Personal Injury: “How do I get private injury rehabilitation treatment and who pays?”

Question: What is meant by “private rehabilitation treatment”?

Private injury rehabilitation treatment is any treatment recommended to help you get better after you have had an accident and suffered injuries.

It could be for physiotherapy treatment after you have slipped, fallen, and hurt your knee, or it could be psychological treatment in the form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) after you were the passenger in a serious road traffic accident, or maybe it’s corrective surgery after a botched beauty treatment.

It also refers to other forms of  injury rehabilitation and essentially encompasses anything our medical experts recommend to help you recover from your injury symptoms.

Question: How do I access private rehabilitation treatment?

During your claim, we ask our medical expert(s) to meet with you to have a chat about the accident, the injuries you suffered and how you have been coping since. After the meeting the medical expert(s) will then provide a report which will detail the injuries you have suffered and the rehabilitation treatment that is recommended to help you recover faster.

Once we have the medical expert opinion, we will then either:-

a) Ask the Defendant Insurer to give us money for the treatment recommended (known as an “interim payment”) if liability has been accepted; or
b) If liability has not been accepted we will discuss with you and advise on alternative access routes for treatment which are bespoke to each individual client.

Question: What medical experts do you use, what are they for and who pays their fees?

We have a range of quality claimant focussed medical experts on our books. The type of expert you will need will very much depend on the injuries you have sustained, for example:-

• Injuries to limbs / back / neck -> Orthopaedic Expert
• PTSD, Psychological Trauma -> Psychological or Psychiatric Expert
• Injuries to the head/brain -> Neurology / Neuropsychology
• Pain without an orthopaedic cause /CRPS -> Pain Expert

And the list goes on.

No two accidents or injuries are the same, and this is why we have a vast catalogue of medical experts on hand to assist.

We pay the fees of the medical experts during your claim and, if your claim is successful we will then request that the Defendant Insurers meet the cost of the medical expert reporting.

Question: What happens with private rehabilitation treatment? How is it arranged?

Once we have the interim payment from the Defendant Insurers, we can either instruct our own clinicians to provide you with the treatment you need. All you need to do is answer the call or email of the rehabilitation secretary to arrange a convenient appointment. We deal with the rest.

We handpick our injury rehabilitation providers and do not use agency third party providers. This helps us to nurture relationships with talented clinicians to ensure that you receive the best quality care and get better quicker.

Question: Why don’t I just go to the NHS?

The NHS is always an option for injury rehabilitation.  And can be extremely important where liability is denied.

Where liability has been accepted access to private treatment is extremely beneficial as it: –

1. Opens up access to talented clinicians in private practice; and
2. reduces the time taken to receive rehabilitation treatment, which in turn
3. means that you can start to feel better quicker.

Making a claim, and then accessing private rehabilitation treatment also reduces the pressure on the NHS for rehabilitation services. I think we can all agree is always a good thing.

Ready to find out more? Get in touch for a free no-obligation chat about your accident and injuries.

We, as APIL accredited lawyers, are proud to place client wellbeing and rehabilitation at the core of our claims. We understand that the main motivation of anyone making a claim is that they simply want to feel better. As well as having the reassurance that injuries suffered aren’t going to cause any trouble in the future.

We are proud to offer a free no-obligation chat with one of our team, in a way that suits you.  To discuss your accident, injuries and potential chances of success in making a claim*.

After all, it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Contact us by telephone, email or via our website to find out more. Or come to our Free Legal Advice Surgery to start your injury claim journey.

A short note regarding time limits for making a personal injury or medical negligence claim.

*You should start an injury claim as soon as possible after the accident has occurred. Or in the case of medical negligence, 3 years from the date of the knowledge of the injury and/or negligence). You must settle your claim or issue it to court before the 3 year anniversary of the accident. After 3 years, if neither of these have occurred the right to claim will expire.