Your Claimant Journey With Us

• We’ll aim to book your appointment within 3 days of receiving your instruction.
• We are able to provide appointments covering 99% of the postcode areas in England and Wales
• On average 90% of claimants travel less than 15 miles to their appointment.
• We can arrange an appointment near to your home, place of work or education. Should you meet the criteria for Covid-19 vulnerability (you can check this here), we may also be able to arrange for a remote appointment to take place via video (you can view our Video Appointment Guide here). The Medical Expert will decide if you meet the remote appointment criteria and will talk to you about this prior to commencing a remote appointment.
• Your appointment will usually take place within 20 days of you instructing us, but if you’re busy and need to delay then that’s fine, just let us know.

We have both male and female Medical Expert’s providing appointments at access friendly venues, seven days a week, in the morning, afternoon and evenings. But if you have particular requirements you have not been able to request via the OIC Portal just let us know as early as you can so we can ensure we book an appointment that meets your needs.

If travelling to your appointment we recommend you plan your route in advance so you can arrive on time. Contact us if you encounter any problems and we will do our best to help you get there.

It is important that the Medical Expert that writes your report is truly independent therefore if you recognise the Medical Expert your appointment is with, or have ever been treated by them before, you must let us know as soon as possible and not proceed with your appointment. We will book you in with someone else.

If you are unable to attend your appointment please let us know as soon as possible by phone or e-mail and we can re-arrange this for you. It’s important to know that appointments unattended without any warning may incur a non-attendance fee.

The Medical Expert will need to demonstrate that they have examined the right person, so please take identification with you to your appointment. Photographic ID is preferred however in order of preference you may provide any of the following:

• Passport
• Photo Driving Licence
• Original Birth Certificate
• Bank Statement/Utility Bill
• Credit or Bank Card

The appointment in some cases is the Medical Expert’s only opportunity to gather all the information required to complete your independent medical report; it would therefore help the Medical Expert if you provide them with information they need, along with the corresponding dates, about:

• Any previous incidents
• Absence from work as a result of this incident
• Treatment you have received following this incident
• Previous medical history that is relevant to the incident being assessed
• Injuries relating to your incident to discuss with the Medical Expert
• Only injuries that are discussed during your appointment will be included in the completed medical report

You can be accompanied to your appointment if you’d like; the Medical Expert will however require the full name and relationship of the person coming with you (unless they are a minor). They need to know because this information has to be recorded within your medical report. Also some of our Medical Experts may ask to see their ID just to confirm their identity.

The appointment is likely to last 15 to 20 minutes. If your injuries are complex or if a further medical report is required your appointment may take longer. To ensure the information you give is recorded fully and accurately, the Medical Expert may need to use their computer throughout the appointment. Please be aware that your appointment might involve a physical examination. Dependent on your injuries this may require you to remove some items of clothing. Should you have any queries regarding this, please contact our team and let us know.

The Medical Expert will not provide you with any medical treatment so it’s important that you do not delay seeking help from your local healthcare services if you are experiencing difficulties.

The Medical Expert will prepare and supply your medical report to us. It will be checked by our experienced team before we upload it to the OIC Portal for you. This is usually within 30 days of you instructing us unless we’ve delayed the appointment at your request.

If you have any further questions about your appointment just give us a call on 0333 414 1988 or drop us an e-mail.

This section will cover your personal details such as your name, date of birth, address and occupation. It will also provide an outline of the instructions, the duty of the Medical Expert and a brief description of the accident including when it happened.

All of the information in this section must be factually correct and you should let us know if it’s not. Don't worry if something is missing such as the make and model of the vehicle, this information is not necessary in order for the Medical Expert to formulate an opinion so might be left out.

In this part of the report the Medical Expert will cover symptoms you have had and any treatment you have sought since your accident. It will include details about whether there was already pain that has been made worse due to the accident, any improvement or deterioration in symptoms since the accident and, if you’ve already recovered, they will note when this was. Physical as well as psychological injuries and symptoms will be covered and if you think something isn’t right or missing then please give us a quick call on 0333 414 1988 or drop us an e-mail. 

The report will include details of any accidents you have been involved in before and that were discussed at the examination. The Medical Expert needs to consider if there is any overlap of your symptoms or injuries. The Medical Expert will also address any pre-existing health conditions you might have and form an opinion on whether these may have been made worse as a result of the accident.

Put simply this just means how the accident has impacted upon your home or work life, for how long and if it still is. It will cover things about work or education such as time off or having to reduce duties and it will also focus on your home life and the effect the accident might have had on things like your hobbies, housework and social plans.

In this section the Medical Expert will include details of the physical examination that took place at the appointment and their observations about this. It is important to remember that this is focused only on the injuries you have sustained as a result of the accident. If your appointment took place remotely because of Covid-19 vulnerability, then a physical examination will not have taken place and so the content will be based on the Medical Expert’s observations during the video appointment. 

This part of the medical report details the Medical Experts opinion on the following:

• Whether the injuries and the impact they have had seem reasonable and proportionate to the accident that happened taking into account your individual circumstances
• The impact the accident and therefore injuries/symptoms have had on your work/education and home life based on what you have told them
• How long they think it will take you to fully recover from the accident
• Whether more time is needed before they can make a final opinion on your recovery time
• If they think you will suffer future consequences because of the accident and what these might be
• Whether they would recommend further treatment and if so, what this is
• If they think you need a further examination and medical report by a Medical Expert who has different expertise to them because your injuries/symptoms are more complex and therefore outside the scope of their experience