How To Claim Compensation For An Injury

To claim compensation for an injury, you must provide evidence that those injuries were caused by negligent conduct.

Evidence you could collect to help you claim compensation for an injury could include:

Medical Evidence – your medical records that detail your femoral neck fracture or any other type of injury you suffered could help support your case.
Videos – Any CCTV, dashcam or other video footage that captured your accident.
Photgraphs – This could include photographs of the accident site, cause of your accident (such as faulty equipment), and any visible injuries.
Incident Logs – for example, this could be a copy of your report in the workplace accident report or public place accident book.
Witness Contact Details – a legal professional could collect a statement from them at a later date.

Our panel of solicitors can gather this evidence for you, ensuring your evidence is as strong as possible. To learn more about how they could help you claim compensation, you can contact our advisors.

What Is A Personal Injury Claim?

How you claim compensation after an injury will depend on how that injury happened. An accident at work will differ from a road accident on a bicycle.

You can make a personal injury claim if someone negligently causes an accident in which you are injured.

You prove that someone is negligent by showing that:

They owed you a duty of care.
They breached this duty.
This breach led to the accident that caused your injuries.

If you can demonstrate each of these points, you could make a personal injury claim. In the next section of this guide, we will discuss who may owe you a duty of care in different scenarios.

To discuss your case today and receive free advice, you can contact our advisors.

What Types Of Accidents Could Lead To A Compensation Claim?

Any accident caused by a breached duty of care could lead to a compensation claim. You are owed a duty of care in more circumstances than you might expect.

Some examples of accidents you may be able to claim for include:

Public Place Accidents

The controllers of a public space have a duty of care towards members of the public, as per the Occupiers Liability Act 1957. Per their duty of care, they must take all measures and precautions to ensure the reasonable safety of those who use and visit that public space.

This duty of care applies to various public places, such as parks, gyms and footpaths, for example.

Examples of when you may be able to make a public liability claim include:

You suffered a broken toe after tripping on a defective pavement slab. The local council were aware of this defect but had not taken any steps to fix this issue within a reasonable timeframe.
You suffer a crush injury after a hanging sign in a supermarket falls on you due to it not being properly installed and secured.
A spillage in a cafe is not cleaned up or signposted, causing you to slip and suffer a wrist injury.

Road Traffic Accidents

When using the roads, you owe a duty of care to other road users to be safe and responsible to avoid causing an accident. To comply with your duty of care, you must adhere to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.

Examples of when you may be able to make a road traffic accident claim include:

Someone does not observe a junction before exiting, causing a motorcycle accident and a back injury for its rider.
You were knocked down as a pedestrian while using a crossing due to the driver speeding and being unable to stop in time.
Another driver hits your car from behind while you are stopped at a light due to being distracted by their phone, leaving you with a broken tooth.

Road use involves an especially strict type of duty that can lead to criminal charges if breached. You can still make a personal injury claim against someone facing or convicted of criminal charges.

Accidents At Work

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that employers have a duty of care to take reasonable steps to help prevent their employees from coming to harm while working.

These steps could include providing appropriate training and conducting regular risk assessments and maintenance checks.

Examples of when you may be able to make an accident at work claim include:

You hurt your wrist while lifting heavy objects because your supervisor did not provide you with manual handling training.
Your employer knowingly provided you with outdated and faulty machinery, and you suffered an electric shock.
Your employer did not supply proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) while handling refrigeration materials, leading to significant cold injury.

To learn more about how to claim compensation for an injury that was not your fault, you can contact our advisors.

How Long Do I Have To Claim For Personal Injuries?

You generally have three years to start a personal injury claim. This is stated under the Limitation Act 1980. This runs from the date you suffered your accident.

There are various exceptions to this rule, including but not limited to:

Children – the three years begin once they turn eighteen. Alternatively, a litigation friend, could make a claim on their behalf prior to this date.
Those lacking the mental capacity – in these cases, the time limit is suspended unless they regain this mental capacity. The time limit will run from the date they recovered this capacity. Otherwise, a litigation friend could claim on their behalf.

To see how long you have left to begin a claim or to learn more on how to claim compensation for an injury, you can contact our advisors.

What Is The Personal Injury Claims Process?

