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New Ministry of Justice Scheme

"Getting compensation when it all goes wrong on the road and it is not your fault is about to get easier for bikers" says Trevor Baker a Partner of Hayward Baker Personal Injury Solicitors

Yes, you read it right!

Whilst the Government are not known for helping bikers in any way, under a new Ministry of Justice scheme, claims for compensation following road traffic accidents after 30th April 2010 is to be streamlined. The aim is to provide an injured biker, the Claimant, with an earlier settlement and therefore a quicker compensation payment where the value of their claim is below £10,000 excluding vehicle costs.

Big time savings when making a motorcycle compensation claim

In the brave new world the injured biker's lawyers will electronically submit a claim form to the other party's insurers and they will have only 15 days to confirm if they accept blame on behalf of their insured driver. This is a big time saving as they currently have 3 months to confirm their position.

If blame is accepted, bikers' lawyers can quickly proceed to getting a medical report to confirm the extent of the injuries and get together any documents to support a financial losses claim, for example, loss of earnings. Once these documents are up together, they are submitted to the insurers with an offer of a figure for which the injured biker will settle their claim. The insurer has another 15 days to consider this offer and to either accept or make a counter offer.

If a settlement cannot be agreed after a few days to negotiate, the papers are sent to Court with a request that either a Judge decides the compensation based on those papers or gives a brief appointment time for the two sides to go to Court and have their say before the Judge decides. Gone is the need to follow a detailed and slow litigation procedure.

A process that has in the past taken a minimum 12-18 months can now be sorted out in a fraction of that time. Also, without the need to go to Court if there is no agreement but the nerves are not up to facing Judge Dread!

However, proceeding under the new scheme is dependent upon a number of factors including there being no dispute on who was to blame and both sides, particularly the other driver's insurers, being able to comply with the prescribed timescales. If they do not, the claim will fall out of the new scheme and must continue under the old slower rules. However, the insurers will want to avoid this as the new scheme is potentially a lot cheaper for them.

So the bottom line for those bikers injured through no fault of their own on the road remains to find themselves a specialist personal injury solicitor who knows about motorcycling, how the new scheme works and how it can be used to your advantage. Oh, and if the worst is going to happen, try and make sure it is after the 30th April 2010!

For any further advice or information, please contact Trevor Baker, Solicitor, on telephone 0844 980 1677 or by email at trevor.baker@hayward-baker.com

News Archive Pages

• Work Accident Compensation
• Personal Injury Compensation
• Car Accident Compensation
• Product Liability
• Personal Injury Legislation