Coronavirus and Personal Injury Claims

The current pandemic has affected and changed various processes and procedures across the world. Individuals in a broad range of skilled fields have had to adapt in order to allow professions to run smoothly.

The coronavirus has had an impact on the progress of various personal injury claims for a variety of reasons.

One of the main reasons has been the delay in obtaining evidence such as medical reports to support the claim. Currently, there has been an increase in cancelled appointments, this is to allow the medical professions to focus on placing resources into assisting the outbreak. The appointment centres have also been closed to the medical experts and general public. This decision was also made to minimise the risk of spreading the virus from the medical experts to the Claimant.

Some of the medical experts have been able to improvise and allow consultations to take place over Zoom and Skype. In some cases, this has minimised delays in providing the medical reports as the experts will use medical records and the discussions during the appointment to assist with preparing the report. However, in some cases Claimants have raised their concerns as to the accuracy of the reports due to a physical examination not being able to take place.

Depending on the type of claim it may not be possible for the consultation to take place over Zoom or Skype. Especially, when in normal circumstances the medical expert would be required to carry out a physical examination.

However, in cases where the assessment is for psychological claims, the medical expert will be able to carry out their assessment over Zoom or Skype as a physical assessment is not required. This will also be beneficial to the Claimant as they will be able to undertake the appointment in the comfort of their own surroundings and can avoid the travel to attend the appointments.

If you would like further advice in connection with the matters raised in this article then please contact Mr McCusker on 02476 229 582.