Crash- Medical Examination Issues

Earlier this year Michelle* unfortunately was hit from behind in her car

. She contacted Find a Medico Legal Expert.com to recount the difficulties she encountered when her medical examination was passed by her solicitors to be dealt with by a medical reporting organisation. As Michelle recounts she discovered in the period after her crash that her nightmare had only just begun.

The crash

"I was stationary in my car at a set of traffic lights when I was hit from behind by a car driven by a young man.

At the time I was shook up but didn't immediately feel any discomfort. There were passers-by who came over to assist me, as did the driver of the car, I recall he kept saying sorry to me and said he hadn't been paying attention.

An ambulance had been called by one of the passers-by and I was taken to hospital as I began feeling feint and my back was beginning to hurt. I was seen by a doctor and eventually was able to go home once my husband came to pick me up. The following day my back pain became worse and I had to phone in sick from work as I found it difficult even to sit up. This caused me added stress as I was not entitled to sick pay, my husband and I have a mortgage and children to support so this was always at the back of my mind.

The Personal Injury Claim

My real difficulties however happened afterwards- I was contacted by the insurance firm who explained that the case was being dealt with by lawyers acting on their behalf. I accepted this and felt they had the experience to properly handle my claim and make sure I was properly compensated and received rehabilitation for my back, after all my car was written off, I was forced to go sick from work and the crash was in no way my fault.

Over the following days I received a letter and calls from the lawyers updating me on the progress of my claim, this seemed to be ok and I was comforted, I was still off work but at least I felt the matter was being addressed.

I then received a letter from another Organisation, who said they were a medical agency acting on behalf of my solicitors. I was not entirely happy with this as I did not know who this company was. The lawyers may have mentioned it to me in their letter but with all the things that were going on I was unaware who these people were. It was clear however from the letter that the medico legal firm were arranging a medical report on behalf of the solicitors but I wanted further explanation so I phoned the medico legal firm and spoke to someone who was abrupt and, quite frankly rude, she told me in no uncertain terms that I had to direct my enquiries to my solicitor.

This caused me irritation as the manner of the person from the medical agency didn't even seem to acknowledge that I was any concern of theirs. I felt irritated, I was after all the innocent injured person, but to her it seemed I was just a by-product of the claim and she continuously told me to speak to my solicitors if I had any problems and was not warm or in any way helpful.

The medico legal firm sent me instructions requesting I fill out a form so they could get my medical records, I filled this in and returned it back to them, another point that I found unhelpful was that they did not even give me a self-addressed envelope to return my form. I had to buy a stamp and send it back to them. I know this may seem minor but the solicitors and insurers had seemed helpful but this medical agency definitely was not.

The letter from the medico legal firm said that I would see a doctor so, after waiting several weeks without an appointment, I tried to contact the medico legal firm again. This time the person I spoke to said their records showed that they were waiting for the medical records to be obtained and he promised to find out and call me straight back. The call never came, so I phoned the solicitors the next day to complain as I had had enough.

The lawyer I spoke to agreed that I was receiving a substandard service from the medico legal company and was unhappy as well. He said he would call the medico legal firm to find out. He phoned me back that day to say that the agency had said they never received my consent form, which I had sent to them giving permission to release my medical records.

I was shaking with aggravation, the company seemed unconcerned about how I felt and did not take any responsibility for their failure. I had to fill in another form and waited several weeks eventually I saw a doctor who was actually very thoughtful and said he would recommend I receive rehabilitation for my back pain. I did explain my frustrations regarding my claim and he also made a comment that his secretary had received several telephone calls from the agency weeks ago checking if they had received any medical records (even though they had not even requested my records as they had lost my form!)

The Aftermath

I wanted to let Find a Medico Legal Expert know this as I totally agree with the purpose of your website. The medical legal agency did not ever make me feel like I was their client and were very inconsiderate. The solicitors were helpful but I got the feeling they had issues with the agency as well so I felt if they had just instructed the medical professional themselves rather than passing my claim to that agency I could have been spared the many weeks of frustration.

In conclusion I wanted to let you know that I am not alone in this as at my office another co-worker of mine also had a similar encounter when she was in an crash. She had suffered injuries and said that she had issues with trying to contact a medico legal agency to get an appointment to see their medical doctor,

I wish your organisation the very best in your attempts to change this process.

Michelle

*Michelle asked for her privacy that her surname is not released

by: Medico

Crash- Medical Examination Issues

Earlier this year Michelle* unfortunately was hit from behind in her car

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