Making A Personal Injury Claim

Making a personal injury claim – an overview

What information you will need to provide us with

We will ask you to tell us how the accident happened, why you consider someone else to be at fault for it, and the injuries you sustained as a result. We will also ask what treatment you have had and whether this treatment is ongoing. Sometimes we may ask you to send us photos of your injuries and details of any witnesses to the incident.

All of this information helps us to assess your likely prospects of succeeding with a compensation claim.

Value of your claim

Dependent upon the nature and severity of your injury, and any longer-term impact upon you, the value of your claim will change, which could affect how you pursue your claim.

If we assess your claim to be over £1,000 in value and consider that another party is at fault, or in part at fault, it will be worth investigating further. We would discuss funding options with you, including the possibility of a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement.

The purpose of the compensation is to return you to the position you would have been in but for the accident. A medical expert will likely be instructed (in a field relevant to your injury) to help quantify your claim.

Compensation is ordinarily split into different heads of claim. These are:

1. General damages – This will include compensation to reflect your injuries, pain and suffering, both past and future, and how the injuries affect your general lifestyle, hobbies, etc. The level of general damages will very much depend on the medical evidence obtained.
2. Special damages – This will include recovery of any reasonable losses and expenses that are attributed to your claim or its consequences. This could include travel expenses to and from medical appointments as a result of your injury, prescription costs, damaged equipment or belongings, etc. It also includes any resulting care needed, or loss of earnings sustained. In cases where there is a real risk of you going on to develop a further consequence of your injury at a later date, e.g. epilepsy following a head injury, we are also able to reflect that in your compensation claim, known as ‘provisional damages’:
3. Provisional damages – This will include compensation to reflect the prognosis of your injury. If following expert opinion/medical evidence, there is confirmation that you are at risk of suffering from any worse condition or conditions in the future, we will be able to seek to recover what is termed ‘provisional damages’. This provides you with the option of returning for increased compensation at a later date, should that condition/risk arise.

Complex injury cases (serious brain injury, spinal injury, and multiple orthopaedic injuries) will mean that the process will tend to be longer, not least of all because it will take you longer to reach a final stage of recovery from those injuries. In more straightforward cases, or those involving more minor injuries, you can hope to receive a settlement within six months to two years from starting the process, providing you can prove fault by another party.

Making a personal injury claim – things to remember

• If you are unsure of anything along the way, don’t be afraid to ask questions. We are here to help you through the process and win/settle your claim.
• Keep a diary of any losses and expenses you have suffered as a result of your injury. Every time you incur a cost because of the accident (even if a relative or friend incurs such a cost) write it down. We will let you know what to keep a note of and will seek to recover those expenses/costs as part of your claim for compensation.
• Let us know about any mental/psychological effects of your injury.
• Get specialist advice at an early point – ordinarily, you have three years from the date of an accident in which to bring a claim. Claims cannot be brought out of time other than in very limited circumstances. The sooner you take specialist advice, the better.