What is the personal injury claim process?

• If you’re considering filing a personal injury claim, one of our specialist personal injury lawyers will discuss the specifics of your accident to determine whether you have a case.
• If we have determined we can assist with your personal injury claim, you will have a dedicated lawyer assigned to your claim. They will meet with you, either virtually through video-conferencing such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom or in person to gather as much information about your claim and establish who is responsible for your injuries.
• We will gather all the evidence available to build your case and make it as strong as possible. This can include:
  • Your statement of what happened
  • Gathering and reviewing any photos you or others at the scene may have taken
  • Obtaining witness statements
  • Reviewing any relevant reports e.g. police reports, accident report
  • Reviewing GP/ hospital reports
  • Obtaining CCTV footage
• We will also need for your injuries to be assessed by a medical expert. This is to understand what treatment you may need, what impact your injuries are having on day to day life, how long they will take to heal and if there are any long term affects. If you visited the hospital or your GP we will also ask for a copy of your medical records.
• If it is identified in your medical assessment that you require rehabilitation, depending on liability, then we will organise this for you.
• Next we will assess the amount of compensation you are entitled to. This is determined on a number of factors including:
  • Your injuries
  • Damages from the accident e.g. car, clothes etc.
  • Lost income
  • Cost of medical care / rehabilitation and any travel associated with these appointments
  • Carers costs if you have had to hire a professional or a family member has had to care for you
  • Any home adaptions and adaptive equipment
  • Future losses
• When we have valued your claim, we will negotiate with the defendant’s solicitors on your behalf. This can go back and forth as we negotiate an amount that everybody is happy with.
• Ideally we can come to an agreement outside of court but on rare occasions that is not possible. If both sides cannot agree a settlement, proceedings would be issued and a judge would make the relevant award.
• Once you have accepted an offer or the court has made a decision, you will receive your payment from the other side. In most cases this will be one lump sum (excluding any interim payments you may have received).

If you have further questions or would like to discuss a possible claim, please contact one of our specialist personal injury lawyers.

Our team have put their decades of experience together to answer some of the most frequently asked questions they get around personal injury claims. Click the link to find out more.