How To Claim Compensation For Personal Injury | Irwin Mitchell (2024)

Claiming compensation following a personal injury can be a daunting prospect. But we’re here to help you navigate the claims process and secure the compensation you deserve. Our personal injury guide deals with some of the common questions our lawyers hear.

In this guide:

• What Is A Personal Injury?
• What Are The Time Limits For Making A Personal Injury Claim?
• The Personal Injury Claims Process
• How Much Compensation Can You Claim?
• How Long Does It Take?
• How Can I Fund My Personal Injury Claim?
• Useful Links

Personal injuries can be caused in a range of situations, including:

• Medical negligence
• Road traffic accidents
• Workplace accidents
• On holiday or while abroad
• Exposure to harmful substances at work, such as asbestos
• Criminal injury
• Abuse
• Military accidents
• Defective products

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The three year limit applies either from:

• The date of the incident which caused your injury or illness
• The date you became aware of an illness which was caused by your work (illnesses caused by exposure to asbestos for instance can take decades to develop)
• The date you found out the cause of your loved one’s death

However, there are exceptions to the standard time limit:

• Children – you can claim at any point up until the child’s 21st birthday for an injury that occurred before they turned 18
• Those who lack mental capacity – there is no time limit
• Accidents or illnesses abroad – time limits in foreign countries can be shorter
• Criminal Injury – claims made through theCriminal Injury Compensation Authority (CICA) need to be brought within two years
• Defective products – in addition to the standard three year limit, claims involving defective products must be made within 10 years of the product going into circulation

No matter how your injury occurred, we recommend youget in touch with us as soon as possible, so we can start to investigate your claim.

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The Personal Injury Claims Process

Personal injury claims tend to broadly follow the same five steps:

1. Free Initial Consultation
   We’ll discuss the details of your case and best way to take your claim forward. This initial consultation is free and confidential.
2. Determining Responsibility
   We’ll then work out who was at fault for your injuries or illness. If this isn’t obvious we have an experienced team of investigators to assist. Once we know who is responsible, we’ll contact them to see if they accept responsibility.
3. Understanding Your Needs
   We’ll look at the exact nature and impact of your injury, using medical experts as necessary. From this we’ll calculate the amount of compensation we think you’ll need.
4. Rehabilitation
   With serious injury claims, we’ll look to secure “interim” compensation payments – this is compensation that’s paid in advance of your final settlement to cover any immediate needs you have. We also have a specialist team to help you access the very bestrehabilitation and support.
5. Final Compensation Settlement
   Most claims we deal with get settled out of court. However, sometimes the responsible party doesn’t accept the blame or doesn’t agree with the amount of compensation we feel you need. In these circ*mstances we’ll start court proceedings. If your claim needs to be decided at court, we’ll be there to help you every step of the way, talking you through what will happen so you feel as comfortable as possible.

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There are two parts to a personal injury compensation settlement:

1. General Damages – to compensate you for your injury and for your pain and suffering
2. Special Damages – to compensate you for any expenses you’ve incurred, loss of earnings, and your future care needs

Therefore it’s clearly difficult to generalise how much compensation you could claim, without knowing your personal circ*mstances. This is the value of an experienced personal injury solicitor, who can value your claim accurately in order to get you the compensation you deserve.

A number of factors can influence how much compensation you’re awarded, including:

• The severity of your injury/illness
• Expenses that you’ve incurred
• Loss of earnings
• Future care needs
• Rehabilitation, therapy and support
• Household adaptations
• Whether you contributed to your injuries in some way (for example, by not wearing your seatbelt and suffering injuries in a road traffic accident)

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When calculating your compensation, we need to understand the long term impact your injury will have on your life. This is important as if we calculate or settle your claim too early, it could mean that you receive less compensation than you’re entitled to.

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The vast majority of the claims we handle are funded by a No Win No Fee agreement. This means that you’ll pay no upfront costs, and nothing if your case is unsuccessful*.

More information on funding your personal injury claim.

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Useful Links

• How Much Does It Cost To Make A Personal Injury Claim?
  Information on how a personal injury claim can be funded, and what happens if your case is successful or unsuccessful.
• Rehabilitation
  Find out how we can help you access the specialist care, rehabilitation and support you need.
• Unhappy with your current solicitor?
  If you’re using another law firm for your personal injury claim and are unhappy, we can help.
• Welfare issues after serious injury
  Find out the state benefits you may be entitled to following a serious injury, and how your compensation settlement might affect this.
• Coping with bereavement
  Information on the financial and emotional support available, if you have lost a loved one.
• Adapting your home following a serious injury
  Our interactive house lets you see the alterations you could make to make it accessible following a serious injury.

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All Scottish cases will be handled by the Scottish law firm with which we are associated, Irwin Mitchell Scotland LLP. The law relating to funding is different in Scotland and you will receive separate advice about what that means as well as a separate funding agreement.

*To make a No Win No Fee claim, you need to enter into an agreement that's linked to a suitable insurance policy. We'll explain this in more detail before we start your claim.