Should I Accept the Defendant’s First Offer to Settle?
The defendant or their insurer may choose to settle at any time, and you do have the option of accepting whatever is offered. And it may even be the case that the other side actually makes a reasonable first offer.
In addition, the Court Rules allow a defendant to make offers in such a way that there are costs implications if they fail to match or beat the offer at Trial. For this reason, some defendants will make finely balanced offers designed to put you at risk of not beating the offer at Trial.
Your Personal Injury Solicitor will consider each settlement offer carefully and advise you whether the offer is reasonable or not. This is where the claim valuation you’ve been given following your medical report and our investigation of your financial losses could be crucial.
If the settlement you’re being offered falls significantly short of what we believe you’re entitled to, we may recommend you reject the offer.
If the other party admits full or partial liability and you’ve chosen to accept a sum of money, your compensation will probably arrive within 2 to 4 weeks.
How Much is My Claim Worth?
A personal injury compensation settlement consists of both General Damages and Special Damages. In basic terms, General Damages relate to the pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Special Damages relate to your financial losses such as lost earnings and out of pocket expenses. To properly value General Damages, a report by a medical expert is needed.
Obviously, we don't have the medical expert’s prognosis until a report is obtained. Investigations may need to be taken to value Special Damages, for example, payslips need to be obtained. For the above reasons, it’s not possible to accurately value a claim from the outset.
We’re committed to making the claims process as simple as possible, answering any of your questions, no matter how small. We’ll avoid using legal jargon and we’ll keep you updated at every stage throughout your claim.