Personal Injury Lawyers Perth for Motor Vehicle Accident Injury Claims 

We are often contacted by claimants, who having pursued their personal injury claim without seeking the assistance or advice of a personal injury lawyer Perth, have received a settlement offer from the Insurance Commission of WA. They explain that they are concerned that they are unable to determine if the settlement offer is fair or reasonable, as they don not have the requisite legal knowledge or claims’ experience, to be able to calculate what their claim is actually worth. In this situation, we regularly find that there is insufficient evidence available for us to be able to adequately assess the settlement offer and provide our advice, due to the fact that the claimant did not know that they needed to obtain evidence or what evidence was required or how to obtain it. Our advice in this situation is that we would need to obtain the further required evidence in order to be able to properly assess the settlement offer. Sometimes the further medical evidence would also be needed to ensure that the claimant is not suffering any underlying medical conditions or personal injuries that have not been identified. This places the claimant in a difficult and unfortunate situation, as they have to decide whether to: (a) accept the settlement offer, without knowing if the amount offered is sufficient to cover the full extent of their personal injuries and losses; or (b) reject the offer and seek to obtain the further required evidence - with the risk being that the Insurance Commission of WA might subsequently make a reduced offer, which can occur if the further required evidence turns out to be unhelpful to the claimant’s claim. The Insurance Commission of WA might also refuse to reimburse the claimant for the costs associated with obtaining the further medical evidence, which is significant, as reports from medical specialists usually cost thousands of dollars. You can avoid the above situation by seeking advice and assistance from a personal injury lawyer Perth at the outset of your claim. In many cases, we personally will advise a claimant that they do not currently, and may not at any point, require our assistance. We are nevertheless happy, and at no charge, to provide them with guidance for their personal injury claim and to answer any questions they might have, so as to ensure that they do not end up in the difficult and unfortunate situation discussed above. Should it subsequently become clear that they actually will need our help, we will then enter into a costs agreement with them, commence acting for them and provide our ongoing advice and assistance.