The process for personal injury claims |
Posted: March 9, 2015 |
If you’ve been injured by a work accident or traffic collision and weren’t to blame, you could be able to make a claim for compensation. Injuries caused by tripping over paving stones or errors in hospital treatment can also qualify for compensation. In fact, there are a multitude of things that you could potentially consider making a case for compensation with. But even though over three million people are injured in accidents each year, not everyone understands the process of making a claim. Personal injury law can be quite complicated at the best of times, which is why enlisting the services of an experienced and knowledgeable solicitor is almost always required. Along with free consultations, you may be able to enter into a no win, no fee agreement. Therefore if you lose the case, you won’t have to pay expensive solicitor fees. But what is the process for personal injury claims and how could such a claim be of benefit to you? Making the first move After explaining the accident and your situation to a solicitor, they will send a claim letter to the person or company (defendant) you are holding responsible. This will give details about what happened and your resulting injury, making them fully aware of your situation. This may include evidence such as photographs or expert opinion from a doctor to back up your case. The defendant must then reply to your claim within a fixed period of time, which is typically no more than three months and usually much shorter than this. In their reply, the defendant will either accept liability, which means your solicitor will try to settle the matter out of court, or deny responsibility. The value of your claim In addition to telling you what they think the value of your claim is, a solicitor may also ask how much compensation you’d be prepared to accept and whether you’d be interested in an “offer to settle” for that amount. This is known as a “Part 36 offer,” but your solicitor will tell you everything you need to know so don’t worry too much about this. For the matter to be settled out of court, the defendant will “respond reasonably” to your offer and agree upon a fee. They may even come up with their own Part 36 offer in certain instances, but again this can be discussed with your solicitor before you make any kind of decision. Remember, you are not in it on your own and will have professional and experienced legal support and advice all along the way. Going to court Even though solicitors will work hard to settle the claim without going to court, this doesn’t always happen. So, if you can’t agree upon a fair amount, your solicitor will provide advice on whether to start legal action. This usually happens when the defendant believes they are not liable for paying you compensation. In this situation, your solicitor may recommend you go to court to challenge them and ask that the court awards compensation in your favour. Personal injury claims overview Even though this is a general overview of most personal injury claims, every accident and injury will be different. Some people will be severely affected by physical or emotion pain while others may be back at work again quickly and put the experience behind them. Whatever the case may be, it is often worth speaking to a specialist that can provide you with potentially valuable advice about the best way forward. But solicitors such as Accident Compensation 4 UKare on hand to judge each and every case individually and may need to undertake a different process to the one mentioned above.
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