Personal Injury Claims - Part 2

5. What is an injury?
Even if someone admits they were at fault, you can only claim compensation if you have suffered an injury (or illness) because of their fault.
Injury means physical or psychological harm. The injury must be more than minimal & you must suffer actual symptoms. Your solicitor will need to get a medical report to confirm that you suffered an injury & to tell the court.
(a) What is the likely cause of the injury? &
(b) What is the extent of the injury?

6. What is fault?
You can only claim compensation if your injury was caused because of the fault of someone else. Someone is legally at fault (or liable) if they are negligent & or if they break a law or regulation (known as “breach of statutory duty”). Often the injured person (“the claimant”) will allege that the person at fault (the “Defendant”) was both negligent & in breach of statutory.

7. What is negligence?
Negligence is usually defined as behavior or conduct that is blameworthy because it falls short of what a reasonable person would do to protect another person from a foreseeable risk of harm. If an injured person proves that another person acted negligently & or in breach of statutory duty to cause his injury, he can recover financial compensation (or damages) for his harm.      
Sometimes a person can be injured by an accident that was not the fault of anyone & there is no claim to be made.

8. What is financial compensation?
Financial compensation is money. Sometimes compensation is called “damages” & the amount of damages is call “quantum”. These are legal terms that you may hear.
(i) General damages
This is the lump sum payable to compensate the claimant for their pain, suffering & loss of amenity. The amount payable is dependent on the seriousness of the harm & the extent of the symptoms or disability. The general principle is, the more serious the injury the higher the award of general damages. Judges & solicitors refer to guidelines called “the judicial studies board guidelines” which are published annually & which classify awards for the most common injuries in a sliding scale of severity. To more precisely pin down the likely award of general damages, judges & solicitors also refer to actual decided cases (known as case authorities or comparable authorities).  
(ii) Special damages
This refers to past & future financial losses that can be proved to be a consequence of the injury. The most common special damages claimed are lost earrings, cost of lost or damaged items, cost of medical treatment & drugs.

9. What is the process for making a claim?
Why instruct a solicitor direct?
It is important to know that claims management companies do not allowed to & are not qualified to deal with court proceedings & as such can’t represent you if your case progresses to court. As soon as you instruct a claims management company, they will normally sell your claim to a firm of solicitors.

Claims management companies are therefore little more than the middle men, advertising for your claim before selling your details on to a firm of solicitors, often based on which firm is prepared to pay for the details rather than any analysis of who is the best firm to deal with the claim.
We advise you to cut out the middle man & deal direct with the solicitors who fight your case.

Personal Injury Claims - Part 1

PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I make a claim?

If you have been injured because of the fault of someone else, you can claim financial compensation through the courts. 

2. Who can claim?

If you are the injured person, then you can claim on your own behalf. You would be identified as a "Claimant".

If the injured person is under the age of 18 the Court will appoint someone to claim on their behalf called a “litigation friend” – this is usually a parent or close relative.

If the injured person is incapacitated and/or cannot make decisions for themselves the Court may appoint a "litigation friend". Again this is usually a close friend or relative.

If a claim is made on behalf of someone who has died their dependents and/or personal representatives have the right to make a claim.

The dependents and personal representatives (ie executor or administrator of estate) are sometimes, but not always the same person. For example: a wife whose husband has died will usually be a financial dependent and able to make a claim for loss of dependency in her own right. 

The personal representatives (or any one of them) can make a claim on behalf of the estate and the dependents. However, whilst the financial dependents have the right to claim on their own behalf, they cannot make a claim on behalf of the estate unless they are appointed personal representatives.

                                 

Personal Injury

3. Is there a time limit for making a claim?

Yes – in most cases you have 3 years from the date of the accident to settle the matter or Court proceedings need to be issued. You can make a claim at any point during these 3 years, though generally speaking the earlier you consult a solicitor the better. However, if you do not settle the matter or issue Court proceedings within 3 years then you are too late to do so and your claim will become statute-barred. The statute in question is the Limitation Act 1980.

If there was no accident as such – for example if you are suffering from an occupational illness such as stress at work, occupational dermatitis, deafness or asbestos related disease – then you have 3 years from the date you first knew (or should have known):

a) That you are suffering from that illness, and

b) That it is potentially compensable. Usually this is 3 years from the date of diagnosis.

If someone has died their dependents or personal representatives have 3 years from the date of death to make a claim, if the 3 year period has not passed during the injured person's lifetime.

If the victim is under the age of 18, the 3 year period will not start to run until their 18th birthday.

4. What if the 3 years have passed?

Occasionally if there is a very good reason for the delay the Court will allow a claim to be made “out of time”. However these instances are rare and it is a matter for the Courts discretion. The safest course of action is to bring a claim within the 3 year limitation period.