The personal injury claims process can seem daunting. However, this helpful guide will take you through some of the key steps that are involved when making a claim for an injury sustained due to someone else’s negligence. We will provide more information on what constitutes negligence throughout our guide.

The process will not be exactly the same for all claims. Different scenarios and circumstances can influence what you need to do when seeking compensation. However, this guide discusses some of the more common and general actions that you’ll need to take.

For example, we will discuss examples of evidence you could gather and the time limits involved in starting a claim. We will also explore the benefits of making a No Win No Fee claim.

If you have any questions or would like tailored, free advice regarding your potential claim, get in touch with our advisors today. You can find our contact details at the top of the page. You can reach us at any time – on a 24/7 basis.

Alternatively, read on to find out more.

Choose A Section

1. Personal Injury Claims Time Limit
2. Personal Injury Claims Process – Gathering Evidence To Support Your Claim
3. How Many Personal Injury Claims Will Go To Court?
4. How Much Compensation Will I Be Awarded?
5. Personal Injury Claims Process – No Win No Fee Legal Assistance

Personal Injury Claims Time Limit

There is a personal injury claims time limit that sets out how long you have to start a claim. The Limitation Act 1980 states that you have 3 years from the date of the accident to begin the process of making a claim for compensation. It can also begin from the date you connected your injuries with negligence. However, there are exceptions.

To give an example, the 3-year time limit is suspended if the injured party is under the age of 18. Whilst a child cannot claim by themselves before this date, a litigation friend can be assigned to do so on their behalf. The three year time limit will begin once they turn 18, if no claim has been made on their behalf before this point.

Similar exceptions can be made in other scenarios – such as if the injured party lacks the mental capacity to claim. Get in touch to find out if you could still claim, despite falling outside of the typical 3-year time limit.

Personal Injury Claims Process – Gathering Evidence To Support Your Claim

In order to seek compensation, you must be able to prove negligence. This involves a third party owing you a duty of care, breaching this duty and causing you psychological or physical harm as a result. Those that owe a duty of care can include:

• Your employer
• Other road users
• The local council
• Those responsible for public spaces (shops, bars, restaurants, etc.)

An important part of the personal injury claims process is gathering evidence to support your claim. Visual evidence is a good example of how you can prove your injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence. This can include photographs and CCTV footage.

Additionally, make sure you can contact any witnesses at a later date. By doing so, they could submit a witness statement that could corroborate your version of events.

To find out more about what evidence could be relevant in a personal injury claim, get in touch with our advisors today.

How Many Personal Injury Claims Will Go To Court?

It’s not very common for a claim to get to the stage of going to court. Legal proceedings can be expensive for both the claimant and the defendant. Because of this, settling the matter in court can be one of the least desirable options for both parties.

Personal injury solicitors follow the pre-action protocols to prevent claims from going to court. As such, most personal injury claims are settled out of court.

As part of the protocols, both sides can often make offers and counteroffers to arrive at an amount of compensation that’s seemed suitable and acceptable to the claimant.

If the defendant continues to deny liability for your injuries even when evidence is presented, then this is when the case could go to court. However, as mentioned above, this is not a common occurrence.

How Much Compensation Will I Be Awarded?

It’s difficult to provide an accurate answer to the question ‘how much compensation will I be awarded?’. This is because a number of considerations need to be accounted for. Some factors considered include:

• How severe your injuries are
• The length of your recovery period
• The overall impact the injury has on your life

The amount that legal professionals calculate for your pain and suffering is known as general damages. Both mental and psychological injuries can be compensated in this way.

As a result of your injury, you may also experience a financial impact. For example, you could have medical costs you need to cover, or even a loss of earnings if your ability to work has been affected. If you have evidence of these expenditures, then you could be compensated under the special damages head of claim. For instance, you can provide receipts and payslips as evidence to support these losses.

Get in touch to find out about the personal injury claim process in the UK when it comes to calculating compensation.

Personal Injury Claims Process – No Win No Fee Legal Assistance

Hiring a solicitor could help you when making a claim. All of the solicitors on our panel can offer their services under a No Win No Fee arrangement. As such, they may offer a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

This means that they take a percentage of your settlement if your claim is successful. The percentage they are permitted to take is capped by law. If you do not receive compensation, then they do not take this percentage. There are also no upfront fees to pay for their services if you choose to hire a No Win No Fee lawyer.

If you’d like to find out more about reducing the financial risk of funding legal help in this way, get in touch. We can tell you more about No Win No Fee claims, and much more. We are here to help and offer free legal advice.

Additional Resources

Below, we have provided some external resources that you may benefit from:

• GOV – Compensation after an accident or injury
• Health and Safety Executive – Employer’s responsibilities
• GOV – The Highway Code

You can also check out some of our other guides here:

• Learn more about claiming personal injury compensation here
• Learn more about the time limit for personal injury claims here
• Check your eligibility to make a personal injury claim here

We hope this guide on the personal injury claims process has helped. However, if you have any other questions, please get in touch with an advisor by calling the number at the top of the page.