All personal injury claims in Queensland must have a meeting between the parties to attempt to settle the claim. This meeting is called a compulsory conference.
The compulsory conference will be held when both parties have obtained all the evidence they require such as medical reports, income tax and other documents and your lawyer has prepared and given to the insurer a document setting out the amount of your claim.
The parties have to appear in person at the conference and it will usually be held in the offices of your lawyer or your Barrister. Most conferences take a few hours.
Your personal injury compensation lawyers should give you several weeks notice of the date of the conference and should advise you fully on what will occur at the conference, how the conference will proceed, who will be at the conference and the likely outcome of the conference. You should ask your compensation lawyer any questions you have to ensure you fully understand the process.
Generally, your lawyer will retain a Barrister to act for you at the conference. The Barrister will meet with you an hour or so before the conference and advise you as to what they think your claim is worth and what a good settlement amount would be to aim for.
The insurer and perhaps its lawyer will then attend and the parties will meet. Your Barrister will outline your claim and hand to the insurer a Schedule of Damages outlining the amounts of money your claim. This Schedule is generally inflated as a starting point for negotiations. The insurer will then put its case forward.
After this initial meeting the parties will split up and the insurer will make an offer and offers will be made back and forth until hopefully a settlement of your claim in your favour is reached. Remember it is your claim and you are in charge and always have the last say as to any settlement.
Your Trusted Personal Injury Compensation Lawyers
The Partners at Your Claim Lawyers have participated in hundreds of compulsory conferences over many years. It is essential that you have a lawyer on your side that knows what they are doing.
Call Your Claim Lawyers on 1800 968 725 or 0400 839 314 for a free initial consultation with personal injury compensation lawyers.