Welcome to our guide on the personal injury claims process. If you’ve been injured in an accident that occurred because someone who had a duty of care towards you breached this duty, you may be able to claim compensation for your suffering.
Personal injury claims
There are several situations in which someone could owe you a duty of care. For example, others have a responsibility towards your safety in work, on the road and in public spaces.
If you were caused harm as a result of this breach of duty of care, then you could be entitled to claim. We will look at how these kinds of accidents could occur and when they could be the result of negligence.
Read on to learn more about this topic. Otherwise, you can get in touch with our advisers by:
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Choose A Section
- Personal Injury Claims – A Guide
- Am I Eligible To Make A Personal Injury Claim?
- What Evidence Could Help You Make Personal Injury Claims?
- Is There A Personal Injury Claim Time Limit?
- What Could I Receive From A Personal Injury Claim?
- Why Use No Win No Fee Personal Injury Claim Solicitors?
- Learn More About Making Personal Injury Claims
Personal Injury Claims – A Guide
A personal injury claim is a kind of claim you can make if you’ve been injured in an accident caused by negligence. It aims, as much as possible, to return you to the position you were in before the accident occurred.
You could be entitled to make a claim after being injured in a:
- Workplace accident
- Road traffic accident
- Accident in a public place (for example, in a supermarket)
This guide will go over some of the eligibility criteria that apply to making a claim. We will also examine some of the important steps in the claims process and how compensation is valued.
Speak with one of the advisors on our team now for free legal advice about your potential claim. If your case seems valid, you could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.
Am I Eligible To Make A Personal Injury Claim?
Personal injury claims can only be made in instances of negligence; this is where a breach in duty of care has caused an injury. It’s not enough that the accident wasn’t your fault; it must have resulted from a breach of duty.
You need to be able to demonstrate that:
- A party who owed you a duty of care, such as a road user, an employer, or the party in control of a public space, owed you a duty of care.
- The party breached this duty.
- As a direct result of this breach, you were harmed.
Read on to learn more about parties that owe others a duty of care. Alternatively, get in touch with our advisers to discuss your claim’s validity.
Accidents At Work
Under one of the most important accident at work laws, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, your employer owes you a duty of care while you are at work. This means that they need to take all reasonably practicable steps to reduce the risk of illness and injury in the workplace.
The following are examples of employer negligence that could cause injury:
- Not performing risk assessments or carrying out a risk assessment but failing to act on the results
- Asking an employee to carry out duties they have not received training for
- Not ensuring the work site is cleaned and/or maintained to a reasonable standard. This could cause a slip or fall accident, for example.
Road Traffic Accidents
Every road user has a duty of care to other road users, and must act in a way to minimise risks to themselves and others. A piece of legislation called the Road Traffic Act 1988 outlines the duty of care of road users and establishes certain driving offences. A publication called the Highway Code gives advice and guidance for road users, some of which is elsewhere backed up in legislation.
If a road user breaches the duty of care they owe to others, this could cause an accident that results in injury. For example, they could:
- Fail to check that it is safe to change lanes before doing so
- Ignore road signs, stop lights or other road signals
- Fail to leave a safe stopping distance from the car in front, resulting in a rear-end collision
Accidents in a Public Place
The party in control of a public space, known in legislation as the ‘occupier’, owes a duty of care to all visitors who use that space for its intended purpose. This is stipulated in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. The party in control of the space needs to take steps to ensure the reasonable safety of visitors to the space.
An occupier could be found negligent if a visitor injures themselves due to:
- Poor lighting on a set of stairs
- A cracked floor tile that hasn’t been fixed in a timely manner
- A pedestrian pathway that hasn’t been gritted in forecasted icy conditions
What Evidence Could Help You Make Personal Injury Claims?
Serious injury claims will benefit from having certain pieces of evidence to back them up. For example, you could provide evidence that the other party was negligent, the extent of your injuries, and details of the accident.
You may be able to provide:
- Pictures of where the accident took place
- CCTV or dashcam footage showing the accident
- Contact details of anyone who witnessed the accident
- Medical records which show any treatment you received
- If the accident occurred in a workplace, fill out the accident book so the employer can send an accident at work report form, if needed. Some public places might also have accident books for members of the public to use
Evidence is crucial for successful personal injury claims. If you’d like to know more about the evidence that could support your case, contact our advisers.
Is There A Personal Injury Claim Time Limit?
For personal injury claims, the claims process must begin within a certain time limit. This time limit can be:
- 3 years from the date of the accident
- 3 years from the time you realised your injuries were caused by negligence
There are exceptions to these rules. For example, an injured child or someone without the mental capacity to claim will have their time limits suspended, either until they turn 18 or they regain mental capacity. However, someone may become their litigation friend and begin a claim on their behalf, and they can do this at any point while the time limit is suspended.
