What happens after my personal injury claim form has been submitted?

Once the legal expenses provider has received your claim form they will need to firstly check there is a suitable section of cover within your policy for your particular personal injury claim.

Sometimes there are certain exclusions within legal expenses policies which may relate to a personal injury claim.  For example, it is quite normal for a basic homeowners insurance policy to exclude any personal injury claim involving the driver of a motor vehicle.  Another common exclusion relates to claims which arise gradually or which are not as a result of a sudden accident.

The legal expenses provider will consider your claim form based on the information you have provided to them.  They will need to have enough information to be able to assess the legal prospects of your personal injury claim.  Usually there will be a clause in your basic homeowners insurance policy which states that any potential claim must have a reasonable prospect of succeeding. Your claim will normally be assessed by a legally qualified person.  They will need to establish whether it is more likely than not that your personal injury claim will succeed.

If the legal claims assessor is satisfied that your claim has a reasonable prospect of success they will contact you to tell you they are willing to fund your claim.

Most legal expenses insurers will have a panel of firms of solicitors which they use for settling personal injury claims however in some circumstances you may be able to choose your own solicitor to act for you.  Whether you have a choice of solicitors will very much depend on your basic homeowners insurance policy wording.  

Once a solicitor is agreed by your insurer, they will then act on your behalf to obtain compensation from whoever was responsible for your accident. Make sure they have experience in settling personal injury claims. You will normally liaise directly with the instructed solicitor from this point onwards.

If the legal claims assessor is not of the opinion that your claim has a reasonable chance of success then they will normally write to you.  The letter should explain why your claim has been unsuccessful.  If you have any further information to submit to the insurer then it is a good idea to do so as this might be enough to support your claim and to show that it does have reasonable prospects of success.  

If you are unhappy with the reason that your claim has been rejected you will have the right to appeal against the decision that has been made.  You will need to contact the legal expenses provider, not your homeowners insurance company to find out what their procedures are and what you need to do to appeal.  

If your appeal is unsuccessful you have the right to make a formal complaint.  It is only normally advisable to do this is you believe your claim has not been considered correctly or if you do not feel that you have been treated fairly. Contact details of where you can write to make a complaint will be in your basic homeowners insurance policy.