Personal Injury Claims UK: THE COMPENSATION EXPERTS
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Did You Know…
An elbow injury that causes severe pain and impairment of the joint could get between
£39,170 and £54,830
To begin a personal injury claim today, call us on 020 8050 2736
START YOUR CLAIMWhat Is A Personal Injury Claim?
Last Updated 3rd July 2024. Let’s start by taking a look at the definition of a personal injury claim.
In simple terms, it’s a form of legal action you can take if you’ve suffered an injury or illness because of someone else. For example, a driver crashes into the back of your car while you’re waiting at traffic lights.
In many cases, a personal injury claim can be made with the help of a No Win No Fee agreement. We explain this in greater depth below, but in short, it means you don’t pay anything upfront and pay nothing if the case doesn’t succeed. This way you can get quality legal representation without the need to pay any fees unless the case is a success.
Compensation is often paid out by the insurance company of the defendant too, especially in cases involving workplace accidents and car accidents.
Am I Eligible To Make A Personal Injury Claim?
Being able to make a successful personal injury claim revolves around negligence. Certain third parties have a duty of care to you and, if you injure yourself due to them breaching this duty of care, you may be able to claim due to negligence. There are three requirements to prove negligence. They are:
- That the third party has a duty of care to you.
- That you have evidence showing that the third party breached their duty of care.
- And it’s this breach that led to your injury.
What Is The Personal Injury Claims Time Limit?
There are several other factors to consider if you’re looking to make a No Win No Fee personal injury claim.
- There is a personal injury claims time limit. You generally need to make a claim either three years from the date of the incident or three years from the date you became aware of negligence at least contributing to the injury. This is outlined in the Limitation Act 1980.
- Someone under the age of eighteen or someone who does not have the capacity to make a claim can still potentially have one made on their behalf. In these instances, someone would need to be named their litigation friend so they can claim on the injured person’s behalf.
You can also make fatal accident claims if your loved one has passed away due to an accident they weren’t liable for. Legal experts, such as No Win No Fee lawyers, could help you with this.
How Can Personal Injury Claims UK Help You?
If you contact one of the friendly advisors on our team today, they will be able to assess the eligibility of your personal injury claim, offer you free advice and answer any questions you may have about the claiming process.
Additionally, if they deem you to have a strong case, they could also potentially connect you with one of the experienced personal injury solicitors on our panel. Some of the services that our panel of solicitors can offer their clients include:
- Assess the eligibility of you personal injury claim, whether it was for an accident at work, road traffic accident, or an accident in a public place.
- Help with gathering evidence, such as CCTV footage and eyewitness statements.
- Organising an independent medical assessment.
- Offering you free legal advice.
- Ensuring your claim is filed within the time limit.
- Communicating with the other party involved in the claim.
- Explaining any legal jargon used throughout the claims process.
- Negotiating a personal injury compensation settlement on your behalf that covers both general and special damages.
- If your case has to go to court, helping guide you through this process.
Additionally, the solicitors on our panel usually offer these services to their clients on a No Win No Fee basis.
To see how we could help you with your potential personal injury claim, you can contact a member of our friendly advisory team today via any of the contact information as the top of this page.
How Much Compensation Could I Get For My Personal Injury Claim?
We explain how compensation payouts in a personal injury claim are calculated below, but here we thought it’d be helpful for you to see some potential injury values.
The figures you can see in the table below come from the guidelines of the Judicial College (17th edition, published in 2024).
It’s important to remember that these figures are guideline amounts. Each case is unique and the amount you receive may differ from what you see here. However, it gives you a useful indication.
If you’d like to chat with us about a valuation for your personal injury claim, please get in touch with us today.
