A claimant attends a medical examination expecting a consultation. It lasts twenty minutes, the expert is brisk, and she comes out feeling that she did not explain how much the injury has affected her.
The report describes a modest injury with a short recovery. It is not wrong on the medicine and it is missing most of what actually happened to her life, because nobody explained what the appointment was for.
1. Explain what the report is for
It establishes the injury, its cause, its effect and the expected recovery. It is the document that determines the value of the claim and claimants do not realise that.
2. Explain who the expert is
Independent, instructed for the claim, not a treating doctor and not on anybody's side. Claimants frequently assume the expert works for the other party.
3. Say what the appointment involves
A history, an examination and questions about daily life. Short, focused and not a treatment appointment, which is what most claimants expect.
4. Prepare the claimant properly
To describe the effect on work, sleep, hobbies, family life and daily tasks, concretely and with examples. This is the material that frequently goes unsaid.
5. Encourage them to keep a record beforehand
What they cannot do, what hurts, what has changed. Somebody with notes describes their situation far better than somebody recalling under pressure.
6. Tell them not to exaggerate
Experts are experienced at recognising it and it undermines an otherwise good claim entirely. Honest description is both right and more effective.
7. Tell them not to minimise either
Claimants habitually say they are managing fine, because that is how people talk. The report records what was said.
8. Explain the treating records
That medical records are obtained and read, and that gaps or inconsistencies matter. This is why seeing a doctor early is worth doing.
9. Explain that further reports may be needed
Specialist opinions, updated reports where recovery is slower than expected, and what that does to the timeline.
10. Explain the review process
That they will usually see the report and can correct factual errors, which is different from disagreeing with the opinion.
11. Cover the psychological element carefully
Where an injury has affected mental health, that needs its own evidence, and claimants rarely raise it without being asked.
12. Explain who pays for the reports
How medical evidence is funded during the claim and what happens to those costs at the end.
13. Keep the timing discipline
Early medical attention supports a claim, which is why evidence and limitation are one conversation, as covered in time limit questions in injury enquiries.
14. Answer the evidence questions early
Claimants ask about this at the outset, which is the ground covered in medical evidence questions claimants ask early.
15. Be clear about who is responsible for what
The division between what the firm does and what the claimant must do is the same clarity needed in content and copy responsibility questions in web projects.
16. Explain and prepare automatically
An assistant that describes what the examination involves, what to prepare, what to bring and how long it takes, handled with the care in how to handle sensitive questions in your chatbot, means a claimant walks in ready to describe what actually happened to her. See features, start at try, and the sector view sits under law firms.