With all the advertising in the public domain from solicitors and claims companies encouraging people to make personal injury claims, it seems that taking legal action could be a pretty straightforward process. However, if you have suffered a personal injury, then the thought of starting a personal injury claim can seem daunting at a time when you want to focus on your recovery.
In this guide, we discuss how you can bring a personal injury claim successfully. We look at the different options for legal representation in personal injury cases, what’s involved in the claims process, and how you can avoid paying any legal costs – yes, you really can make a claim without paying a penny in legal fees.
Understanding Personal Injury Claims
A personal injury claim is a civil compensation claim brought by a person who has been injured in an accident that was the fault of someone else in whole or in part.
In order to support the claim, there must be a legal relationship between the injured party as the claimant and the third party they are claiming against, sometimes called the respondent or the defendant. This connection is called duty of care, and in many personal injury claims, the presence of a duty of care is enshrined in law.
Some examples of a duty of care include an overarching obligation owed by:
- An employer to their employees to provide a safe workplace, contained in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
- Motorists towards other road users, including passengers, other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, not to cause accidents contained in The Road Traffic Act 1988 and supplemented by The Highway Code.
- An owner of a public space under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957 meaning you can bring a personal injury claim against the controller of the land or premises if an accident occurs.
If you are involved in an accident or incident and someone else who owes you a duty of care is responsible for your injuries, if they have behaved negligently (either through an act or omission), then you can bring a personal injury claim.
A compensation payment will reflect the pain and suffering caused by your injuries as well as any financial losses you may have incurred. Compensation is paid by the other party’s insurance company.
What Are The Options When Choosing Legal Representation?
If you want to claim compensation for a personal injury, then you can either instruct a solicitor or use a claims management company. Claims management companies are the ones you tend to see advertised on television.
A claims management company may connect you with a solicitor to handle your case or act as a shop window for an expert legal team. Your other option is to source a solicitor yourself. A good way to do this is via the Law Society’s personal injury accreditation scheme before you take legal action.
It’s crucial to find legal help that is experienced in personal injury claims. Your injury claims might lead to court proceedings, so you’ll need someone to go to court if required.
Plenty of personal injury solicitors operate on a No Win No Fee basis, also known as a conditional fee agreement – like us. This means our legal fees (sometimes called success fees) are deducted from the final settlement figure, so you don’t have to pay any legal costs up front. Most personal injury cases settle without a court hearing, particularly if you have only suffered a minor injury. If the other side accept liability at an early stage in the injury claim, then the case can proceed to settlement quite rapidly, usually within a few weeks.
Using a No Win No Fee solicitor allows anyone to bring an injury claim and avoids worrying about obtaining legal aid for people on genuinely low incomes.
What Is The Official Injury Claim Service?
The Official Injury Claim Service, or portal as it is sometimes called, is a free and independent service for people injured in road traffic accidents to claim compensation without legal help.
The online portal is intuitive and easy-to-use and takes you through the claims process one step at a time, including submitting all the appropriate documents, obtaining an independent medical report, and right through to receiving compensation.
If you have only incurred minor injuries in a traffic accident then this could be a quick route for you to process your claim. You can use the service if your personal injury claim is less than £5,000 and your total claim value doesn’t exceed £10,000.
However, most claims, particularly those with severe or complex injuries and accidents with multiple vehicles involved, still rely on specialist legal support from personal injury solicitors.
How Does The Claims Process Work?
Assessing Your Case
A solicitor will first examine all the details of your case in order to establish whether there is a duty of care. If there is, then they will gather evidence; this includes things like accident reports, witness statements, photographs of the accident site, and any film available. Nowadays, road traffic accidents are often caught on a passing motorist’s dashcam, which provides valuable footage.
Details Of Injuries
An essential part of the evidence provided to the other party is information on the nature and extent of your injuries. You may have received medical treatment at the time of the accident, so you’ll need to give permission for lawyers to access your medical records.
It will also be necessary to undergo an independent medical assessment, which will be arranged by your personal injury solicitor. This is so the representatives of the other party can determine how your injuries have affected your day-to-day life, the pain and suffering you have endured, and whether there has been any impact on your mental health.
Calculating Compensation
How much compensation you’re entitled to is a key question for every claimant after an accident.
Personal injury compensation is based on the nature and extent of your injuries, pain, and suffering. Lawyers and insurance companies use something called The Judicial College Guidelines, which provides bands of figures to quantify specific injuries.
Compensation can also include Special Damages which cover other costs like loss of income because you can’t work, extra expenses for medical appointments, and transport costs if you can’t drive.
If your accident has resulted in very serious and life-changing injuries, then compensation will also reflect future costs and adaptations you may need to make to your home due to lifestyle changes.
The Time Limit For Personal Injury Cases
If you want to make a claim for compensation for injury then there is a time limit to do this. Taking legal action must begin within three years from the date the accident happened or three years from the date you became aware that you had been injured. Some injuries can be harder to pinpoint, like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or chronic conditions which might seem to lack an apparent cause.
It’s also possible to bring a personal injury claim if an accident makes a pre-existing health condition worse.
Are There Any Hidden Costs?
It seems almost too good to be true that a solicitor will take on your claim with the potential that they won’t receive a penny in legal costs. In fact, most solicitors who operate on a No Win No Fee basis take out an insurance policy called After the Event insurance or ATE cover.
This policy is taken out on your behalf to cover any additional charges if your claim is unsuccessful, called disbursements. These include things like medical assessment expenses, court fees and crucially the other party’s legal costs, which you will be responsible for if you lose.
If your claim is successful, the insurance policy premium is usually deducted from your compensation settlement alongside the success fee from the conditional fee agreement.
Finding No Win No Fee Personal Injury Solicitors
A No Win No Fee agreement is a way in which a personal injury solicitor can help you with the claims process without requiring you to pay legal fees upfront. Now, taking legal action is completely risk-free. You can access specialist legal representation for your accident claim, and you won’t need to pay a penny in costs even if your case ends up in court.
No Win No Fee solicitors will ask you to sign a conditional fee agreement before they start work on your claim. This will detail the fee they take from any compensation payment awarded to you and is capped by law at a maximum of 25%.
We work in exactly the same way here at No Win No Fee Solicitors Co.
Final Thoughts
Personal injury cases can be stressful, complicated, and time-consuming, not something you want to take on if you are recovering from an accident. It’s essential to seek legal advice as soon as possible, but then you can leave it to the experts to progress your case through to a successful conclusion.
Get The Right Help And Advice With Your Personal Injury Claim
At No Win No Fee Solicitors Co, we make the process of finding a specialist solicitor straightforward and easy. Call us on the number at the top of the page, and we’ll quickly assess the eligibility of your claim and connect you with the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel.
Every personal injury claim is unique, and your compensation could be worth more than you think. Contact us today and start your claim without delay.
