The Impact of COVID-19 on Injury Compensation Claims at Ibbotson Brady
John here blogging again and really hoping that all friends, colleagues and clients are safe and well in these very worrying times.
I thought I should let you know how we are coping with and addressing the crisis here at Ibbotson Brady Solicitors.
I took the step of sending all of my work colleagues to work from home in the week of the 16th March 2020. I continued going into our offices alone until the government announcement on 23rd March 2020 that everyone who could do so, should work at home. Since then, I too have worked from home. The only exception to that has been a very quick 20 minute trip to the office twice a week to pick up any “snail mail” and to check nothing is amiss.
At times like this the planning that is put in place for unforeseen challenges during better and more normal times is well and truly tested to the limit. I am pleased to report that our plans have worked very well so far and we are, as far as possible, working pretty normally.
Our very secure top of the range case management software is cloud based and therefore it is entirely suitable for working from home. It is working just as smoothly as it does in normal times. Our high spec laptops and home IT solutions are also working splendidly.
Our very sound position overall as a business means that there has been no need for us to give any consideration to “furloughing” staff, reducing or limiting pay or considering any redundancy. Everyone here is working and being paid absolutely as normal – except that we are doing it at home!
Phones are working as normal, although sometimes we are having to take messages and then make calls back because our switchboard is being run remotely too. This is safer for our reception staff of course.
Email is 100% normal.
For the time being we, like everyone else, are having to avoid seeing clients face to face, but we are coping well, with the liberal use of telephone, video calling and email and the kind reaction of our clients. We are doing our best!
The world still turns of course and, sadly, accidents and injuries still happen. This means that we have still had quite a few new enquiries and the resulting new clients who we are already helping.
If you need us or have a query, don’t feel that you have to wait until the lockdown has ended. We can help you now, so give us a call for a free conversation, or send an enquiry through the website as normal.
One worry that we did have as the crisis began to unfold was that we feared that our “opponents” – usually the insurance companies for the person or company who caused our client to be injured – might not be in a position to respond to us as normal. It is all very well us being able to continue with our work, but unless our “opponents” are able to respond we are not able to make much progress.
At first our interactions with insurers and their responses were slow, but they have now picked up as, I assume, they have kitted out their workforces with what they need to work well from home too.
I am pleased to say that I have found the insurers to be hard but fair and well-motivated to keep things moving for my clients. In many respects the atmosphere between “opponents” is the most cooperative that I can recall. Pragmatism seems to be trumping tribalism.
All in all, things are going about as well as I could hope for and the service to our clients remains of our usual very high standard.
I will update folks again shortly, but in the meantime, and most importantly I wish people a safe, healthy and peaceful time.
Very best wishes,
John