The Pre-Action Protocol sets out the steps that must be followed before a personal injury claim potentially needs to go to court. These steps are:

Letter of Notification – This is a letter that the claimant sends to the defendant to inform them that they intend to make a claim against them.
Rehabilitation – This is where both parties need to consider as early as possible any medical or rehabilitative treatments the claimant may need.
Letter of Claim – This is sent to the defendant and their insurer that a claim has been filed against them. It should contain a clear summary of the facts upon which the claim is based.
Response – The defendant has 21 calendar days to respond to this letter. Following this, they have 3 months to conduct their own investigations.
Disclosure – Both parties submit any documents or evidence that could help clarify or resolve any disputes.
Experts – Expert reports should be presented, such as an independent medical assessment.
Negotiations – This is where both parties try to come to an agreement, and negotiations can be made regarding a compensation settlement if the defendant admits liability.
Alternative Dispute Resolution – If the defendant maintains that they were not liable, alternative dispute resolution tactics could be tried such as arbitration or mediation. If this also fails, the claim may need to progress to court.

One of the solicitors on our panel could help guide you through these steps. To learn more about how to claim compensation with the help of a solicitor, you can contact our advisors.

How Is Personal Injury Compensation Calculated?

Compensation for personal injury claims vary on a case-by-case basis. Various factors will affect what your claim is worth, such as:

The type of injury you suffered.
How long your recovery period is.
Whether, any financial losses were also suffered.

When making a personal injury claim, you could be awarded general damages. This head of loss compensates you for the pain and suffering your injuries have caused you.

The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) lists compensation guidelines for different injuries and may be used by those calculating your claim for general damages.

We have used some of these figures in the table below. Please note that the top figure is not from the JCG, and this table is for illustration purposes only.

Injury	Compensation	Notes
Multiple severe injuries with special damages	Up to £1,000,000 or more	Compensation for suffering multiple injuries that are severe in nature and for special damages for a loss of earning, medical expenses and other financial losses.
Very severe brain damage	£344,150 to £493,000	Person requires constant professional care and shows little meaningful response to their environment
Severe (i) neck injuries	In the region of £181,020	Associated with incomplete paraplegia or little to no neck movement
Severe (ii) neck injuries	£80,240 to £159,770	Causing disability of considerable severity
Severe (iii) back injuries	£47,320 to £85,100	Including damage to vertebrae or soft tissue leading to chronic conditions
Moderate (i) back injuries	£33,880 to £47,320	Leading to residual disability and/or requiring spinal fusion
Facial disfigurement (iii) significant scarring	£11,120 to £36,720	Significant facial scarring which plastic surgery could mostly resolve
Less serious (i) leg injury	£21,920 to £33,880	Leg fractures from which recovery will likely be reasonable but never complete
Moderate (ii) hip or pelvis injury	£15,370 to £32,450	Requiring replacement surgery
Moderate (i) knee injury	£18,110 to £31,960	Knee injuries causing minor instability or wasting

You may also be able to claim compensation for any financial losses your injuries have caused you. These are compensated under special damages. You will need evidence that demonstrates the financial losses you intend to claim for, such as

Loss of earnings could be proven with payslips.
Medical expenses, such as prescription fees, could be proven with receipts.
Accessibility adjustments to your home could be proven with invoices.

To learn more about how to claim compensation for your injuries and their subsequent financial losses, you can contact our advisors.

How Do I Make A Personal Injury Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?

How to claim compensation after an accident that wasn’t your fault?

You start by contacting one of our friendly advisors to discuss your case. If they think you may have a valid claim, they could pass you onto one of the expert solicitors on our panel who could help you with:

Gathering the best possible evidence in support of your claim.
Help you navigate complex legal processes.
Negotiate an outcome in your best interest.

They also usually offer their expert services on a No Win No Fee basis. If you sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) with one of the solicitors on our panel, they will be able to provide their services with no upfront costs from you. That’s not the only benefit, others include:

No ongoing service fees to pay.
Not having to pay anything for their work on your case if the claim fails.
You will pay a legally limited percentage of your compensation to your solicitor if the claim succeeds. This is referred to as a success fee.

So call our friendly advisors today for a free initial consultation:

Contact us online
Call us on 0800 408 7826
Message us via the chat window below.

More Useful Resources About How To Claim Compensation

To learn more about making a personal injury claim:

Learn how long compensation takes to be paid out when making a personal injury claim.
Use our whiplash compensation calculator to learn how compensation is calculated for whiplash claims.
Read our case study for £2million for a broken back.

For further resources:

Learn how to get help after a road traffic accident from the road safety charity Brake.
Advice on providing first aid at work from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Learn when to call 999 from the NHS.

Thank you for reading this guide on how to claim compensation after an accident.

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