Personal Injury Law

Personal Injury Law

Author: John Eastwood

Legal Claim UK is a nationwide network of specialist personal injury law solicitors who are members of the Law Society panel of personal injury experts and will deal with claims using the no win no fee scheme. Compensation is paid in full² and our claims are completely risk free. You will not be asked to pay anything at all as the case proceeds.

Each year in the UK over two million people are hurt in accidents caused by another persons negligence and these include road traffic accidents caused by careless driving and accidents caused by unsafe conditions in a workplace or facility. The civil legal system enables victims of these accidents to seek justice and financial redress for the harm they suffered and provides a way of recovering expenses caused by the accident such as private medical treatment and loss of earnings.

In order to claim compensation for personal injury and loss following an accident it is usually necessary to prove negligence although there are certain circumstances, particularly involving some accidents that occur at work, where it is not necessary to prove negligence because an employer may be absolutely liable for the consequences of certain failures. Negligence exists where there is a duty of care, together with a failure to take reasonable care for the safety of another person. In order to claim damages it is also necessary to show that any losses sustained are reasonably foreseeable and are as a direct result of the accident. Questions of whether or not there has been negligence are best left to personal injury law specialists and our solicitors will give detailed advice at no cost as to your chances of success and the potential value of any claim.

The Limitation Act 1980 sets out the time limits for making a claim and in very general terms a claim must be settled or proceedings must have been issued in a court of law within three years of the accident however there are a number of important exceptions. The three year period does not start running until the age of 18 years and for those with mental incapacity the time may never start to run. Time also does not run until the discovery of the injury or at least until the time that the injury ought to have been discovered with the exercise of reasonable diligence. Limitations matters can be complex and difficult legal issues that require consideration by a specialist lawyer. If you are in any doubt whatsoever you should take urgent professional advice. The golden rule in personal injury claims is to get the action started as soon as possible otherwise the opportunity to claim compensation may be lost forever. Our experienced personal injury law solicitors will give free legal advice on all limitation issues.

Compensation that is awarded is divided into two parts. Special damages represents compensation for those items that can be calculated accurately and includes wages losses and expenses associated with the claim. General damages represents compensation for those items that cannot be calculated with accuracy and must, in the main be assessed. This item includes the pain and suffering for an injury caused as a result of an accident. Pain and suffering is extremely difficult to calculate as money quite simply cannot compensate for physical damage. Judges do however make awards based on previous court cases and for this they refer either to the court records which are often published or to a book called 'Kemp and Kemp' which is a digest of all of important compensation awards made over the years.

Reference is also made to a government guide for judges and practitioners issued by the 'Judicial Studies Board' which sets out to distil all of the previous awards made into a useful guide categorised into different injuries and different degrees of severity.

If you have been injured in an accident within the last three years that wasn't your fault you should contact us. You will receive a complete professional service from solicitors who specialise in claiming compensation for personal injury caused as a result of an accident.