Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.  Fairytale of New York blasting on the Sonos speakers.  Trying desperately to keep up with Gordon Ramsey as he shows you how to cook the ultimate turkey on the television.

We all have our Christmas traditions, the thought of which brings a winter warming smile to our face. 

The insurance industry have their own Christmas traditions.  Unfortunately, it is not a tradition in the Good King Wenceslas tradition and never brings a smile to my face. It is “the Christmas offer” and it is the furthest thing you can get from a Christmas box. 

The origins of the Christmas offer are now lost to us but its spirit has been passed down from insurer to insurer from the dim and distant past when first Christmas was acknowledged by the insurance industry.  Different insurers approach it slightly differently but the overall effect is the same – to make a deliberately, and obviously, low offer to settle a compensation claim in the weeks leading up to Christmas in the hope that the financial pressure that we all feel at this time of year will lead to a compensation case being settled for less than its true value.

Ever wily, however, insurers like to keep everyone on their toes and it would certainly not be true to say that all offers from all insurers at this time of year fall into the “Christmas offer” category.  Some offers made at this time of the year will be entirely fair, reasonable and towards the upper end of the range of awards that a court would make.  It will depend upon the case, the insurer and, indeed all too often, the solicitors pursuing the claim.

It is a complex business and one where you have to be very vigilant; know the insurers and their tactics; and how the process works completely.  In short, you need an expert firm of solicitors like Thompsons in your corner to avoid the post Christmas blues and ensure that you get the full compensation to which you are entitled.

It's no vain boast when we say that you can three times more compensation with Thompsons.