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have been in negotiation with a 3rd parties vehicle insurance…

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have been in negotiation with...

have been in negotiation with a 3rd parties vehicle insurance company for 12 weeks. I'm seeking a loss of earnings settlement after my wife & children were injured in a motor vehicle accident & i had to take over all of the daily duties & chores that my wife would normally have carried out. The ins co have agreed in principle to making a payment, have asked me for protit & loss statements which my accountant drew up, these have been passed on. I am a self employed sole trader living in a rural area, the knock on effect of this accident has been a loss of customers, inability to earn a living & pay bills, mortgage etc. as well as totally destroying my credit rating. Was wondering whether i am able to claim further for interest etc. Have had to increase credit card limits just to survive.

Anyone care to point me in the right direction ? I am now seeking to appoint a lawyer to act on my behalf.
FYI I am in VIC if this helps at all, the other parties ins co is QBE.
Accident happened 24/04/2010, wife & children minor injuries only TAC have informed me that as i was not injured in the accident (i was working & not in the vehicle) that they can & have only assisted with wife & childrens RAV & hospital/medical fees.
I have emails to & in response to my claim which was initiated on 12/05/2010. The vehicle settlement was made by them on 18/06/2010. My wife was not back on the road until 19/07/2010 just as the new school term started. QBE have informed me that they will only pay for loss of earnings from 24/04/2010 (accident date) up until the day they issued the cheque for payment of the written off vehicle i owned & that my wife & children were travelling in. 18/06/2010, we did not receive this cheque until nearlly 14 days after issue, then i had to locate a vehicle & purchase it, complete the work required for a Vicroads roadworthy then insure it & finally put it on the road.
During this period 24/04/2010 - 19/07/2010 i was unable to fulfill my normal work duties & lost at least 4 hrs per weekday of worktime as well as 2 hrs per day each weekend day. My initial claim was for the dates 24/04/2010 - 18/06/2010 which i was instructed by QBE were the only dates that they were liable for.
Now i find myself behind on my mortgage,living on credit cards, and watching my once blossoming business go down the pan !

Forgot to include this the driver of the other vehicle accepted full liability & was charged by the police at the scene for road traffic offences. We at the time had no vehicle insurance & the other driver's ins paid for the loss of vehicle & damaged items in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Submitted: 12 years ago.Category: Australia Law

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Answered in 14 hours by:

8/3/2010

Solicitor: D. Coleman, Lawyer replied 12 years ago

D. Coleman, Lawyer

Category: Australia Law

Satisfied Customers: 1,105

Experience: BEc(SocSci).LLB

Verified

Before I answer, can I ask where you are located?

Kind Regards,

XXXXX XXXXX

Customer reply replied 12 years ago

Hi David,

I included my state in the initial question.

I am in Victoria, Australia approx 1hr from Melbourne.

Regards

ECR

Solicitor: D. Coleman, Lawyer replied 12 years ago

Dear ECR,

If you have sent the information from the accountant, then you can simply wait for a response. It may be the case that you need a valuation of the business done to give an assessment of the impact of the accident on your loss of earnings. There are also some law firms that take on matters such as this on a no win no fee basis. The character of a claim like this is may attract liability for the insurance company on a variety of different grounds. You will need to look at the details of the insurance policy which was covering them to see what they are obligated to cover. You can also look at claiming under the The Transport Accident Scheme which is administered by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and offers a range of no-fault benefits for those injured as a result of a transport accident. The legislation which gives the legal framework for the transport accident regime is the Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic). Some Victoria Firms offer no win no fee arrangements such as this:

1. Slater and Gordon 485 La Trobe Street Melbourne, VIC 3000 Australia Legal Helpline:1800 555 777 Phone:(03) 9602 6888

2. Maurice Blackburn Cashman Level 10,XXXXXMelbourne VIC 3000 T (03) 9605 2700 F (03) 9258 9600

Kind Regards,

XXXXX XXXXX

Edited by D. Coleman on 8/4/2010 at 2:17 AM EST

Customer reply replied 12 years ago

Hi David,

I have already spoken to the TAC as intimated in my original post.

There response was that they are only liable for people actually involved in the road traffic accident, to that end the cases for my wife & children remain open in perpetuity should they become ill or require some form of treatment that can be directly atributed to the accident.

I have also contacted at least one no win no fee legal agency who informed me that they worked primarily with compensation payments related to TAC issues. (it must be lucrative as most offer TAC help)

I shall try once more to talk to the insurance company tomorrow, if i get nowhere with them I shall consult the local solicitor who carried out our house legals to find if he knows of someone locally.

Your reply was exactly the same information that I had mananged to obtain from internet research already.

I shall be seeking not only loss of earnings compensation but now also interest & damages, the knock on effect of them delaying payment has caused many problems for us.

Regards

ECR

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