Anyone know about Lawyers?

I was hit by a bin lorry on Friday, my car is totalled.  At first it seemed like minor damage with just a dent to my car and no injury.  Later I find out that the wheel was hit and the suspension is damaged , and now my arm and shoulder are feeling pretty stiff.  The only good news is that the lawyers for the bin lorry company called within a few hours and accepted liability, but they'll just pay what my car was worth and that's not much.  I'm waiting to get a doctor's appointment for my arm.   

I'm considering going full personal injury lawyer.  Anyone have experience in the UK?  Any ideas on what I should be careful of?

Jim

I was hit by a bin lorry on Friday, my car is totalled.  At first it seemed like minor damage with just a dent to my car and no injury.  Later I find out that the wheel was hit and the suspension is damaged , and now my arm and shoulder are feeling pretty stiff.  The only good news is that the lawyers for the bin lorry company called within a few hours and accepted liability, but they'll just pay what my car was worth and that's not much.  I'm waiting to get a doctor's appointment for my arm.   

I'm considering going full personal injury lawyer.  Anyone have experience in the UK?  Any ideas on what I should be careful of?

Jim

Sorry Jim, I hope there's no lasting damage. Have them check out your neck too, shoulder/ arm pain can sometimes be referred from the neck.

Hope you're feeling better soon!
Is this something your car insurance company can help with?

The only good news is that the lawyers for the bin lorry company called within a few hours and accepted liability, but they'll just pay what my car was worth and that's not much.  I'm waiting to get a doctor's appointment for my arm.

They should pay you what it would cost you to replace your car. You can negiotate on the offer and use car adverts in places like Auto Trader.

What did they say about paying your likely additional insurance costs over the next few years?  You will likely have to report this to insurers/potential insurers and that can raise the cost of your car insurance policies, even though it was a no fault accident.

I'm considering going full personal injury lawyer.  Anyone have experience in the UK?  Any ideas on what I should be careful of?

Did you take out the optional extra of Legal cover/Legal insurance with you car insurance? Would have cost something £15 to £20? This Legal cover would be the part of your car insurance that you use for injury claims and for retrieving the extra cost over the years of insurance due to the accident.

Did you have dash cam in your car? The bin lorry likely will.

If you didn't take out the legal cover optional extra on your car insurance, did you take it out on any other insurance policies e.g. Building and Contents insurance polices?  If you did, look to see if covers you.

Is your wife or you, a member of a union? They will often give legal cover.

You can read here about legal cover (it has different names).
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/legal-expenses-insurance

I spent a portion of this weekend reading various legal insurance policies, trying to decide which one to buy next.

From Citizens Advice about what to think about.

An insurer approaches you to settle a claim
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/insurance/insurance/insurance-claims/an-insurer-approaches-you-to-settle-a-claim/

Sorry to hear about your accident. I have no advice or experience with personal accident lawyers.

Thanks for everyone who offered advice, I've read the links.  I talked to my doctor about the sore arm and shoulder and she said it was normal and would go away.  I talked to a lawyer and thought with my American hat on that if I said I'd been hit by a Veolia lorry, had whiplash and they had admitted fault that I'd have a crowd of lawyers outside my door.  They didn't care one jot!  They directed me to some government reconciliation process where if you can prove you've had whiplash for 6 weeks they will give you £650 and if you lose an arm they will give you £2500.   Good thing I wasn't actually hurt seriously.   The soreness has now gone away. 
 
Anyway, it looks like I will just take the money for the value of the car, which will be lower than I would like and avoid the loss of no claims discount because the other side will pay.  No need for lawyers after all.