The wait
Years, not months.
We will not pretend otherwise.
Eighteen months to four years is normal. Anybody who promises you faster is guessing, and probably selling. What you get from us instead is always knowing which part of it you are in.
Eight stages
We control 3 of them. Here is which.
The bars are drawn against each other, so the long ones look long. That is the honest shape of it.
We take it down
UsAt the office, at your house, or in the ward. We start on the accident report and the hospital records the same week.
Week one
Chasing paper
Hospitals, the policeThe docket, the hospital file, the ambulance record, a letter from your employer. Slow, because other people hold it. We chase weekly and we tell you what we were told.
Months one to four
The examinations
SpecialistsYou are seen by the experts your injury calls for. Each writes a report. This decides what the claim is worth, and rushing it costs you money.
Months three to nine
Lodging it
UsThe claim form and everything behind it goes in. From that day the Fund has its own period before anyone may sue it.
Month six to ten
Waiting on the Fund
The FundThe longest part, and nobody controls it. We follow up on a schedule. When there is no news you will hear that there is no news.
Months ten to twenty-four
Summons, then pre-trial
The courtsIf the offer is not good enough we issue summons. Most matters still settle before trial, and a fair number on the courthouse steps.
Months eighteen to thirty-six
Settled, or run
Both sidesAn order by agreement, or the matter runs. Fewer than one in ten of ours ever reaches a trial on the merits.
Months twenty-four to forty-eight
Paid
Us, then youThe money comes into our trust account and goes out to you. Future treatment is covered by a certificate rather than cash, and that certificate does not expire.
Within 180 days
The waiting is the worst part of this.
Not the paperwork and not the court. The months where nothing visible happens and you start to wonder whether anybody is doing anything at all.
Ring and ask
Any working day. You will be told the stage, the date we last chased, and what was said.
We phone you first
When something moves, you hear it from us before you have to ask.
No date we cannot keep
We would rather give you a range you can trust than a date that makes you feel better this week.
The clock only starts once somebody opens the file.
If nobody has opened yours yet, that is the call to make today.