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Gathering evidence for the solicitors report for an injury claim, how to claim expenses, what mobility equipment will you need after a serious injury
The evidence gathering must centre around how the injury that was caused by the accident has affected your life. A short word about causation here. The lawyers put a lot of work into this area of law. They have phrases, "the natural consequences of the act" and "was it foreseeable." If you think about a row of dominoes. When the first is toppled is it foreseeable that the 1001st and last domino will fall? If the answer is yes then the cause of the last domino falling was the actions of the toppling the first.
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claiming expenses after an accident.
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gathering evidence.
Having explained that, a person having suffered a broken leg in 2002, undergoes 3 operations a year until 2004 and then has an amputation and during this time has suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression, should he be considering that the whole matter is attributable to the incident that broke his leg? Probably. However causation is a tricky subject and that needs the Lawyers for expert advice.
The Internet is a wonderful tool to extract information from. This very website hopefully is testimony to that, as you are reading this and finding it helpful! Another way you can use it is to check up on the information that is given to you by the experts appointed to you by your Lawyers. You must do this. If you do not you will lose out on thousands of pounds. That is not only on the other sides experts but on your own as well.
Dissect the reports that are sent to you. Trace the companies quoted on the internet. Look at their current prices of the equipment that has been recommended to you to buy. Phone them up, ask for their latest brochures and price lists. When they arrive look at the specifications. Do they match what is applicable to you? If not, why not? Is there a better model? Is there a better manufacturer? Has insuring the product been quoted? Has replacing the product once it has got past its useful life been quoted? What is the life of the product? Is it meant for the type of wear and tear that you are going to put it through? What has the manufacturer got to say about that when you tell him? Write to him if that is to your advantage. Your solicitor will not like you for this but if there are huge discrepancies emerging from your investigations you will quickly get over the feeling that you are somehow doing something wrong.
In one report we were going to be palmed off with a stair lift. On the face of it that would have been the end of it. However, we were not happy and decided to explore the subject a bit further. A few good manufacturers were traced who then sent out their representatives. One, sat with us and we talked for a while. He soon realised that the stair lift actually was not what my husband needed and was not the best solution to the problems that faced us as a family. The stairs were too narrow and although just technically possible to install, would be an incorrect product to fit, owing to the amount of medication that my husband was on which made him very giddy. This excluded him on the grounds of safety. A letter stating this was sufficient to persuade our legal team to have a through floor lift costed for.
Statements and Reports
Your Solicitor will commission a report from a Doctor to start the legal process. This has two functions.
The first function is to place the case in a stream of cases within the legal system. Every Personal Injury action in the courts must have a statement from a doctor to prove the action for court purposes. It gives an indication of the level of seriousness of injury and therefore monetary value and which court to place it in eg the High Court or a County Court.
The second function of a doctors report as far as a lawyer is concerned is that it gives the lawyer the ammunition to take more action. You and I and the lawyer may know that if you lose a leg that it is obvious that you will need wheelchairs and prosthetic legs, but if a Doctor States that it is needed that is evidence and that then can be acted upon. The Solicitor will then commission further reports from Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Prosthetists, Pain specialists, Nursing specialists and Housing specialists. Depending on what your injury is there may be other specialists involved. The principle is clear though if a report highlights the need for an expert to advise and it can be justified then that report spawns the next one. These experts are expensive as any type of professional witness expert is. You may be justifiably angry that you do not then get the highest quality of report. Bite your bottom lip. Correct the errors and omissions. Write to them through your solicitor asking that the points be challenged and hopefully then changed before the report is disclosed. The courts are now insisting that experts are now appointed jointly with the defendants solicitor. This is because enormous sums of money are wasted on the same evidence. For more information see Experts.
Other medical statements and reports can come from anywhere at anytime. You must be aware that although your medical notes are confidential in reality when you are seeking substantial sums of money from the courts and insurance companies they will be very reluctant to part with the money if they are unsure that you are telling the truth or not. Fraudulent claims are all too common.
My husband was quite ready to disclose his physical notes and x-rays, hospital records etc. He was not so ready to disclose his NHS psychiatric records. We felt that there had to be a part of him that he could retreat to that no-one, and by that I mean absolutely no-one, could get to. The psychiatrist is the one and only person who one can talk to in the mad process of litigation that truly is there for you and no-one else. When the psychiatrist too is asked to report on you the danger of the report stating something that you do not want known is obvious. See Experts for the solution to handle this.
The gathering of witnesses is not confined to the incident itself. Think back to the dominoes. The barrister we had said one day three years after the accident that he wanted a statement off the lady who helped with some of my husband's bathing tasks. He wanted evidence of what happened inside the home but wanted it from an independent person. So the old lady who thought she had a nice little job all of a sudden found she may have been a witness in the High Court. She gave the statement but I felt she was never entirely happy with making it. She stopped coming shortly after, so we think it frightened her off. Undeterred the barrister asked again of another care worker who knew that this may be the case from the outset. So the eyes and ears of the case extend way beyond the time of the index incident. Be aware, evidence gathering goes on until you agree to settle or until a settlement is imposed upon you. This is an issue when employing an agency or carer. If it comes to this stage and the carer is unhappy with doing this, then it is best not to use the carer. The last thing you want is someone giving evidence that you are not happy about. The person should not be used and someone else found that you are happy about and the carer is happy to give an account of your care.
Evidence gathering, however, goes on by the Defendant's side also. For details see Dirty Tricks.
Claiming benefits and sick pay after an accident
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