with.

A personal injuries action can be a long and difficult saga. You do need an experienced solicitor in your corner.