Accident at Work Claim

[k66yla]

Was'nt sure where to post this thread

 

I had an Accident at Work back in Jan 2009 and sustained a leg injury. A couple of months after the accident I decided to put in a claim as I was still having problems with the injury.

I have had numerous treatments, physio, injections, operation, accupuncture etc the leg is still not fixed and recently had another MRI and another possible operation is on the cards.

I received a phone call from my solicitor a couple of weeks ago stating that there is now a problem with a time issue. Basically I think she was telling me they have messed up and she said they would probably claim my compensation through their insurers. I've received no paperwork stating this as of yet. Is this a common problem and what is likely to happen?

I'm guessing 'time' has run out due to everyone(including me) thinking my leg injury would be fixed by now and everything done & dusted.

[millitant]

the only time constraints is that you have to put a claim for personal injury within 36 months, thats three years from the date of the accident

 

who did you put the claim into

was it a solicitor or a claims company

 

any claim would go through their insurers as it would be public liability insurance in any case

[k66yla]

The claim was done via my union solicitors.

[millitant]

i am a branch legal and medical secretary for my union

 

i take it you have correspondents from your union solicitors for the past three years

 

if so then their is no time constraints, you need to be asking for clarification from your solicitor

 

phone them up and ask for an update

[papasmurf1cx]

i am a branch legal and medical secretary for my union

 

i take it you have correspondents from your union solicitors for the past three years

 

if so then their is no time constraints, you need to be asking for clarification from your solicitor

 

phone them up and ask for an update

 

???????????? Please clarify. The law says that a case must be started within 3 years of the incident / accident injury. Please clarify what you mean by "no time restraints".

 

It seems to me that the conversation the OP had suggests that the solicitor is admitting to professional negligence and a claim on the solicitors insurance would be made to settle the OP's claim.

[millitant]

the claim must be started within three years of the accident or it becomes time barred, after that the claim can take 5,6,7,years etc to complete if necessary, as long as the claim was made within three years of the accident date, the claim then takes as long as necessary

 

i to think their is negligence, has the union even passed it onto the union solicitors for a start

 

if the union or solicitors have not been in corrrespondents with the other party then you will have a claim against the union

Edited May 17, 2012 by millitant

[k66yla]

It has been passed on to the union solicitors. I had an interview with the solicitors PA back in November 2009 where all details of the incident were put in a statement. The solicitors have also sent me to see a specialist in London. My employers denied liability. I've had correspondence from the solicitors over the past 3 years. So I'm assuming someone did'nt dot the i's and cross the t's somewhere along the line.

[millitant]

THEN I CAN SEE NO PROBLEM WITH THE CLAIM

 

the only thing i can see is the solicitors will have problems with their costs and fees

 

you realy need to phone them and get a complete update on your claim

[papasmurf1cx]

It has been passed on to the union solicitors. I had an interview with the solicitors PA back in November 2009 where all details of the incident were put in a statement. The solicitors have also sent me to see a specialist in London. My employers denied liability. I've had correspondence from the solicitors over the past 3 years. So I'm assuming someone did'nt dot the i's and cross the t's somewhere along the line.

 

The claim has to be started in the courts within 3 years. The mere fact that you have 'started' it with solicitors means nothing, it is the issuing of a court proceedings that is important.

 

Solicitors do not as a rule start court proceedings immediately for several reasons. Firstly they try and settle without recourse to the courts, next if liability is denied, as in this case, then they wait as long as they can to enable the time to be used within that three years to gather the necessary evidence and reports and to see how the injury progresses. Lastly they do not issue the proceedings as it keeps the costs low and negates the Personal Injury Protocols they have to follow once a case is underway.

 

The Protocol sets time limits to work to (although often they are not adhered to by both sides) but the fact is that the court is in charge of this time limit and busy solicitors who never refuse work and cases often find they miss important deadlines.

 

It is always better for the claimant that proceedings are issued, for no other reason than the interest rate for money owing / spent is half before proceedings and the full rate after they are issued.

