My encounter with a taxi door.

Thought I'd update...

The respondents are now getting the police report of the incident; I keep getting letters saying that my solicitors are awaiting response and that I will be kept updated.

I knew that filing a claim may take a while but it's now been almost 7 months since the incident and around 5-6 months since the claim was initiated. The respondents haven't responded despite numerous deadlines. This failing to adhere to deadlines has not been met with any form of punishment, which is quite ludicrous, however if the claim is successful it may be reflected in the damages?

I graduate (hopefully...) in summer and will be a qualified solicitor by the time this claim is settled!

[PyroUK]

Unlucky mate, this sounds like a bloody nightmare!

Is there nothing they can do about them not responding? Maybe add £1k to the settlement for every week they havent responded?

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by ant-g

Thought I'd update...

The respondents are now getting the police report of the incident; I keep getting letters saying that my solicitors are awaiting response and that I will be kept updated.

I knew that filing a claim may take a while but it's now been almost 7 months since the incident and around 5-6 months since the claim was initiated. The respondents haven't responded despite numerous deadlines. This failing to adhere to deadlines has not been met with any form of punishment, which is quite ludicrous, however if the claim is successful it may be reflected in the damages?

I graduate (hopefully...) in summer and will be a qualified solicitor by the time this claim is settled!

Who's you solicitor, you might want to change to one who knows more about motorcycle cases, someone such as White Dalton?

Some needs to poke the other solicitor with a sharp stick, sounds like yours isn't doing that.

[DJ123]

All they are doing is racking up their own money. 7 months, say a letter a week at a cost of at least £75, they are doing OK from it.
After a quick read of the thread, it sounds a pretty simply clear cut case. They've taken 7 months because no one has done feck all about chasing/sorting it.
If it was me, i'd be on to them weekly pushing for action and a response. If not, sack them as a firm and go else where.

These claims take a ridiculous amount of time, i freind of mine had a privatley owned tree fall on him in the street and as far as i know si still awaiting a payout over 2 years on

**** man, hope all is well with regards to any claims.
Hopefully you'll have a speedy recovery, I guess it could have been a lot worse, for you and the bike.
Take care!

There should be some penalty faced for plainly ignoring deadines - £1k a week would be lovely!

My solicitor is a local(ish) firm with several branches but shall go unnamed (I don't want to land myself in hot water). I have rang several times but it shall be more frequently now as I'm getting fed up with waiting.

The injury is fine now thanks. The only issue is that under hard braking and cold weather riding my hand hurts. It also randomly hurts every now and again, plus I can't bend my finger back, but I'm not too bothered about that.

[maviczap]

I'd give them a deadline and then get another solicitor on the case if no progress is made.

Using a specialist firm might speed things up. I know some have done this.

To be fair, your insurance should pay you put for your injury and then claim it back from the 3rd party....

I work for an insurance company and that is what happens here mate. I would give them a call, I assume they are paying the legal bill anyway at the moment so will have a still open file on the incident.

[TamSV]

Originally Posted by ant-g

There should be some penalty faced for plainly ignoring deadines

A summons usually gees them up but your solicitor seems reluctant to litigate.

The claim may not be all that straight-forward:
- it involves a filtering motorcyclist
- was the taxi driver letting his passenger out in the middle of the road or did the passenger decide to open the door without announcing his intentions?
- if the latter, was it a black cab (where the driver usually has some control of the door locks) or a mini-cab (where he usually doesn't)?

Originally Posted by Trickster2445

To be fair, your insurance should pay you put for your injury and then claim it back from the 3rd party....

Very unlikely to be any personal accident cover as standard on a motorcycle policy. The OP may have paid for additional cover but even then it tends to be capital benefits for death, blindness, loss of limb etc so wouldn't pay out in these circumstances.

Originally Posted by Trickster2445

I would give them a call, I assume they are paying the legal bill anyway at the moment so will have a still open file on the incident.

His insurers paying the legal bill? I doubt it. The OP doesn't say if they were involved in the appointment of the solicitors but, even if they were, they're unlikely to be doing much other than banking their £700 referral fee.

To the OP, it would do no harm to get some proper advice at this stage as it doesn't seem to be coming from your current crowd. White Dalton seem to have a good reputation and certainly have good expertise in case where filtering is a factor.

The new LASPO regs are now in place with big changes to the old no-win, no-fee arrangements. That could affect you in terms of costs or your settlement if you switch solicitors now.

That might not be an issue if you had Legal Expenses with your bike insurance, but those policies differ - usually from "not very good" to "utter ****e" - so that would need to be checked out.

A decent solicitor should be able to tell you your options.