Get in touch with our advisers to learn more about personal injury claims and relevant time limits.
What Could I Receive From A Personal Injury Claim?
In order to answer the question ‘how much will I get for a personal injury claim?’ you need to consider a few different elements. For example, compensation can be paid out in up to two heads of claim,and the value of each can vary depending on circumstances.
The first head of claim, called general damages, will compensate you for the suffering that your injuries cause. Someone with a severe injury will usually receive more in general damages than someone with a similar but more minor injury.
To illustrate, we’ve included a table showing compensation brackets from the Judicial College Guidelines. Personal injury claim solicitors, as well as other legal professionals, usually refer to this document when assigning a value to a claim, which is why we’ve included it instead of a personal injury claims calculator.
| Injury Type | Compensation Bracket | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tetraplegia (a) | £324,600 to £403,990 | This level of award considers the claimant's level of pain, life expectancy, and degree of insight. |
| Severe Injuries of the Pelvis and Hips (a) (i) | £78,400 to £130,930 | Extensive pelvis fractures or hip injury. Residual disabilities such as lack of bladder or bowel control. |
| Severe Injuries of the Pelvis and Hips (a) (ii) | £61,910 to £78,400 | Injuries with distinctive features, such as fractures or dislocations involving both ischial and pubic rami that lead to impotence. |
| Other Arm Injuries (c) | £19,200 to £39,170 | Less severe injuries from which substantial recovery has been made or can be expected to occur. |
| Other Arm Injuries (d) | £6,610 to £19,200 | Forearm fractures that are simple in nature. |
| Moderate Neck Injuries (b) (i) | £24,990 to £38,490 | Severe immediate reactions stemming from fractures or dislocations. Also includes chronic conditions that impair function. |
| Less Severe Leg Injuries (c) (i) | £17,960 to £27,760 | Serious soft tissue injuries or fractures that involve an incomplete recovery, such as metal implants that remain after recovery. |
| Moderate Ankle Injuries (c) | £13,740 to £26,590 | Tears in the ligament or fractures that lead to less severe disabilities, such as trouble navigating uneven ground. |
| Moderate Foot Injuries (f) | £13,740 to £24,990 | Fractures that result in permanent deformity and symptoms that continue. |
| Serious Shoulder Injuries (b) | £12,770 to £19,200 | Dislocation of shoulder or damage that leads to painful symptoms elsewhere in the affected limb. |
These figures are for guidance only. The settlement you receive could differ, not least because the table above does not account for special damages.
Special Damages – What Else Could I Receive From A Successful Claim?
The second potential head of claim, called special damages, are meant to return you to the financial position you were in before your injury. For example, they may help you recoup:
- Loss of earnings
- Loss of future earnings
- Travel expenses to and from medical appointments
- Other medical expenses, such as prescriptions
To learn more about how personal injury claims can reimburse the claimant through general and special damages, contact our advisers today.
Why Use No Win No Fee Personal Injury Claim Solicitors?
The personal injury claims process could be made easier with the help of one of our No Win No Fee solicitors. The solicitors on our panel may offer their services under a type of No Win No Fee agreement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Under the terms of this agreement, you will usually not have to pay upfront for a solicitor’s services or during the claims process. You also will generally not pay them if your claim fails.
Instead, you will pay a small percentage of your compensation in the event of a successful claim. The amount that they can take is capped by law.
Want Free Legal Advice? Contact Us To See If You Can Claim Today
If you’d like to know more about compensation, get in touch with our advisers today. The consultation is free, and afterwards, there is no requirement to continue using our services. However, the solicitors from our panel are experienced and may be able to help with your personal injury claim.
You can contact us by:
- Using the banner at the top of the page
- Filling out our contact form with your query
- Use the live chat feature on this page
Learn More About Making Personal Injury Claims
Below, we have included links to more of our guides that may be of use:
How Could I Make A Successful Accident At Work Injury Claim?
What Steps Are Involved In The Road Traffic Accident Claims Process?
Slip In Supermarket Claims – How To Seek Compensation
We have also included third-party resources related to this topic:
Preventing Slips And Trips – A Health and Safety Executive guide to preventing slips and trips at work
Request CCTV Footage – Guide to requesting security footage showing yourself
Limitation Act 1980 – A link to government legislation regarding personal injury time limits
We hope this guide about making personal injury claims has been of use. To find out more, contact our team of advisers today.
Writer Morgan Finch
Publisher Fern Styles