By Danielle Nicholson. Last Updated 6th October 2022. When you’re injured in an accident that was caused by somebody else, you might be eligible to seek compensation for your suffering. To do so, evidence will need to be supplied that shows who was to blame, how the accident occurred and how you were injured. In an ideal world, the defendant’s insurance company will agree with your evidence and settle your claim. However, it doesn’t always work like that. Therefore, in this article, we’re going to provide advice on what to do if the insurance company has denied liability.
An insurance company has denied liability for an accident what do I do guide
We will look at what evidence you can use to back up your claim, why an insurer might deny liability, and what action to take if they do. We’ll also look at potential compensation figures and explain what could be claimed. We would always advise that working with a personal injury solicitor could improve your chances of receiving compensation. Not only will they use their legal training to ensure the correct evidence is supplied to an insurer, but they will also handle all communication with them on your behalf.
If you are about to start a compensation claim involving an insurance company, we could help you. Our service includes a no-obligation telephone consultation and free legal advice on your options. If your claim has a reasonable chance of success, we could partner you with one of the personal injury lawyers from our panel. To make your claim less stressful, it will be managed on a No Win No Fee basis if it’s accepted.
For more information on what happens when liability is denied, please continue reading. Otherwise, if you’re ready to start today, why not give us a call on 0161 696 9685?
Select A Section
- A Guide On Claims If An Insurance Company Has Denied Liability
- Compensation For Personal Injury
- How Are Special Damages Calculated?
- What Is A Personal Injury Claim?
- Why Do Insurance Companies Deny Liability For An Accident?
- What Happens If An Insurance Company Denies Your Claim?
- What Could You Do If The Other Party Has Denied Liability For The Accident?
- Could A Solicitor Help Me Make A Claim?
- How Do I Make A Claim If The Other Party Is Denying Liability?
- No Win No Fee Claims Where An Insurance Company Has Denied Liability For An Accident
- Contact Us
- More Information
A Guide On Claims If An Insurance Company Has Denied Liability
When you begin a personal injury claim, the last thing you want to hear is that the defendant’s insurer is denying liability for the claim. It can really knock the wind out of your sales, especially if you’re struggling to cope following your accident. However, all is not lost if you do receive a denial of liability letter.
In this article, we’ll look at what to do if an insurer doesn’t agree with your version of events. We’ll also look at the reasons your claim might be denied. Also, to help you calculate the value of your claim, we’ll provide a table of different injuries and what level of compensation could be paid for them.
One reason a claim could be denied is if you make it outside of the compensation time limit. For most cases, this is a 3-year period starting from the date the accident occurred (although you’ll usually have longer if claiming for a child’s injury). If you do go outside the limitation period, your claim can be justifiably rejected. That’s the reason we advise contacting us as soon as you’re able to do so. By starting your claim earlier, you’ll find that it is easier to remember what happened. Also, it can be a lot easier to obtain evidence to support your claim in the weeks and months after the accident took place.
Dealing with an insurance company during a claim can be tricky, especially if you’re not trained in legal matters. A personal injury lawyer can bring their legal expertise and experience. They can deal with the claim on your behalf while you rest and recover from your injuries.
Compensation For Personal Injury
If you suffered an injury in a road traffic accident, you might be interested in a compensation claim calculator. However, these tools may not always be able to take all aspects of your claim into account. Personal injury claims are formed of differing variables, which a calculator cannot always consider.
What we can provide are figures for compensation for personal injury from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a rough guide to general damages, the part of your compensation that addresses your pain and suffering. These amounts are only a guideline as every case is assessed individually. Our table below contains examples from the 16th edition. If you claim compensation, the amount you are awarded is likely to be different.
| Injury Type | Severity Level | Compensation Range | Detailed Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facial Scarring | Very Severe | £29,780 to £97,330 | An award that is generally for younger claimants (teens to early 30s) where there is very severe scarring to the face and a severe psychological impact. |
| Ankle | Severe | £31,310 to £50,060 | The types of injuries in this category are those which require extensive treatment that may involve the insertion of plates and pins. |
| Knee | Moderate (i) | £14,840 to £26,190 | These injuries will lead to minor disabilities like weakness and wasting. |
| Neck | Moderate (i) | £24,990 to £38,490 | Injuries that result in in immediate severe symptoms and may lead to spinal fusion. |
| Cheekbone Fractures | Serious | £10,200 to £15,780 | Fractures needing surgery to repair and leaving permanent damage |
| Back | Minor (i) | £7,890 to £12,510 | This category covers soft tissue damage that fully recovers within a 2 to 5-year |
| Teeth | Serious | £8,730 to £11,410 | This award could be made when there is serious damage or loss of several front teeth |
| Wrist | Fracture | In the region of £7,430 | Simple Colles' fractures of the wrist. |
In addition to general damages, you might be able to recover costs incurred due to your injury under special damages. We discuss special damages in the next section.
