Passenger claim, going to court or not?

i totally agree with Rich, My reasons are slightly more indepth, I am a firefighter and was called out to a Road Traffic Collisionat 1am , upon arrival i was greeted by the paramedic who said "we've been waiting on you" i wasn't sure what he meant, possibly sarcastic about the time we took to get there, no, my step son was a rear seat passenger in a car that was hit by another driver who was in the wrong, he admitted 100% liability. My stepson was not wearing a seatbelt and sustained similar injuries to Vale, 3 inch scar on left hand side of forehead, front teeth knocked out.... he was the only one who was not wearing a seatbelt.... very very lucky to be alive. he has been left with a scar and has had his teeth temporarilly fixed.
The driver and the 4 other occupants have submitted claim forms through the solicitors, my step son has been informed he could claim about 4k approx, he does not work and has no intention of working, and to be honest at 17, i would have thought there would be some self value but no, anyway, my point being that he is likely to recieve some form of claim, but in my eyes, he was not protecting him to the minimum safety requirements by LAW to protect himself and others in the car (front passenger recieved trauma to the rear of the head.... wonder why)
I am just glad that he and everyone else involved in the collision was ok after short spell of medical treatment.  For me, that was something that i found extremely difficult to deal with, i turn up to do my job only to find myself taken off the job and in the back of an ambulance trying to stay focussed and having to make phonecalls and prepare my wife for the news to follow... after two months off work and a number of councilling sessions... i am back to full strength... but my feelings have not changed, they are the same as before this accident, There are enough adverts, warnings, news stories telling us of the minimal requirements when driving a car, if you don't heed the warnings, then ultimately that is your own lookout and do not deserve any gain financially through insurance payouts.

Well weather he should get compensation or not in your eyes, the law says HE IS entitled to compensation regardless or if he was wearing a seat belt or not,

The fact is that HE was hit by another driver of whom was the incompetent one, and thus caused the accident.

Yes the insurance companies will always go for a discount in this instace, and as such will go from anything between liability to be reduced on the overall payout by 50% to 5% or sometimes nothing (depends on the circumstances.

Your solicior will value your claim based on looking at several factors......

Previous awards for this type of injury, what it says in the JSB guidlines, and your solicitors own personal expririence on these matters.

The compensation is always based upon what the medical legal report from the specialist say, as this outlines your injuries, pain and suffering and any future problems you may or may not encounter.

The medical report is always king in personal injury cases.

Your case appears to be straight forwards, and if that was there first offer you as most likely to get another offer on the table, but if you decline that one then they may take it all the way to the steps of the court, and either settle on the day for the amount your solicitor suggested, or they may decide to let a judge decide.

The problem if a judge decides if he does not award any more than the defendants offered to you during litigation then the you will have to pay the other sides costs, so ONLY take it to court if you can be sure that you will get more, otherwise you will end up with alot less once you have paid the other sides costs.

Ultimatley its up to you if you take the offer or not and not up to your solicitor, he/she will just advise you and work in your best interest.

I hope this information is of some use to you.

As for the other people who gave you negative comments ignore them, as you came here for advice on another matter not to be shot down by these people when you have already sufffered enough.

GOOD LUCK with it all, let me know how you get on

Stacy

Im sorry, is it me or are we turning into a bunch of American sissies!! The message I get from this is: how much money can I juice from the system.

I cant stand it..... I dont think you should get a penny. Furthermore, I would advise all judges to lay in wait for cases like these and pounce fining all involved a fee that goes to the lawyers and judge and all parties involved can take a flying f***!

What a joke!