A single mother who was permanently disabled in a car crash is heading for court after a two-year battle with an insurance giant.

Claims managers for BF&M Insurance offered Vanessa Simmons $3,500 as a "nuisance payment'' after she suffered three slipped discs in her back following the crash.

But lawyers are now planning legal action against the taxi driver who allegedly bumped into her on Middle Road in Southampton in November 1995.

Thirty-four-year-old Ms Simmons, who can now only work part-time, is pushing for more compensation after doctors told her she was stuck with her illness for life.

Surgeons said she suffered a "permanent partial disability'' in a delayed reaction which kicked in two months after the crash.

Ms Simmons, who nursed a sore neck until January 1996, did not realise she was seriously ill until X-rays revealed the extent of her problem.

And her legal battle took a new twist on Wednesday when insurers offered her the $3,500.

"My lawyer Carlsen Philip called me to say my claim had been denied but there was a small offer for a `nuisance payment','' said Ms Simmons, of Ord Road, Paget.

"I owe my lawyer $15,000 in fees as it is. That offer is ridiculous.

"I'm going to be suffering for the rest of my life and I can't earn the money I will need.

"My three children are still young, I've got clothes to put on their backs and mouths to feed.

"The pain comes and goes but every day I feel it. I'm limping every day and basically I'm stuck with this for the rest of my life.

"The doctors have said there's no surgery that can help me.'' Ms Simmons said she was injured when she was being driven to work by her boyfriend in an open-back Mazda Flatbed truck.

She said her boyfriend, who was driving, stopped when a taxi in front pulled up to drop off passengers outside Heron Bay school.

But seconds later she said there was "a huge thump'' from behind.

"I was pushed against the windshield and I was just astonished by what was going on,'' said Ms Simmons. "I just didn't know what had happened. I didn't feel any pain or anything at the time but the Police came after they were called by the taxi driver behind us.

"They arrived and took details and it was only later that my injuries got worse.'' Ms Simons had been travelling to her evening job at Pizza Dudes on South Shore Road, Paget.

She still has her day job -- as a secretary for architects Derek Mitchell & Associates -- but has now been forced to go part-time after 10 years with the firm.

"I started feeling tired on the evening of the crash and I had a funny feeling in my neck,'' she added.

"That went on for some time. But on January 5, 1996, I woke up and I just couldn't move at all. It was like I was just on ice and I was very frightened.

I thought I was paralysed or something.'' Ms Simmons' GP, Dr. Connor Ryan, sent her to hospital for tests and two slipped discs were discovered in her upper back.

Late last year, doctors found a third disc had slipped in her lower back.

"It's just my life going back and forth to the doctor now,'' said Ms Simmons.

"I go every two or three weeks.

"I've also been told I've got this thing called bursitis, which is a bit like arthritis. I had been waiting a long time for an offer from the insurance company and, quite frankly, I think their offer is measly.

"Now I plan to go to court unless they can see that I need compensation for the rest of my life.

"I've been told I've got a permanent partial disability.'' BF&M spokesman Ross Hillen said the insurance company could not be taken to court but may be liable to pay any damages awarded against the taxi driver.

He added: "We sympathise with Ms Simmons but her only right in law is against the taxi driver.

"The insurance company is not directly involved in any civil action.''