What is an accident injury claim?
When a person is injured (the Claimant) and the cause of the injury is somebody else’s fault (the Defendant) the Claimant can bring an accident claim for compensation against the Defendant for the injury sustained and other consequential monetary loss .
How can I claim compensation after an accident?
Personal Injury is based on the law of negligence. It is important to bear in mind the elements needed to prove negligence. These are Duty, Breach, Causation and Remoteness. All these elements must be satisfied for a Defendant to be held to blame for the accident in the UK.
What is duty of care in a personal injury accident claim?
For a Defendant to be help responsible for an accident in negligence, he must owe the Claimant what is known as a duty of care. There are some established duties such as road user to other road users (Road traffic accidents or RTAs), local authorities to the general public (Public Liability), employers to employees (Employer’s Liability) and Doctors to patients (Medical Negligence).
So basically what an accident compensation claim lawyer has to think about when considering an accident claim is, does the potential Defendant owe a duty not to harm this Claimant?
What is breach of duty of care in an accident claim?
For a Defendant to be liable in negligence he must have breached the duty he owed to the Claimant. For example, driver A is driving along the road, he does not pay enough attention to notice that the traffic in front had slowed down and hits driver B’s car in a rear end car accident. Driver A is in breach of his duty of care to drive with all care and due attention to driver B.
What is causation in an accident compensation claim?
A Defendant is only liable for what he has caused. For example, in a road traffic accident, the Claimant may have sustained a whiplash injury (neck injury) as well as some cuts and bruises. Now, in some cases a Claimant may already have some neck problems prior to this accident; the Defendant will therefore only be liable for the increase in damage to the Claimant’s neck. The job of assessing this will be left to a medical expert who will analyse the Claimant’s medical records and take a detailed account from the Claimant as to the mechanics of the accident and the injuries sustained. The medical expert may decide that based on the evidence, the injuries sustained in the accident will have caused the Claimant’s pre-exiting condition to be aggravated by say 1 year, thereafter, the pain in his neck will be back to the pre-accident level.
Your accident claim compensation lawyer will have to explain it to you that although you will remain in pain after the 1 year, the Defendant is not liable for it because he did not cause it.
In addition, of course if, for example, a Claimant already had a bad leg which was not aggravated in any way by the accident, he cannot claim for this.
What is remoteness in accident compensation claim in UK?
A Defendant is only liable for damages which are not too remote. This means that a Defendant will not be liable for losses which would not have been within the reasonable contemplation of the parties involved in that type of accident. For example, if a Claimant was involved in a road traffic accident and because of this he was unable to purchase a plane ticket on time and thereby lost a good deal. The Claimant cannot recover the difference in the price of the ticket from the Defendant because this will be deemed as too remote.
Personal injury compensation process
If you are thinking about making an accident compensation claim, the first thing you have to do is to see if you have got a valid accident compensation claim. As you can see the laws concerning personal injury can be confusing to an untrained person. You need the help of a specialist personal injury compensation lawyer who can help you assess if your personal injury claim will succeed.
Most straightforward cases settle early when the other side admits fault. These types of claims are usually settled within a few months. In the initial stages of your case, your accident compensation lawyer will take a statement from you, and find out if there are any witnesses as your solicitor may need to take statements from them to support your case.
Your accident injury lawyer will then contact the Defendant who will be expected to carry out his own investigations within a strict time frame. When your accident compensation solicitor hears back from the defendant, he will then contact you again.
Under the court procedures, taking your case to court is to be regarded as a last resort and every possible attempt to settle the case must be made before then.
How long will my accident claim take?
The time taken to complete accident compensation claims in the UK varies from case to case. Much depends on the severity of the injuries and whether your condition is likely to improve as well as the attitude of the Defendant (the person you hold responsible for your injuries and loss).
How much compensation should I expect?
Calculating pain and suffering
In order to quantify your losses, we need a medical report setting out your pain and suffering and the prognosis (when you can expect to be symptom-free). To do this, you will be examined by a medical expert in the appropriate field.
The expert will need to see all your GP and hospital records and x-rays.
The report should be sent to your injury solicitor around 3 weeks after the examination. A copy will be sent to you for your comments along with a form of authority to sign if you agree with it.
The compensation that you can expect to receive will be broken down into two segments:
How much is compensation for injuries?
The phrase “general damages” is used to describe accident injury compensation for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (being unable to pursue hobbies, take planned holidays etc). The amount of compensation is somewhat based on previous cases where the judge has determined the amount awarded.
How much compensation for other losses and expenses?
The important thing to note here is that you can only claim for expenses that you have incurred directly as a result of the accident you were involved in, and it is important to retain receipts, invoices etc as proof. The usual heads of special damage are set out below:
(a) Loss of earnings
(b) Medical fees
(c) Medication/prescription charges
(d) Inability to drive /Travelling to medical appointments
(e) Relatives’ travelling expenses
(f) Domestic Assistance (Household help)
(g) Decorating/gardening/DIY etc
(h) Clothing
(i) Holidays/activities
(j) Other losses and expenses
The above list is not intended to be a complete list of possible heads of accident claim. If there are any other losses or expenses which you think may be related to the accident, you should supply details and forward any receipts as proof.
You should try to keep records and documentary proof of expenses. It is up to you to be able to prove the extent of the loss to the court. Please continue to keep a record of ongoing expenses.
Settling accident compensation claims in UK
When your accident claim solicitor has details of your expenses, a medical report dealing with your injuries and prognosis, he will send details to the Defendants. Your accident compensation lawyer would then expect to receive an offer from them to settle your claim.
However, if the defendant has not admitted responsibility for the accident, it is unlikely that your accident injury solicitor would receive such an offer. Instead, your accident lawyer would discuss with the Defendant, the reasons for denying faulty in order to come to an agreement on the issue. If there is a deadlock, your accident claim lawyer may then be justified in taking your accident claim to court. Once your claim is in court, the court will provide a hearing date in about 13 weeks after a formal Defence has been filed.
If an offer of settlement is received after the case is taken to court, your accident compensation lawyer will advise you in detail about whether it is acceptable.
How much will I pay my accident compensation lawyer?
Many good accident injury specialist lawyers are dedicated to ensuring that you receive the full amount of any compensation awarded to you. The legal costs are usually payable by the losing party in addition to the compensation under the NO Win No Fee scheme.
What are ‘No Win – No Fee’ Agreements
This means that if you do not win your case, you are not liable for the legal costs you incur and these costs shall be payable by your opponent. This Agreement offers you protection to which you will not be afforded if you have not entered into one. If you win your case then the law allows your accident injury lawyer to charge a ‘success fee’ calculated as a percentage of the basic costs. If you choose not to sign the No Win no Fee Agreement, it is highly likely that you will have to pay for your opponents costs should you lose your case.
This Guide was prepared by Balinda & Co to help you properly plan your accident injury claim.
Balinda & Co have many years experience and have helped a lot of people who have suffered accident injuries to get compensation.
Injury Claim Help for You Now
Want help with your accident injury claim? Please contact us or call 0800 321 3287 and let us talk it through.