How does it all work?

Making a accident claim can sometimes be a complicated affair.

In England and Wales we have a 'fault based' personal injury system. This is lawyer-speak to say that you and your personal injury lawyers have to prove that the person or organisation you think caused your injury should have taken care of your safety. All human beings have a duty of care to each other to some extent.

For example, a school teacher has a duty to care for her pupils. This might mean that she should supervise the children at playtime to ensure that they do not involve themselves in rough horseplay. A specialist personal injury solicitor will be able to advise you at the outset whether the party you think was responsible for your accident had a duty to you and whether they breached their duty of care to you.

Proving that there has been a breach of a duty of care is easier in some cases than in others. For example, if you have stopped at a set of traffic lights and another car drives into back of you, then the driver behind has breached their duty of care to you as a road user not to drive into you(!).

A more difficult example is that of the employee injured because he failed to use the personal protective equipment that had been supplied to him by his employer. But just because the employee did not use the protective gear may not mean that the personal injury claim fails. A specialist accident solicitor will consider whether the employee had been given training in understanding the risks the protective equipment was designed to protect him from. Your lawyer should be familiar with the complicated guidelines governing the employer's duties. He or she may be able to look beyond what looks like a defence at first glance.

So you can prove that the party you think was responsible for your accident owed you a duty of care? What next?

Well, you will have to prove that their actions or failure to act brought about the accident that caused your injury. Usually there will be no problems proving the direct link between the accident and injury. However, what if you have been injured through manual lifting at work, but you already have a history of back pain? A good compensation solicitor will be able to assess with you any problems that you may have proving that the accident was the cause of your injury. If it is appropriate, he or she will instruct a medical expert to assess you. Often, claims can be made where a pre-existing injury or medical condition has been made worse by the incident.

Even if the person you are claiming against knows they have to accept responsibility for your accident, they will usually want to limit the amount of compensation they have to pay. Their first offer of settlement is not usually the best or final offer. However; a well pitched offer is usually a welcome alternative to a trial at court. Your lawyer should be able to tell you if any offer is reasonable given what a court would offer.

You will also need to know what you can claim for. Obviously you can claim for pain and suffering as a result of the accident, but you can often claim for more than just that. For example, if your mobility has been affected by your accident and you have needed to adjust your home to suit your needs, you could claim for this expense. An example of this would be needing to install a stairlift. Once you have reached your final settlement you cannot return for more compensation. It is therefore important to obtain sound advice from an experienced solicitor at the outset about the value of your claim.

If you wish to speak to one of our specialist personal injury solicitors, please contact us on freephone 0808 155 4870. We have offices in London, Manchester & Birmingham and operate nationally.