There are so many factors to discourage you from making a personal injury claim these days. The Westminster Government almost seem to be trying to outlaw claims for whiplash injury and there is a constant undercurrent of suggestion that such claimants are fraudsters or at least exaggerating their symptoms. So, if you are thinking of claiming personal injury compensation following an accident, should you do so? An unattractive “entitlement” mentality Most of us find it difficult to warm to people who claim entitlement to positions or privileges just because of who they are or what they may claim to have done in the past. But legal entitlements are different Fair enough, the legal entitlement to personal injury compensation, where the injury is caused by the negligence of another, is not a "deserving cause" in everyone's eyes. Usually, these doubters are folk who have never been in the position of an injury victim themselves. It is different when you are the victim. Personal injury Continue Reading
Car Insurance: When the “Best Deal” may be False Economy (If In Doubt – Disclose)
When you’re insuring your car, you’re looking for the best deal and that usually means the cheapest deal. In that environment, it is easy to think that a little 'white lie' about your vehicle or your circumstances will not hurt you if it saves you a few pounds. That is a risky and inadvisable approach, as a recent decision from Greenock Sheriff Court illustrates. The claimant in that case had insured his Audi with Zenith Insurance. When the vehicle was stolen, he claimed on his car insurance for the value of the vehicle. The claim was refused. Zenith said they were treating his policy as void. They refunded the premiums he had paid (amounting to about £1,440) but refused to pay him the value of his car (about £20,000). He sued Zenith for payment of the value of the car. He lost. Insurance contracts are contracts of the utmost good faith Basically, this means that you, as the insured, have a duty to disclose all material or “important” facts that might have Continue Reading