 

It sounds to me that the solicitor missed the date to issue proceedings hence why they are saying to claim on their own insurance. He is probably in trouble with his own boss!!!!!

[k66yla]

Just a quick update.

 

Received a letter from my Union HQ stating 'the limitation period has not been complied with and so the claim is now out of time.' They have now nominated another panel of Solicitors for me, so have to wait for them to contact me.

 

Attached letters from my previous Solicitors stating they served a summons but they were 20 days out of date. They say they were waiting on the outcome of various 'test cases' before issuing a protective summons. But having so much to deal with my case got 'overlooked'.

 

I'm hoping the new Solicitors deal with this and not just drop it.

[elche]

Just a quick update.

 

Received a letter from my Union HQ stating 'the limitation period has not been complied with and so the claim is now out of time.' They have now nominated another panel of Solicitors for me, so have to wait for them to contact me.

 

So I wonder if the new solicitors plan to sue the old ones for proffesional negligence?

 

Attached letters from my previous Solicitors stating they served a summons but they were 20 days out of date.

I suppose that means 'issue the claim', in the old fashioned language

 

They say they were waiting on the outcome of various 'test cases' before issuing a protective summons. But having so much to deal with my case got 'overlooked'.

 

Sounds like they were negligent to me, surely their indemnity insurer will have to foot the bill if your new sols are successful against them. They should have issued the case before limitation expired and applied for a stay (is that the right word Che's brain is fuzzy tonight). I know PI sol's would do that all the time when a client's prognosis was still 'guarded' or 'uncertain at or about limitation. '

 

And as an aside, from memory, does the law not say 3 years from date of index incident or date of knowledge? - obviously if you actually have an accident then you could hardly claim you didn't know!

 

Che

[k66yla]

Just a quick update.....

I've received the paperwork from the new solicitors and have signed all the contracts. The claim will be for 'Professional Negligence. The new solicitors think the previous ones will state that 'the claim would not of succeeded in any event' and they will deny liability.

Would they of strung this out for over 3 years and sent me to Harley St to see a specialist if I had no chance of success?

[becky2585]

I'm absolutely appalled by what I've just read.

 

At our firm, limitation dates are placed in at least four places so they can NEVER be missed. That could even be a sackable offence.

 

So no, it's not normal, it's absolutely disgraceful. First of all, get the details of the firms complaints procedure, as you have to make a complaint within 6 months. You then need to instruct a solicitor of your choice to deal with the professional negligence claim. They may also refer it to the legal ombudsman.

 

We have to be so careful these days as anyone who seriously screws up is named and shamed on the SRAs website and can even be struck off. Missing a limitation date is probably one of the most serious offences for a solicitor.

 

The original firm will pay out the value of your PI claim through their liability insurance, so you won't be out of pocket, but it's well worth raising the complaint.

[k66yla]

Thank you becky for you input. I will seriously consider putting in a complaint as I feel they could of handled this better.

I've spoken to a few colleagues that have had to deal with my old firm of solicitors and they say that the firm would'nt touch a case if they knew they had less than a 50% chance of winning.

[becky2585]

It's very important to use the firms internal complaints process as the first port of call. If you don't complain formally within 6 months of the event, the legal ombudsman won't want to know!

 

As part of a firms insurance policy, missed limitation dates HAVE to be reported as soon as possible, so the insurers ought theoretically to be aware of the problem already. This means that they might pay out without you having to instruct solicitors to pursue the professional negligence claim. Every firm has to have a complaints partner and provide their clients with the complaints procedure so in a screw up like this, it might be straightforward to deal with. If not, then you can go down the professional negligence route. Solicitors can help make sure you aren't selling yourself short though and can help give your complaint more weight, so if you can find someone NWNF then that may be better.

 

Sorry you've found yourself in this situation. I did 9 months in personal injury and some lawyers are so slapdash with their work it's unbelievable. It's actually a very simple area of law which I think people take for granted, hence missing limitation dates...

[k66yla]

Is that 6 months from the claim becoming time barred? If so I will now be out of time, as they only let me know that there was a problem in May.

[becky2585]

If they let you know in May, you have have until November to make a complaint.