How To Make A Personal Injury Claim

If you’ve been injured in an accident or incident caused by somebody else’s negligence, you may be wondering how to make a personal injury claim. Whether you’ve fallen in a shop, had a car crash, been injured at work or simply tripped and fallen on a paving slab on the high street, we’ll explain how the process of making a personal injury claim works and try to demonstrate how much compensation could you be awarded.

If you’d prefer to connect with a claims advisor, ours offer a no-obligation telephone consultation where you can speak with a specialist about your claim. They’ll review everything with you and offer free legal advice on your next steps. If there’s a fair chance you’ll win your personal injury claim, you may be asked if you want to discuss your case with one of our specialist solicitors. They’ll represent you on a No Win No Fee basis if a claim is taken on.

To learn more about how to make a personal injury claim first, please read on. Alternatively, please call 0800 6524 881 if you’d like to talk to a claims advisor right away.

What Is A Personal Injury Claim?

A personal injury claim is a legal process where you seek compensation after being injured due to somebody else’s negligence. The claim covers things like pain and suffering, lost earnings, and medical costs.

Usually, claims are made against the defendant’s insurance company rather than an individual. For example, you could claim against another driver’s motor insurance policy or a company’s public liability insurance policy.

Am I Eligible To Make A Personal Injury Claim?

To make a successful personal injury claim you’ll typically need to be able to answer yes to the following three questions:

1. Did the party you’re claiming against (the defendant) owe you a duty of care?
2. Did an accident happen because the defendant breached that duty?
3. Have you suffered physical or mental harm as a result of the accident?

It’s important to prove a breach of duty of care in any personal injury claim. This is, essentially, where the other party doesn’t take proper care when they’re supposed to. For instance, a driver who caused a car accident injuring passengers because they were using their phone will have been negligent. Similarly, if an employee fell off a ladder at work because their employer had failed to replace it even though they knew it was broken would also have been negligent.

As part of our free consultation, we could check for negligence for you and also check whether it’s clear who the claim needs to be made against as that’s not always the case. For example, if you’ve been injured in a shop, do you sue the retailer or the building owner?

Common Types Of Personal Injury Claims

Our personal injury solicitors have several decades of experience with injury and accident claims. Among the most common types of compensation claims we could help with include:

Importantly, the criteria for medical negligence claims are slightly different to what we’ll explain within the scope of this guide but please get in touch if you’d like to claim.

Common Types Of Personal Injuries

Some of the most common personal injuries compensation is claimed for include:

In theory, anything other than the most trivial injury caused by somebody else could mean you’re entitled to personal injury compensation. Please speak to a member of our team to see if you could take action for your suffering.

How Much Compensation Will I Get For A Personal Injury Claim?

There isn’t a fixed amount paid for personal injuries as every claim is different. Instead, you would need to take into account what compensation you should get (where applicable) for factors such as:

• Your physical pain and suffering caused by your injury/injuries.
• Anxiety, distress and other forms of psychological harm.
• Loss of amenity (the impact your injuries have on your social life etc).
• Care costs.
• Travel expenses.
• Physiotherapy and private medical treatment.
• Loss of income plus future loss of earnings.
• Replacing property damaged during your accident.
• Mobility aids.
• Home adaptations (for more serious long-term injuries).

We believe you’ll have a better chance of making a successful personal injury claim if you have an experienced solicitor working for you. Ours will always attempt to ensure you are fully compensated for your suffering if your claim is taken on.

Calculating My Personal Injury Claim

As mentioned previously, each personal injury claim is unique. Any settlement will be based on the severity of your injuries and their impact. Therefore, it’s not possible to say exactly what settlement (if any) might be paid as damages until your claim has been properly reviewed. However, our compensation calculator gives some example figures for a range of different injuries:

As you can see, injuries are graded from minor to severe so you’ll need to be able to show how serious yours was when calculating a claim. To do this, the personal injury claims process dictates that you should have an independent medical assessment. This will usually be carried out locally by a medical expert who’ll examine you, check your medical records and talk to you about your suffering. Their report will then be sent to everybody involved in the claim to help determine any settlement amount.

