Rehabilitation Guide

Rehabilitation is the process of attempting to restore health or mobility to a person following an accident.  The idea is that early intervention will promote better recovery which leads to a better quality of life and the amount of damages being reduced.  Everyone is supposed to win.

Standards of rehabilitation are agreed with the UK Rehabilitation Council.  These provide a framework for organisations offering health and vocational rehabilitation.

The type of rehabilitation appropriate to any individual is usually very specific to them and the injuries they have sustained.  For personal injuries it can range from low level intervention, such as physiotherapy, to intensive rehabilitation including possible attendance at a residential rehabilitation facility.  It can also provide a means of obtaining psychological treatment following an accident without this appearing on your GP or employer records.  However, it is also intended to encompass adaptations at home and/or at work to make life easier and can even be used to help obtain employment.

Rehabilitation is supposed to be provided following road traffic accidents in accordance with the rehabilitation code.  The injured party or their solicitor advises the third party insurer that they believe rehabilitation may be appropriate, providing details sufficient for them to make a decision on this.  Within 21 days the insurer is supposed to respond confirming whether they agree.

Where it is agreed that rehabilitation should take place then, unless there are already reports setting out what is needed, the first step is usually for there to be a rehabilitation assessment.  Most commonly this would be conducted by a nurse, but can vary dependent on the issues.  The report is paid for by the insurer and is outside of any litigation process, so it cannot be used in any claim unless both sides agree.

Where the report recommends intervention then this can only take place if the injured party agrees.  There is no obligation to agree and if the injured party does not agree to follow the recommendations the insurer cannot rely on the report to undermine any subsequent damages claim.

The insurer is supposed to confirm within 21 days of the report whether they agree to the recommendations int he report and to what extent they will pay for these to be implemented.  This is very important.  If there is no agreement that the insurer will pay for the treatment no matter what then there is a real risk that the injured party will have to pay some or all of the costs if they are held to be partly or fully to blame for the accident.  Where the Rehabilitation Code is applied it is part of the code that where an insurer pays for treatment or case management following a rehabilitation report they will not seek to recover any of the cost from the injured party.

Any records of treatment or subsequent case management following a rehabilitation report are not covered by confidentiality, so will form part of the records and evidence in the case. 

The Rehabilitation Code is supposed to apply industry-wide.  However, not all insurers have signed up to the Code.  Where the cost is likely to be substantial and there is a real issue in respect of liability it will often be the case that the insurer will refuse to fund rehabilitation in the meantime as a result.