Here are a collection of questions and answers which you may find useful.
The medical expert will provide a medical report detailing the injuries you sustained in your accident and an opinion on how long it took or will take to recover. You will need this report to be able to value your claim correctly if you are an unrepresented claimant. If you have legal representation, then they will advise you.
For GPs – we will contact you to book a suitable date with one of our experts. We aim to do this within a day of receiving your referral
For consultants – the doctor will normally contact you directly to arrange a suitable date.
We usually arrange an appointment at least 4 weeks post accident as this allows your symptoms to settle. If the accident was more than 4 weeks ago we can usually have you seen by a GP within 2 weeks of receiving your referral.
No. The expert will need to determine how well you have recovered from your injuries. If they saw you within a few days of the accident/incident, it would be hard for them to do this. If you have suffered very serious injuries in the accident, your appointment with the expert will likely be deferred until such a time as you are making a recovery, so the longer-term impact of your injuries is better known.
Advise us as soon as possible as this could result in a DNA Charge (Did Not Attend) which you may be personally liable for.
Your case will then be delayed and non-attendance may result in a fee which you may be personally liable for. The expert may also be unwilling to offer a further appointment.
Simply be prepared for the questioning nature of the examination: our expert has to be thorough as they will be acting as a witness to the court and will need as much detail as possible as to give an accurate and informed opinion. You may be asked to complete a questionnaire before the appointment.
Please arrive at least 10 minutes before your appointment, leaving enough time to park. If you arrive late, our expert may not have enough time to see you and you may be charged a fee for the unattended appointment.
You need to bring 2 forms of identification to your examination, one of which should be photographic ID. You should also bring your completed questionnaire if you have received one.
Appointments vary in length depending on what type of medical expert you are seeing. As a rough guide, a GP examination will take at least 15 minutes, a Consultant examination around 30 minutes and a Psychological examination around 45 minutes to an hour..
Most, but not all, appointments will involve a physical examination to enable the expert to make an objective assessment of your injuries. If you wish, a friend or relative may accompany you during the examination. Alternatively, if you are attending the appointment alone but would still like a friend or relative to be present, please make the expert aware of this in advance.
The expert will ask detailed questions about how your injuries were caused, your symptoms (past and present) and your recovery.
You may find it useful to make a note of what treatment/medication you have received, how much time you had to take off from work and what assistance you required with day-to-day tasks. Take this with you to your appointment.
Treatment will not be provided at your examination although the expert may tell you that they will make a recommendation for treatment in their report. This treatment will then be arranged, where applicable, by your solicitor or insurer.
In most cases we will receive your medical report within 14 days of your examination. We will forward the report to you (if you are unrepresented) your solicitor or insurer and they will then contact you to discuss its contents and arrange any treatment which has been recommended by the expert.
The expert examining you will may need to see all of your medical records so they are aware of any pre-existing conditions. This will enable them to reach an informed opinion and give a definitive prognosis. It is unlikely that your first report will need medical records to be reviewed but if you later see a consultant they will need to see your full medical records. We will contact you if the need arises.