How to Make a Personal Injury Claim
There are many injuries both physical and psychological that fall under the category of a personal injury. A lot of the time this kind of accident can lead to time off work to recover and in some extreme cases personal injury incidents can lead to deaths.
There are many instances where you may need to claim for a personal injury such as:
- Injuries at work, either immediate or prolonged exposure such as asbestos.
- Psychological Stress caused by work.
- Injuries as a result of a traffic accident
- Injuries received due to faulty appliances or services
- Tripping over loose or uneven paving stones.
- Injuries or conditions as a result of malpractice in a hospital.
There are many other instances but in order to make a claim you need to know what processes and steps to take, the Citizens Advice Bureau has a range of information for those who believe their injuries were caused by someone’s negligence. In many cases you would go through the responsible company’s complaints process but this can take some time and there is a chance that you will only get an apology at the end of the process.
If you believe you are due compensation for your injury such as medical fees you have had to pay or loss of earnings while incapacitated due to your injury. In cases where you seek compensation then there are strict timescales in which you can claim for these reimbursements, long winded complaints processes can impede your claim.
You need to make claims to those responsible, examples of organisations you need to file complaints with are:
- Government departments
- Local authority
- Your employer
- The police
- Your hospital
- Your local council
When seeking compensation you will typically need to have the value of your claim estimated, this can be done through a number of different organisations such as Claims Assessors or taking legal action in the civil courts. The two categories of compensation you can claim for are general damages and special damages.
General damages cover pain and injuries which could affect future earnings, the court will normally decide the amount to be paid. Special damages often refers to the additional costs that the injured party has incurred up to the hearing since the accident, this can be hospital trip costs, medical fees and in cases where the innocent party’s car has been damaged; any necessary repairs.
In cases where you lose you may still have to pay for the other party’s costs and so many solicitors recommend that you take out “after-the-event” insurance that covers these costs? Some insurers may opt not to cover you if your chances of winning are low so you should be aware of this when entering these “no win, no fee” situations.
