Hello all, i could do with some advice if anyone has any.

On Tuesday evening i finished work at 11pm as normal and as usual got a lift home with a friend of mine. As we turned into my street a large Eurobus taxi appeared and ploughed into the side of us. Essentially the guy tried to overtake us on a corner and made a hash of it. Anyway, I suffered whiplash and ended up spending 2 and a half hours in A+E that night and much of the afternoon in bed the next day (bloomin hurt! my first day off in 10 days!), I also ended up at the nurse on the Wednesday because I had been extremely dopey all night and day and bf was worried i might have hit my head.

Anyway, the taxi driver is still maintaining it was my friends fault (darn him for driving at 15 miles an hour round a sharp bend into a residential area perfectly on the correct side of the road with the indicators on...) and my friend is going to be pursuing him for damages and I will be to (his attitude was just appaling, i hate the idea of someone driving other people around in a tank of a taxi and being so reckless).

So essentially i am wondering if anyone has had any dealings with the 'if theres blame!' crowd and if they can make a reccommendation?

i did a win on fee one with work but didnt take the case on

the best way is though your friend car insurance company which will claim of the other driver at fault company this is how my son got his .

ok, thanks. i am really not fussed about the money (i very much doubt that much will come of it anyway) but i genuinely feel this person should be held to account in some way. he was down  right abusive when my friend called to sort out insurance info and showed no remorse when my friend informed him that one of the passengers (me) was injured.

Generally the insurers will sort all this out for you. A similar thing happened to my daughter and she had to note all the treatments, time off work and any costs she had in order to get completely fit again. The other driver slammed into the side of her car, she was going down the main road and the other carliterally just pulled out of a side turn at quite a speed, pushing my daughters car into the side of the road. Amazingly the other driver denied it was her fault!

Luckily it was in rush hour and serveral people kindly stopped to see i anyone was hurt. So they acted as witnesses and gave sataements on my daughters side, so it was eventually resolved.

grand, i shall wait till alan (my friend) hears from his insurers about it then. your daughters accident sounds quite similar to ours, the guy tried to overtake and obviously misjudged it driving into the drivers side back seat, exactly where i usually sit! we spun round and the rear wheels hit the kerb. unfortunately no independant witnesses for us but the pictures tell it all.

I would leave it to the insurance companies, you may need to send a letter to your friend claiming damages for your pain and time off work and he/she will in turn give it to their insurance. The two insurance companies will sort it out between them unless the police were called and then perhaps they may prosecute, calling you as a witness. Did the A & E charge you or will they, it is usual, so don't forget to add the cost of that to your claim.

> Did the A & E charge you or will they, it is usual

is it? i've never been charged in hospital before

alan did say that i will need to sue his insurance and they will then counter-sue the taxi drivers (or something like that). he is going to get things sorted with his insurance first then we'll see what i need to do, alan says i have 5 years to do it in so no rush (he;s a law student from a family of lawyers). his insurance have my details and should be contacting me apparently.

the police weren't called at the time (perhaps daftly), i think we were all in to much shock to consider it and it is my first car crash so i have not the first clue of proceedure. i also didn't notice the pain till the taxi had gone (shock i think) and it started lightly then built up a lot.

also i didn't have time off work, the next day was my day off :(

>> Did the A & E charge you or will they, it is usual
> is it? i've never been charged in hospital before

I'm not sure that's still the case - a quick google and a look at the DWP website revealed this:-

10.6 Emergency Treatment Fee (ETF)
The collection of the Emergency Treatment Fee (ETF) by NHS hospitals was abolished for claims settled on or after 5 April 1999. However, other parties, for example General Practitioners who provide immediately necessary treatment to a road traffic accident casualty, may continue to collect this charge.

Under the terms of Section 158 of The Road Traffic Act 1988, the emergency treatment fee was levied on the user of a vehicle in respect of each person who required immediately necessary treatment as a result of a road traffic accident. The emergency treatment fee is a separate fee levied under the 1988 Act, and could be recovered along with any outpatient or inpatient treatment charges where a compensation payment was made prior to 5 April 1999.

Please note: Previous payments of ETF to NHS hospitals, whether by the driver or his insurer, does not eliminate or reduce the liability to pay "without admission" charges.


I hope you're feeling better soon Kim,
Teri

a+e's could charge for treating accident victims? that is very strange, surely thats what they are for? no one mentioned anything though.

i'm ok thanks teri, my necks still a bit stiff but its improving quickly. the dr said i'd feel like i got hit by a bus the next day and i really did, i could barely move my head!

> a+e's could charge for treating accident victims? that is very strange, surely thats what they are for?

I think only if there was a third party involved - so not for example charging someone who fell off a ladder/down stairs etc but if a pedestrian involved in a road accident where the driver was at fault the expenses incurred to the NHS could be claimed along with the injured parties' expenses against the insurance of the responsible party.   That's my understanding of what used to happen but I don't have personal experience of it, just a vague recollection many years ago of a neighbour having to pay for an ambulance service and reclaim costs from a drink driver .......  Don't quote me LOL

Sorry was not aware it had been stopped, it only applied to road accidents and the fee was clamed from the insurance company but if you are not expecting it could come after you had made your claim and then you would need to settle it yourself.

Can i ask were details exchanged at the roadside between both parties or were the Police called? If Police not called were they notified by any party involved within 24hrs of the accident occurring?

I myself have been involved in a road traffic accident, though i was at work as a passenger in a car. Another car ploughed into us and took out the front of the car.
I suffered whiplash and this went on until recently when i went through work and stayed at a rehab centre to get me better again. Daily physio has helped me a lot.
I put forward a claim through work and have just accepted after 2 years on a settlement.

Only the Police can prosecute against careless driving, if left down to insurance companies then they will just fight out who was to blame or make it 50/50. If the taxi driver is to blame then his insurance premiums would go up and that would be it.

I would possibly look to see if your work cover road traffic accidents under any scheme if not then as you were a passenger and not to blame by any accounts then if you'd like to get compensation i would head to a no win no fee type place.

Whoop whoop astarte is back...however really sorry to hear about your accident! :(

I have no advice but hope you're on the mend & have recovered from the accident, sounds very unpleasant & the driver a complete ar*e!! I hope you're claim in successful, maybe this guy will driver more carefully next time!

hello, yes i have returned :)

i'm alright, my necks generally ok, it twinges if i move suddenly but its a week tomorrow night since so its definately improving.

i really am only interested in claiming in order to hopefully give this guy a fright into being a better driver!

> Can i ask were details exchanged at the roadside between both parties or were the Police called? If Police not called were they notified by any party involved within 24hrs of the accident occurring?

alan (my friend) and the taxi driver exchanged details, we didn't call the police as in the aftermath we didn;t realise anyone was injured (i didn;t notice the pain till the guy had gone and we'd all calmed down a bit). no they were not called after either, i probably should have but i really have no experience of this and my head was all over the place. there were no independent witnesses so i don;t think we could have procecuted anyway :( but i want to follow some course against him.

goodness your accident sounds bad! i'm glad your feeling better now. its so scary. with mine it all seemed to go in slow motion, i was staring out my window day dreaming, turned round and theres this tank of a taxi bearing down on us. mortifyingly i screamed lol (thankfully my friends can;t remember that part!)

does anyone have any reccomendations for a company that do the no win no fee stuff?