| Injury | Compensation Bracket | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Very Severe Injuries With Special Damages | Up to £1,000,000+ | Compensation for suffering multiple severe injuries and special damages such as medical expenses and lost earnings. |
| Brain Damage – Moderate (b)(i) | £183,190 to £267,340 | Moderate to severe deficit in intellect, personality shift and sensory impact with zero employment prospect. |
| Back Injuries – Severe (a)(i) | £111,150 to £196,450 | Severe damage to the spinal cord and nerve roots leading to serious consequences. |
| Neck – Severe (a)(i) | In the region of £181,020 | Injuries associated with incomplete paraplegia or resulting in permanent spastic quadriparesis. |
| Leg Injuries – Severe (b)(i) | £33,880 to £165,860 | Injuries include extensive degloving of the leg or gross shortening of the leg. |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – Severe (a) | £73,050 to £122,850 | Permanent issues will prevent the person from functioning as they did pre-trauma. |
| Ankle Injuries – Very Severe (a) | £61,090 to £85,070 | Injuries include extensive soft-tissue damage or transmalleolar fractures. |
| Hand – Serious (e) | £35,390 to £75,550 | The hand’s capacity will be reduced to 50%. |
| Shoulder Injuries – Severe (a) | £23,430 to £58,610 | Injuries involving damage to the brachial plexus and resulting in a significant disability. |
| Knee – Severe (a)(iii) | £31,960 to £53,030 | Injuries that cause pain, discomfort and limited movement. |
| Other Arm Injuries – Simple Fractures (d) | £8,060 to £23,430 | Simple forearm fractures. |
Learn More About Personal Injury Claims
What Is The Personal Injury Claims Process Like?
Many people who contact us ask us what the personal injury claims process is like. If you’ve never made a compensation claim before, we appreciate that it can feel a little daunting. However, it doesn’t need to be. This is what you can expect when you choose to make a personal injury claim:
- First, your solicitor will review your case and available evidence. They’ll then present the claim to the defendant, setting out the allegations of fault.
- The defendant should then acknowledge the claim and conduct its own investigations.
- While the defendant investigates, your solicitor may ask you to attend a medical assessment with an independent expert. This expert will then produce a report giving an opinion as to whether or not the injuries were caused by the accident.
- The defendant may make an admission of liability once it’s conducted its own investigations. At this stage, the medical report may be disclosed.
- Negotiations for a settelement may commence at this stage. If an agreement can be reached, the personal injury claim may resolve.
- If no agreement can be reached, the case may be issued in court, which begins the process of taking the defendant to trial. However, few claims reach this stage and even fewer make it to the court room
This is a general overview of what you can expect when you make a personal injury compensation claim.
If you’d like to learn more about the process of making a claim, please get in touch.
How Can I Prove My Personal Injury Claim?
The success of any case relies on the strength of the evidence provided, and the same applies to personal injury claims in the UK. If you decide to pursue the possibility of starting a claim after being injured due to another party’s negligence, then gathering evidence that can support your case is one of the first steps you should take. If you choose to hire a solicitor to support your claim, then they should be able to assist with this process.
Evidence is used to prove to the defendant and to the court that your case is valid. A failure to provide evidence to support a claim means it’s unlikely a defendant would pay out compensation.
Obtaining evidence is one of the most important stages of a personal injury claim. Luckily, there are lots of easy ways that you can gather what you need. Here are some tips:
- Check to see if there is any CCTV footage of your accident. This could come from security cameras, for instance. In road traffic accidents, some drivers may also have dashcams that could capture the incident.
- If you’re able to, take photographs of the scene of the accident and what you believe the cause of it was. For example, if you tripped over a pothole, take clear pictures of it.
- To ensure that you get compensated for any financial losses caused by your injuries, keep all receipts, bills and invoices. For example, if you had to get a taxi to places where you’d otherwise drive, keep a log of each journey and a receipt showing the cost. Likewise, keep the receipts of any medication you had to pay for. The same goes for any lost earnings if you had to take time off work and didn’t get paid. Keep hold of your payslips for the months before your accident and then the months since it happened so it’s possible to work out the difference in pay.
- If your accident was recorded in a report book, try to get hold of a copy of the entry and make sure that what’s been recorded is an accurate reflection of what happened. This is particularly relevant to workplace accident cases and public liability claims, such as accidents in a restaurant.
- Evidence of the treatment you’ve received for your personal injuries can also be useful. Your solicitor can help obtain this by requesting copies of your medical records on your behalf, for example.
In short, the more evidence you have, the better job your specialist personal injury solicitor can do in fighting your case. They can also help you obtain further evidence to help establish fault on the part of the defendant.
For more advice on proving a personal injury claim, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We’re more than happy to answer any question, big or small.
