Member Article

Guide to Making a Claim for Personal Injury

Everyone knows the ubiquitous adverts asking if you’ve had an accident or injury that wasn’t your fault. And the truth is, many people have had such an injury and are entitled to claim compensation. But where do you start? Who do you go to for advice, and how do you even know if you should make a claim? When your life has been affected by an accident it can be difficult to even find the time and energy to begin looking into making a claim. Follow this step-by-step guide and you’ll soon be feeling the confusion slip away.

How to Know When to Make a Claim

The first step is figuring out if there’s any point in pursuing a claim for an accident or injury. This will depend on the injury and how it happened. A personal injury might include anything physical, including disease or illness, or psychological. You might have suffered a physical injury as a result of your work or in a car accident, or stress at work might have affected you psychologically. Before making a claim for compensation, you might also want to make a complaint to a person or organization who was responsible for your injuries.

Where to Start

There are several ways to make accident claims for compensation. You can go to a claims assessor, take legal action in a civil court, or make a claim to the UK Criminal Injuries and Compensation Authority. You can also get compensation with a criminal compensation order, and even use some special Government compensation schemes. Below are the three most likely methods you might want to use.

Using a Claims Assessor

Claims assessors take cases on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. That means if you don’t get any compensation, you don’t have to pay them. If you do win, it may involve paying your assessor a percentage of your fees. Claims assessors all have to authorised by the government.

Legal Action

You can take legal action for a personal injury by first getting advice from a solicitor. Be aware that if you want to take legal action, there are strict time limits in the UK as to when you can do it. These time limits differ depending on the claim, so it’s best to seek advice as soon as possible. For example, there is a time limit of three years to claim for negligence. Taking legal action might be expensive, although it’s possible to get help with your legal costs.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Claiming through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is for people who have been injured as the result of a crime (someone else’s, not yours). For example, you may have been the victim of an assault. To apply for this method of compensation, you can go online or use the organizations telephone helpline.

Making a claim for personal injury can be stressful when the injury has already caused you upset. However, if you wish to make a claim you should do it as soon as you are able.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nataliya Stefanus .