Push to settle injury claim?

I had a motor accident 18 months ago and have largely been unable to work since then due to back injuries. PIAB have recently released my case to proceed to court if we wish. My solicitor has advised that it should take approx 18 months to come to court. He also said that he would not approach the insurance company to settle because 'that would be seen as weakness on our part'.

My injuries have cost me over 30k so far in loss of earnings and medical expenses so I do not want to settle for less than I'm entitled to. However, I am under huge financial stress and feel unable to get through the next 18 months without financial assistance.

Could anyone advise as to whether I would really be damaging my case by suggesting a settlement? I do feel that 50k would be worth an awful lot more to me now than 70k in 18 months. I guess the thing is though that it could be worth even more than that due to ongoing pain and inability to work fulltime for at least another while. If my doctors can make some sort of predicitions now would it damage my position to be the one to suggest a settlement?

There are a host of factors to be taken into account here. Your solicitor has a financial incentive to settle quickly (unless you are paying him\her up front) so if he\she is saying not to rush toward settlement, I would be inclined to take his\her word as to the most appropriate course of action.

I agreed with MOB you should take your solicitor's advice in this situation. It is important to remember that whatever you settle your case for this is all you are going to get. There is no comeback in the future even if your injuries turn out to be worse than first thought. People don't like to hear that their case could take two or three years to complete as this is a long time to wait but prolonged cases like this often lead to a clearer picture of the future prognosis which could lead to a larger and more appropriate settlement.

Thanks for the replies. I think it probably is best to wait. What a shock to the system is to be trying to live on illness benefit - the life lesson in keeping financially secure is priceless though. I will never take money for granted again...

My mum was in the same position as yourself. She was hit by the arm of a digger whilst walking home from work in January 2005 and has not worked since. It is now highly unlikely that she will go back to work as she is now 62 and her job was quite a physical one.

PIAB sat on her claim for a year and then released it, as they were unable to assess ongoing injuries.

She has received word this week that the other side now want to settle and meet in the Law Library.

I know the Solicitor will calculate loss of earnings, does anyone know if future loss of earnings will be taken into account, also, because she will not have worked for the five/six years before she can get her state pension, will this result in a reduced state pension. I am just looking for as much info. as possible so I can pass to Solicitor.

Its certainly been tough going financially for her and just a not to the OP I know what you have been going through.

"PIAB sat on her claim for a year and then released it, as they were unable to assess ongoing injuries"

This is (by anecdotal evidence) happening all the time. If you have a claim which is in any way remotely complex, you need to have a lot of groundwork done now at the outset, in anticipation of PIAB ultimately refusing to deal with it. The problem is, if they release the case, the Insurance company can turn around and dispute liability. If the case is released, you will be glad you had the ground-work done. If they don't release the case, then the work will turn out to have been wasted. But you can't take the risk of not doing it.

The other side cant really not admit liability (its that obvious) but it was very annoying having PIAB sit on it and effectively just hold it up.

I suppose it has taken this long for it to be confirmed that it is highly unlikely that she will go back to work.

My mum is lucky that she engaged the Solicitor from the start despite the fact that PIAB is supposed to be user friendly and "do it yourself" to a certain extent.

Am glad she engaged the Solictor, at least the documentation was collated in the correct manner from the beginning of the claim.

MandaC said:

I know the Solicitor will calculate loss of earnings, does anyone know if future loss of earnings will be taken into account, also, because she will not have worked for the five/six years before she can get her state pension, will this result in a reduced state pension.

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Hi Mandac,

Certainly when my solicitor is looking at my case he is considering future loss of earnings, loss of entitlements under PRSI, loss of maternity benefit, and yes, most definitely damage done to pension contributions.

I have been overwhelmed by just how much my solicitor is pushing for, but the reality is that even if I went back to work at the end of this year I have lost PRSI entitlements (maternity being a biggie) for the next 2 years, I've lost out on pension contributions, increments and promotional prospects. Future loss of earnings will also be calculcated if it's deemed that I'll have ongoing problems. I think they're capped though. When he was talking about me never returning to work he mentioned a figure of about €150k. Seems big, but it's just 3 years wages, never mind medical expenses, pain & suffering etc...

I hope your mum gets sorted out and that things improve for her. It's easy to feel like you shouldn't aim high because there are so many false claims out there. If the injuries are significant and have really impinged on her life then make sure to hold out for everything that she is entitled to. Best of luck.

The meeting is now scheduled for early April.

Really, what I would love is for it never to have happened. For her to be still working away in her job as she had done for 20 years and mixing with her friends and colleagues and having her independence.

What has happened in effect, that company through their lack of safety measures a and downright negligence has taken that from her. And never as much as issued an apology or asked about her. (The guy who hit her thought she was dead on the pavement. And still they let her walk home when she eventually came to)

Sometimes the money does not matter, but thats how its calculated.

Good luck to you too!