Call our advisors for a free estimation of your claim.
How Are Special Damages Calculated?
The injuries you sustain in an accident could lead to financial losses in some cases. If that happens, you could claim ‘special damages’. This is not a penalty or fine and you will not benefit from special damages. They are simply designed to return you to the same financial position you were in before the accident.
As we mentioned before, each claim is different. We’ll be able to tell you what you could include in your claim once it’s been assessed.
Examples of Special Damages
- Travel expenses.
When you need to visit a doctor or hospital for treatment, you may have to fork out for fuel or parking fees. Therefore, you could claim them back as special damages. - Medical costs.
There are a few costs you could incur even though your treatment will be free on the NHS. For example, you might have to pay for non-NHS treatment, over the counter medication or prescription costs. - Care costs.
While you are recuperating, you may need a carer to help with daily tasks. If that’s the case, you could claim back any associated costs. This might include a payment for the time of a relative who supported you. Alternatively, you could ask for professional carer’s fees to be reimbursed. - Home adaptations.
When a claimant is left with a disability, making changes to the home could help them cope with everyday life. If the disability was caused by the accident, you may be able to claim for the cost of any necessary changes. - Lost earnings.
If your employer doesn’t offer full sick pay, being away from work while injured can prove costly. You could therefore request lost income to be paid back. - Future lost income.
Similarly, if you cannot continue in the same job following your accident, you could claim for future lost income. This could cover the difference between what you are able to earn and what you could’ve earned had you not been injured.
What Is A Personal Injury Claim?
There are certain criteria that must be met before you can make a personal injury claim. This means that you must be able to prove that:
- You were owed a legal duty of care; by
- A person who caused an accident because they were negligent; and
- You suffered an injury as a result.
If you can’t prove all of those things, an insurer is highly likely to deny liability for your claim. That’s where a personal injury lawyer could help you. With their legal experience, they should be able to prove the duty of care by referring to the correct piece of legislation. Once that’s done, they could argue, on your behalf, that the defendant was at fault by using the evidence you’ve supplied to them.
Why not contact our team today to check if your claim meets these eligibility criteria? Our assessment of your claim and free legal advice is provided on a no-obligation basis so you’ve got nothing to lose by speaking to us today.
Why Do Insurance Companies Deny Liability For An Accident?
There are several reasons why an insurer might turn your claim down. They include:
- If you have given incorrect information. For example, if you provided the wrong date for the accident, it could cast doubt over other evidence provided.
- Where you have failed to disclose something on the claim questionnaire. For example, if you had a pre-existing health condition.
- Lack of due care. Your claim might be rejected if you can’t show that you took care to try and prevent it.
Even if your accident was caused by the defendant, their insurer will scrutinise all aspects of your evidence. That’s why we’d advise having a legal representative. Furthermore, we would advise that if the insurer contacts you directly, you forward any requests to your lawyer. They will check everything is correct before responding on your behalf so that your claim is not denied on the basis of a mistake.
For free legal advice on what to do if you’re thinking of claiming, please speak to one of our specialists today.
What Happens If An Insurance Company Denies Your Claim?
To avoid a personal injury claim being denied, you can gather evidence to demonstrate that your claim meets the relevant criteria. You must prove that you sustained harm as a result of a third party’s negligence. Negligence is when someone breaches the duty of care they owe you.
Evidence you can gather to support your claim could include:
- CCTV or other similar recordings of the accident
- Contact details of witnesses who can provide statements at a later date
- Police report, if applicable
- Pictures of the hazard that caused your accident
- Pictures of the injuries you sustained
You may be wondering what happens after an insurance company accepts liability. If the defendant accepts liability, you may be offered a settlement which your solicitor can ensure is fair and relevant to your case.
For more information on what you can do if an insurance company that has denied your claim in the UK, please speak to one of our team. They can also offer information about the services the solicitors from our panel could offer. Call on the number at the top of the page.
What Could You Do If The Other Party Has Denied Liability For The Accident?
If your claim is turned down on the basis of liability, there are a number of steps you could take. These include:
- Writing to the insurer and asking for a formal response detailing why they have rejected your claim.
- Review the evidence you have supplied to make sure everything is correct.
