The Claims Process

To succeed in a personal injury claim, you will have to establish the following: -

a) that you have suffered injury and

b) that the accident was caused wholly or partly by the fault of your opponent

This may take some time and is often dependent on the cooperation we receive from your opponent or their insurers. However in most circumstances, particularly car accidents and accidents at work, we should be able to tell you almost straight away whether your claim has reasonable prospects of success.

Once we are satisfied that your claim has reasonable prospects of success, we will be able to obtain the evidence needed to proceed with your accident claim.

We will need to speak to any witnesses.

We may need to obtain photographs of your accident location and photographs of your injuries particularly if you have scarring. If you already have photographs then it is important that these are kept safe so that they can be forwarded to us as soon as possible.

We may need to obtain your medical notes and records as these should confirm that you have suffered injury in an accident.

To help us proceed with your claim, it is also important that you keep all relevant documents including: -

a) wage slips and other evidence to support any loss of earnings claim

b) proof of any expenses incurred includding receipts and estimates for clothes, and other personal belongings damaged and/or lost

c) proof of any expenses including receipts relating to the treatment of your injuries e.g. taxi fares to/from Hospital, parking charges etc

d) Any correspondance you receive regarding the claim

e) All documents relating to your treatment (if any) e.g. appointment letters

The more infromation that you can provide and the more evidence that you keep, the faster we can proceed with your claim.

As soon as we have enough information to proceed, we will send a formal "letter of claim" to your opponent. They should pass our letter onto their insurers to deal with.

The insurers have a maximum of three months (unless that time limit is extended or you were injured abroad in which case the time limit is 6 months) from the date of acknowledging receipt of notification of your claim to investigate your accident claim. Then they must say whether or not liability is accepted.

Please note that during this period no court action can be brought against your opponent.

To help us decide how much your claim is worth, we will need to obtain expert medical evidence which will be in the form of a medical report prepared by a GP or a Consultant briefly explaining what happened and describing the injuries which you suffered, your treatment and your current symptoms and level of disability (if any).

We will aim to obtain medical evidence in support of your claim as quickly as possible in case you should need rehabilitation e.g. further treatment to relieve your symptoms that we may be able to arrange through the claim.

Once a medical report is available and has been agreed by you, we will send a copy of the report to your opponent's respresentatives along with details of your financial losses and request their offer of settlement assuming liability has been admitted.

Usually, we will allow them a period of 21 days to make an offer of compensation for your accident.

A compensation payment consists of:-

i) General damages - which compensate you for your pain and suffering; and

ii) Special damages- which consist of your quantifiable financial losses, including any claim for loss of earnings.

If liability is not accepted or no reasonable offer is made for your accident compensation then legal proceedings will usually be taken on your behalf.