I had a car accident and it wasn’t my fault

I had a car accident and it wasn’t my fault. Someone ran into the back of my car and my neck was injured. The insurer has made me an offer I’m inclined to take because I’m frightened that if I retain a lawyer then they will take most of the money. Can I represent myself ? There are very few circumstances in which you should choose to represent yourself.

The Motor Accidents Compensation Act is tricky. Even if liability is not in question, the assessment of damages is not. Insurers want to settle your case for as little as possible. The personal injury lawyer knows how the Act works and how damages are assessed. Choosing the right experts to brief, providing the full material and knowing what questions to ask is imperative so that all available heads of damage are maximised.

The reality is that you will not know how to maximise the damages and the insurer’s assessment will be the minimum one on each head of damage. We often see people who have been made an offer by the insurer and want to just accept it. We encourage them to retain us and once we’ve completed the job, the damages received is often multiples of 6 times or greater than what they insurer has offered without representation.