- Get an independent assessment of your case. This is where we could help. Our team offers no-obligation reviews of any case. An advisor will review what’s happened and give free legal advice on what your next steps might be.
In practice, we’d advise contacting our team before negotiating with an insurance company. That’s because, if your case is accepted by a solicitor from our panel, they will ensure you have ample evidence to back up your claim before it is sent to the insurer. By thoroughly checking everything before you start the claim, your solicitor could drastically reduce the chances of your claim being rejected.
Please call us today if you’re considering starting a personal injury claim and we’ll begin the claims process.
Could A Solicitor Help Me Make A Claim?
As we have explained already, our advice is that a claim could be made easier with the right legal representation. When dealing with an insurance company, they could dispute on legal grounds and you may not be sure what this means.
If you are represented by a personal injury solicitor, you’ll benefit from their legal training and experience in handling claims. That means they’ll do a lot of the checking that the insurer would do before submitting the claim. In effect, this gives the insurer fewer reasons to be able to turn your claim away.
Also, we believe that using a personal injury lawyer could result in a higher compensation amount. If an insurer deals directly with claimants, the claimant may not know what they could include and also what amount their injuries should be awarded. However, a lawyer will make sure the correct process is followed so that evidence like medical reports can be supplied to try and ensure your settlement is fair.
How Do I Make A Claim If The Other Party Is Denying Liability?
Our advice in this situation is not to work on the case alone.
If your claim is rejected, it’s always worth asking us for free legal advice on your options. It might be that that the insurer does not have a valid reason for denying the claim. Call our advisors today to have your case assessed for free. The claims team can look at all the evidence you have and assess your claim against the eligibility criteria. If the advisors can see that your case is legitimate and has a good chance of being awarded compensation they can offer to refer you to our panel of solicitors.
If they accept your case, they’ll re-check the evidence you supplied and look at the reasons your claim was rejected. Then they’ll use their legal expertise to try and counter the objections that led to the rejected claim.
If you are in a situation where your claim has been rejected, or you’d like your case assessed for free, why not call our team today?
No Win No Fee Claims Where An Insurance Company Has Denied Liability For An Accident
It is quite common for a claim to be delayed because the claimant is worried about how much they’ll have to pay for legal representation. Having a solicitor is not a legal obligation but as we have shown in this article they can really benefit your case.
To start your claim, the solicitor will check if it is feasible. Once they’ve done so, you’ll receive a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) if they are happy to work for you. The CFA will provide details about what the solicitor needs to do to get paid. Furthermore, it will show you that:
- You will not be asked to make payment upfront to your solicitor.
- No solicitor’s fees will be requested while your claim is being handled.
- If the claim does not succeed, you won’t be liable for any solicitor’s fees whatsoever.
In fact, the only time solicitor’s fees will be paid is if they win compensation for you. When that happens, a success fee will be deducted from your settlement figure. This is listed as a percentage of your compensation in the CFA which means you’ll know how much is payable before you sign up with the solicitor. By law, success fees are capped so that overcharging doesn’t happen.
If you want us to check your eligibility to fund your solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis, please contact our specialists today.
Contact Us
Thank you for reading through our article about what to do when an insurance company has denied liability in an injury claim. If you believe that you have a valid claim, and would like us to provide free legal advice, you can:
- Call our team and explain what happened on 0161 696 9685.
- Ask an advisor to explain the claims process in live chat.
- Set out your claim by filling in our online enquiry form. An advisor will call you back when it is convenient.
So that your time isn’t wasted, we will always be open about the likelihood that you’ll be compensated. When you get in touch, an advisor will listen to what has happened and offer free legal advice. If there’s a chance your claim might be successful, we could partner you with a personal injury solicitor from our panel. Should they accept your claim, it will be managed on a No Win No Fee basis.
More Information
You have now completed our article on what to do when an insurance company has denied liability. In this last section, we have added some links to external articles which might prove useful when claiming. If you have any further requirements, please contact our team today.
Financial Ombudsman – Information on how the ombudsman can help with complaints about insurance companies.
Vehicle Insurance Rules – Government information about what level of cover is required by drivers.
Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 – A law that means employers must have insurance in place to cover workplace accidents.
To demonstrate some of the other types of claims we could help with, please take a look at some of our guides below:
Wrongful Death Claims – Details about how to claim if a relative or loved one is killed unlawfully.
Head Injury Claims – A guide that explains when you could start a claim for head injuries sustained in a no-fault accident.
Negligent Optician Claims – Information on making a claim if you’ve suffered due to an optician’s negligence.
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Published by AL.