I got calls from several claims companies. One guy literally said "If you were to remember anything - even a twinge in your neck, even a few days after the accident - we can claim for whiplash and get you money." Eventually he basically said; just make it up, everyone else does - it's an expense that insurance companies expect now and have a fund for.

I told him I'd suffered no injuries in the accident, so he gave up. Then I got another car and my insurance was whacked up, because I'd had an accident. The fact that it was agreed that I was in no way at fault didn't matter - standard procedure. It left me wishing I'd taken the ambulance chaser's cash to cover the increase.

Us and Them.

These days it's less obvious who 'Them' is but certain things, like this, remind you of who (or what) they are. It used to be about class. Now it's about knowing the system, the dream we apparently all dream is to be protected from ourselves despite ourselves, to be able to sue at the drop of a hat.

We used to be cogs in wheels, part of a common aim, which is, relatively speaking, substantial. Now we're the litigious irritation at the end of some rusty spoke that prompts an automated response from a systemised process. And to top it all we can call that response "advice from a solicitor".

What the f**k counts for professional advice these days?

A few years back I was coming out of the Arndale Centre (as was) in Wandsworth. This guy in a suit came up and asked if I'd been in any accidents in the previous year.

I said "Yes. I was walking along when an ambulance went down the road, lights flashing, siren wailing. Next thing I know this guy in a suit came legging it along the pavement in the same direction. Knocked me clean off my feet".

"Oh were you hurt? When did this happen?"

It was absolutely wasted on him.

(get this) I was rear-ended by a motorbike, fortunately for us both at low speed. No injuries, minor damage but repairs needed. When I rang the insurance company to report it, they were more interested in trying to get me to sue the biker ("Are you really sure you're not hurt - not even some soreness?") than they were in getting my car fixed.

I deplore this invented "compo" culture and the idea that it's the insurance company that pays. (Aye, but then our premiums go up don't they?) (Yes Mark: so get your money's worth.) However, it's pretty hard to feel sympathy when even the insurers themselves seem to be at it.

On Another Site. There's not the room there for in-depth discussion, but I should have mentioned that you would be hounded by credit hire/no win no fee 'experts', all out to make a proifit out of your misfortune. They are the scourge of the insurance world, and the effect they have on inflated costs, and spurious medical claims have gone a long way in pushing car insurance premiums to their present levels. There are efforts being made to curb their excesses, but these things grind slowly.

of selling details of road traffic accidents to these shysters?

If everyone was capable of dealing with incidents like this in such a mature and reasonable fashion the world would be a better place.

Bad sending off today by the way - not sure we'd have won 11 v 11.

I'm sitting here with a badly broken leg as a result of a pushbike-car encounter (previously mentioned on this forum in an attempt to elicit sympathy/reading material suggestions). I now face eight weeks on crutches and I'm already fed up with it. However, I've been surprised by the number of colleagues/acquaintances who have expected me to get lawyers involved and to start claiming compensation/damages.
As far as I'm concerned it's just one of those things that happens and I want to carry on and get it all behind me. Fortunately I'm able to work at home so I'm not losing much income. But even so, am I a fool for not claiming my 'full entitlement' in compensation for injury/disability etc from the driver?

forks out millions every year in compensation paid out to people who trip over cracked paving stones or an un-trimmed grass verge on the way back from the Pub or their local crack den or wherever.
Would be better if your local council could instead pool all that money together and spend it on fixing the pavements for everyone, and maybe keep a few libraries, nurseries and swimming pools open. Nope instead lots of dosh goes to these cowboy legal firms and whatever is left goes to Mr Blame-Culture and his wife, Mrs Entitlement to keep them in cigs and pies for a month. Grrrr!

I don't know the full ins-and-outs of this, but based on what you've posted here, it sounds likely that the other driver is making a claim against you. As responsible insurance companies do, yours has appointed a solicitor to represent you, as the defendant in any case that goes to court. If you check the small print of your policy, you should see that it has the right to do that.

Just because the other driver admitted liability at the time, it doesn't mean that he didn't change his mind on discussing matters down the pub/after pressure by his insurer/after seeing an advert for an ambulance-chasing law firm.

But credit-hire car rental companies are the work of the devil.

Try getting these ambulance chasers to settle a claim when the offending driver has disappeared back to Germany. They usually give up after awhile because the paperwork is not forthcoming. In the meantime the renewal premiums get pumped up while you stick with the same insurance company as the claim is ongoing. Oh and the replacement car while your car is off the road? Not if the offending party is a foreign driver I was told. Had to rely on a dinky toy from the repairers.

Ever been injured at a gig? Shoved over in a mosh pit? Believe it or not some of these end up as insurance claims. It was part of my job to deal with these and they went on for years. Usual outcome; £500 settlement to claimant to go away, £4000 to claimant's solicitors and similar amount to insurance company's legal people. The one that most annoyed was from a lady who claimed to have fallen off a kerb, in an area she should not have been in, and was represented by an accident solicitor who was also her husband.

Whatever the Daily Wail will claim, this isn't something that's sprung into life as a consequence of the rise of the Shameless Generation of workshy spongers staggering hungover into the daylight thanks to Gordon Brown's shameful mismanagement of, er, wait a sec, where was I?

Oh yes. This sort of thing's been around for a long time, it's just got better publicity these days, like everything else that's batted around in cyberspace.

I had the experience, 25 years ago, of trying to tell a loss adjuster that no, I didn't want to make a claim, only to be told that I may as well accept a payout, as my insurers had a 'knock for knock' agreement with the other party's insurers.

'But there was no damage to my vehicle.', I argued.
'Doesn't matter.', I was told.
'The other guy's claiming, so you'll get a payout too, as liability is shared. He's claiming for new leathers, boots, etc. etc.'.
'But I'm not admitting liability! I'm not claiming any money either! And he ran into the back of me!'.

(A twerp clipped his Triumph Trident front tyre on my Suzuki exhaust pipe on a roundabout, and slung himself down the road as a result)

After a while you realise you're wasting your breath.

A person at work rode a bicycle on to site, stopped, fell off it and then put in a claim against the company because the pavement they attempted to put their foot down on wasn't high enough. It was quicker and cheaper for them to pay out than to challenge it. "They can afford it" seemed to be the reasoning, however I'm guessing the MD won't be taking that out of his end of year bonus. In the end, I suppose you can only navigate life by the moral compass you've been given, or acquired.

feel a bit better about it by going along with the ambulance-chasing, your insurance premium is going up next year anyway, and when you win donate your 'winnings' to a charity of your choice.

I saw this plastered all over the windows of a firm of Solicitors the other day - which sends out completely the wrong message as far as I'm concerned, but I guess it's just the way things are going these days...

Everyman Crossword

16 ac. Working lunches with a macabre lawyer (9,6).

We've been out by the Thames. I was doing the crossword on the train home when I had the Eureka moment. This blog has permeated my life to such an extent that my next thought was I'll have to post this on the ambulance chaser thread. My next thought was, I hope no-one gets there before me. Oh dear.