If you are unfortunate enough to suffer a personal injury as a result of something that was not your fault, you have the possibility of making a personal injury claim. This claim is designed to compensate you not only for the costs that you have had to cover (and will have to cover in the future) as a result of your injury, but also for the past, present, and future disruption that the injury has caused for you.
A personal injury claim can be made and either go to court or will commonly be settled before the case gets to that stage. Whilst this can often save you time, money, inconvenience, and often emotion, there is also the risk of under settlement. What are Under Settlement Personal Injury Claims? Under settlement personal injury claims are claims that have been settled at too low a value for the injury that was suffered.
There are a number of different ways that an under settlement personal injury claim can occur. These include:
- The claim was not properly valued or investigated.
- You were pressured by your solicitor into accepting a lower amount than you believe is fair.
- Any medical evidence that was used (if any) was incorrect or inaccurate.
- There was an incorrect calculation on your claim.
- Your barrister or solicitor did not properly prepare for your case, leading to important evidence being missed.
The rise of under settlement claims
When you employ the services of a personal injury lawyer, they have a professional duty of care to you. This means that they are duty-bound to get the best possible outcome for you on your case.
It can sometimes be the case that personal injury claims are allocated to junior, inexperienced lawyers without adequate supervision, and this has meant that on some occasions, the maximum potential of the claim has not been achieved. As increasing number of people are starting to look into the possibility of their cases being under settled.
Why do personal injury claims become under settled?
The main reason why many personal injury claims are under settled is that junior or inexperienced lawyers are processing and advising on the claims without adequate supervision.
Generally speaking, this can lead to one (or more) of three issues:
- Improper calculations
- Poor analysis of medical evidence
- Missed deadlines
We will take a closer look at each of these issues. Improper Calculations An important part of the compensation that is claimed for in a personal injury claim involves making claims for the money that has already been lost, that the claimant is losing right now, and what they might lose in the future. Some of this is easy to quantify – medical expenses or loss of earnings, for example.
There are, however, other aspects of compensation that can be more difficult to calculate. If these calculations are not carried out properly, it can result in the claimant getting a lower value than they are entitled to recover in their personal injury claim.
Poor analysis of medical evidence
Medical evidence is also an important part of any personal injury claim. It is essential that expert advice is sought and understood, and that the right investigation is carried out. It is sometimes the case that an inexperienced lawyer does not ask the opinion of the right person, or that they do not ask the most effective questions to the expert.
This means that an unclear picture of the medical reality is gained, or that the medical evidence is not presented accurately, ultimately resulting in a lower value claim being made, with the client losing out.
Missed Deadlines On very rare occasions, a lawyer can miss important court deadlines, which could mean (very rarely) that a case is dismissed. Whilst this is very unusual, it can happen, and a claimant could have a case for an under settlement professional negligence claim to be made.
Why choose Waldrons to help with personal injury claims?
Here at Waldrons, our diligent team of professionals is ready and waiting to help you with your personal injury claim. We work on a no-win, no-fee basis, meaning that we are keen to get the best result for you, and our experienced lawyers work meticulously to get the best result for you.
We realise the need to treat your case on its facts, and to ensure the right level of lawyer deals with your case, with the right level of supervision being in place too. If you have suffered from a personal injury that was not your fault, get in touch with us here at Waldrons today.
More information on Personal Injury
Last reviewed on 11/07/23 by Joseph Norton who is an Associate Director and Head of Compensation