UK Personal Injury Claims
An Introduction to Claims for Injury in the UK
Due to the methods used to resolve claims for injury in the UK, it is impossible to determine exactly how many UK injury claims for compensation are made each year. Claims for injury in the UK are often resolved for undisclosed sums in out-of-court settlements, privately between the claimant and defendant, under-settled by insurance companies or through special compensation schemes.
As well as being negotiated behind closed doors, UK injury claims can be litigated in court, in employment tribunals or through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. Although it is only usually the large settlements for catastrophic UK injury claims that make the front pages of the newspapers, there are many thousands of claims for injury in the UK being processed every day.
The Reasons behind Compensation Claims for Injury in the UK
For many people, making compensation claims for injury in the UK is an alien concept. Accidents happen; but when injuries are sustained which sometimes prevent wage earners from supporting their families, or which result in the victim´s quality of life deteriorating, it is only fair that they should receive some form of compensation from the person or persons responsible for causing their situation.
Furthermore, when laws are in place to provide financial support for the parents of children permanently harmed by a medical practitioner´s negligence, a wife who has to care for her husband crippled in a car crash or a child who is unable to rely on his mother for support after she has suffered a breakdown due to bullying at work, it is only right that those secondary victims are entitled to make UK injury claims.
The Most Common Compensation Claims for Injury in the UK
UK injury claims originate for many reasons, but most commonly they are generated by road traffic accidents. Car drivers who sustain whiplash injuries after a rear-end shunt, cyclists who break limbs from encounters with potholes on poorly maintained roads and motorcyclists who fall from their bikes after slipping from diesel spills are just some of the examples that UK injury claims solicitors handle on a regular basis.
Injuries sustained at work also among the most frequent compensation claims for injury in the UK – especially at a time when businesses are struggling financially and finding it difficult to maintain health and safety standards. Many public liability claims for injury in the UK arise for much the same reason, and product liability claims and medical negligence claims are also often among a UK injury claims solicitor´s case list.
How Claims for Injury in the UK are Qualified
In order to be eligible to make claims for injury in the UK, a victim must have suffered a quantifiable loss or injury due to the negligence of somebody who owed them a duty of care. Whereas it is easy to demonstrate this point by giving the example of a doctor who misdiagnoses an illness – from which his patient subsequently dies due to the doctor´s breach in his duty of care – other examples are not always so straightforward.
Whereas a car driver owes a duty of car to other road users when he is driving his car, an employer owes a duty of care to his employees by providing them with a safe environment in which to work, and retail establishments owe a duty of care to the people who shop in their premises, establishing how they breach their obligations of care – and that those breaches lead to a loss or injury – can often be difficult.
UK Injury Claims and Contributory Negligence
Imagine the scenario whereby a cyclist swerves onto the road from a cycle path to avoid a pothole, causing the car driver behind him to pull up sharply and get rammed from behind by a delivery driver. Is the liability for the car driver´s subsequent injuries due to the cyclist, the authority responsible for the condition of the road or the delivery van driver? Each has contributed to the car driver´s injuries.
Furthermore, if it is later discovered that the car driver was not wearing a seatbelt, and that his brake lights did not work properly, he could also be accused of contributing to his injuries by his own negligence. Obviously, not all claims for injury in the UK are as complicated as this scenario, but very few cases are completely black and white, and highlight the importance of using the service of an experienced UK injury claims solicitor.
How Compensation for UK Injury Claims is Calculated
Settlements of claims for injury in the UK are comprised of four different elements. The first relates to the pain and suffering due to the injury – both at the time it happened and during the recovery period. During the recovery period, and sometimes even permanently, the victim of an accident may experience a deterioration in their quality of life. This is known as “loss of amenity” and can also be included in a personal injury claim in the UK.
Experts agree that anybody experiencing a physical injury – and sometimes even those just witnessing a traumatic event – can suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; but this is not the only type of psychological injury that can be included in UK injury claims. The victim of an accident which has left them immobile can suffer from depression, and other emotional traumas – such as those caused by bullying, stress and harassment – can also be integrated into UK injury claims where the effect on the victim is quantifiable.
The final element of compensation settlements for UK injury claims is special damages. These damages relate to the financial cost of an injury, and can include such items as charges for medical treatment and medicines, transport to receive medical treatment and care expenses if children or elderly relatives need attention while you are seeking medical treatment. Special damages also account for any loss of earnings the victim may have incurred – both now and in the future – and the costs of pursuing compensation claims for injury in the UK, irrespective of whether the victim chooses to use the services of a “No Win, No Fee” UK injury claims solicitor.
Free Advice for UK Injury Claims
If you have been injured in an accident, or sustained a loss due to the negligence of another, and would like to discuss your entitlement to compensation claims for injury, you are invited to call our freephone injury claims advice service and speak directly with a UK injury claims solicitor. Our solicitor will assess your case, establish that you have an injury claim for compensation that is worth your while to pursue, and provide you with practical and accurate advice on how to maximise the value of your claim.
There is no obligation for using this service and all calls to our freephone injury claims advice service are entirely confidential. We advise you not to delay in calling us for, if you read our “Injury Compensation Claims Guide”, you may soon be approached by an insurance company with an inappropriate offer of compensation or could be coming to the end of the Statute of Limitations for making claims for injury in the UK. Whatever your circumstances, we look forward to hearing from you.