What Evidence Do I Need For A Personal Injury Claim?

If you can prove that you were injured in an accident but can’t prove who was responsible (or vice versa), you won’t typically be compensated. You need to be able to prove both. You also need to be able to prove the way your injuries have affected you. The only real way to do this is with evidence. Therefore, the types of evidence your solicitor will try to secure for a personal injury claim might include:

• Any photographs you took of the accident scene.
• CCTV or dashcam footage.
• Witness statements from anybody who saw the accident.
• X-rays and medical records from the hospital or minor injuries unit where you were treated.
• Evidence of any financial losses that you’ve incurred due to your personal injury.
• Copies of an accident report form if you reported the accident.
• Police or emergency service reports if they attended the scenes.
• Accident investigation reports if the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) were called.

You can make the personal injury claims process easier if you’re able to safely collect some of this evidence at the time of the accident. For example, photographs are much more meaningful if they show the cause of the accident before it is moved or replaced.

Is There A Time Limit To Make A Personal Injury Claim?

The personal injury claims time limit is usually 3 years, normally from the date of the accident or the date your “date of knowledge“. However, some exceptions apply. They include:

• If the claimant is a child, there is no time limit so long as an approved litigation friend claims on their behalf before their 18^th birthday.
• Where the claimant doesn’t have the mental capacity to claim, the time limit will not apply until such time that they regain the capacity.
• If you make a criminal injury claim, you’ll have 2-years from the date you were injured to claim.

If you’d like to check how long you have to make a personal injury claim, please call an advisor today.

Do I Need A Personal Injury Solicitor To Make A Claim?

While it’s not a legal requirement to have a solicitor, claiming without one may be difficult. Personal injury solicitors understand the legal process, know how to gather strong evidence, and can negotiate with insurers on your behalf. Their expertise (often provided using a No Win No Fee agreement) typically gives claimants a far better chance of success.

What Is A No Win No Fee Agreement?

A No Win No Fee agreement (technically a Conditional Fee Agreement) means you don’t pay your solicitor if the claim fails. If the claim succeeds, they can deduct a success fee of up to 25% of your compensation. This makes it a low-risk way to claim for many people.

If your solicitor agrees to represent you using a No Win No Fee agreement, they will:

• Consult with you to find out how you’ve suffered.
• Gather evidence including medical reports to support your allegations.
• Make contact with the defendant’s representatives and deal with all communication going forward.
• Try to counter any objections raised regarding liability for your injuries.
• Fight your corner if they believe any settlement offer is too low.

To see if you could make a No Win No Fee personal injury claim, please call today.

Do Personal Injury Claims Go To Court?

Yes, personal injury claims can sometimes go to court. However, in most cases, solicitors from both sides will try to settle the claim amicably to avoid the expense and time involved in court cases. Our No Win No Fee solicitors would only want to take a claim to court if they could not agree on a fair settlement amount for their client.

How Long Do Personal Injury Claims Take?

There is no set time for processing a personal injury claim. If the case is straightforward and the defendant accepts liability early on, you could be compensated in around 6 months or so. More complex cases that require negotiation or additional investigation can take from 9 months to more than a year to be finalised.

If court action is required, this can also extend the process, but most claims are settled before that stage.

How Do I Start The Personal Injury Claims Process?

If you believe you’re eligible to start the personal injury claims process, please contact our team today on 0800 6524 881 to find out how we can help. A specialist advisor will review your claim with you, explain your options and offer free legal advice.

Remember, if your personal injury claim is taken on, it means that your solicitor believes you have a reasonable chance of being compensated.

Thank you for reading our guide on how to make a personal injury claim, and don’t hesitate to contact our experienced advisors if you’ve any questions.