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Most of us don’t come into contact with road accident solicitors very often and we all hope we will never need to. All the same, accidents do happen, so imagine this. You’re minding your own business driving along when another driver hits the back of your car. You are not liable for the accident. As you are legally obliged to, you stop and exchange insurance details and go about getting home, planning to contact your insurance company later in the day.

Imagine then, that before you have even called your insurers, there’s a knock at your door from a representative of the other driver’s insurers. Then, he or she offers to write you a cheque there and then in order to compensate you for your injuries and losses. So you think, this is super!

The advice of road accident solicitors might be to stop and think about whether this is quite the good deal it seems to be. More and more insurance companies are contacting the claimant offering to settle their claim right away. When insurers do this it is usually very soon after the accident. There have even been some reports of insurance company employees making offers of settlements at the very scene of the accident.

Whilst all this sounds like a very swift and efficient service, road accident solicitors are warning consumers about the practice. Think about why insurance companies should want to settle claims so quickly. Indeed, why would an honest insurance company want to compensate you for your injuries before you have even seen a medic or taken legal advice?

Road accident solicitors’ organisations such as the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers have issued warnings to claimants that under the guise of providing good service, insurance companies are actually trying to save themselves some money. This is because, should they agree to the proposed amount of compensation, the insurance company requires the claimant to sign a form stating that they accept the offer in full and final settlement of the claim. This simply means that once that form has been signed, there is no going back, regardless of any circumstances or injuries which later become apparent and regardless of the involvement of road accident solicitors.

This means that there is a massive risk of accepting a claim that is less than what you deserve and need. It is universally accepted that the full extent of injuries can take days or weeks to become apparent, so it would be unwise to rush into a decision. It is important to remember that amongst other things, compensation money is intended to pay for any ongoing treatment that may be required, so it is important to understand the injuries before accepting a settlement. Road accident solicitors therefore advice that claimants take both legal and medical advice before accepting any offer of settlement.

In order to try and protect consumers from being left out of pocket as a result of this practice, the  Association of British Insurers has put together a voluntary code of practice. It dictates that insurers should make a claimant aware of their right to independent legal advice when offering to settle their claim. It also suggests that making initial contact by letter or telephone rather than in person at a claimant’s address avoids intimidation.

Tags: road accident solicitors