Terence Is One Of Our Directors
Customer service is the foundation of everything we do here at PersonalInjuryClaimsUK.org.uk. We know how it feels to suffer an injury through no fault of your own. So from the moment you get in touch, you’ll be treated with professionalism, compassion and respect.
Can I Claim For A Road Traffic Accident?
All road users have a duty of care to one another as established in The Highway Code. These are a set of rules designed to outline correct road conduct. In doing this, it also highlights negligent road conduct as anything that goes against this code. This is to help prevent a road traffic accident (RTA) from occurring.
Examples of scenarios in which you may be able to claim include:
- Another driver colliding with your vehicle due to going above the speed limit. This could lead to you suffering a ligament and tendon injury, for example.
- Another vehicle crashing into you due to them mistiming when to turn onto a roundabout, causing you to endure broken bones. This could cause you to look up accident claims and seek fracture compensation.
However, if your injuries from a road traffic accident are worth less than £5,000, you will have to claim through a different method. This is explained in The Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. You can check how much compensation your personal injury claim could be worth by getting in touch with us using the button at the top of the page.
We provide free legal advice and you may have underestimated what your injuries could be worth. We can also connect you with our panel of specialist personal injury lawyers.
Can I Make An Accident At Work Claim?
Your employer has a duty of care to take reasonably practicable steps to make sure your workplace is safe and secure. It’s not just about being able to perform your role to the required level—it’s about making sure, within reason, that all steps are taken so you can perform all daily tasks safely while using their premises. This is outlined in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
As such, if you’ve suffered accidents at work resulting in injury, it may be due to employer negligence. And if so, you could make a personal injury compensation claim.
Examples of instances where you may be able to claim for employer negligence include:
- Suffering personal injuries at work because your employer failed to maintain a piece of machinery, despite reports of faults.
- A failure by your employer to keep walkways clear, repair broken handrails on stairwells or clean up spillages, leading to you falling over and hurting yourself.
- Looking to make an accident at work claim due to being made to use faulty equipment, such as a ladder. This could lead to you falling off it and reading No Win No Fee solicitors reviews to gain legal advice.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides guidance on work-related injuries. To find out more about instances where you may be able to make accident at work claims, you can visit their website. Or reach out to us to talk about your personal injury case against your employer for free.
How Can I Make Claim for Accidents In Public Place?
You may also be looking to make a claim due to injuring yourself in a public place. People who control public places are often referred to as the ‘occupier’.
Occupiers have a duty of care to every member of the public that uses their facilities. They need to take reasonable steps to make sure the general public are safe when using the space. This duty of care is outlined in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957.
Examples of this kind of negligence include:
- Falling downstairs due to a faulty handrail that the occupier was aware of but didn’t fix.
- Tripping over exposed wiring that the occupier laid but didn’t ensure was safe.
If you have any questions at all about making a public liability claim, get in touch. We can advise you on your case and if you’d like to proceed, can connect you with our panel of expert personal injury lawyers.
How Are Personal Injury Compensation Claims In The UK Valued?
There are two relevant heads of loss in personal injury claims. These are:
- Pain and suffering experienced due to your injuries will be compensated under general damages.
- Monetary losses are awarded under special damages.
Special Damages
Examples of costs you could claim compensation for include:
- Lost income.
- Travel expenses.
- Out of pocket medical bills.
- Care needs
Remember to retain copies of your paylsips, travel tickets and prescription letters as proof of any financial impacts.
Advice on Claiming Lost Earnings
Depending on your employment contract, you may receive company sick pay. You should always check your contract to see what company sick pay you are entitled to.
You may also be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), which you can read more about on the Government website. We should emphasise that claiming loss of earnings compensation and your sick pay entitlements are not the same thing.
To find out more about recovering lost earnings, call our advisors today.
Is There An Average Payout For A Personal Injury Claim In The UK?
No, there isn’t an average payout for a personal injury claim. Each case is unique, with differing severities of injuries and circumstances. The impact the injuries can have may vary from person to person too. As a result, it’s difficult to state an “average”. Instead, each case is judged on its own merits.
What Else Can Personal Injury Compensation Cover?
It’s possible to include a variety of financial costs and losses within personal injury claims, provided those losses are directly related to the injuries suffered.
Let’s go into more detail about the types of things you can claim for:
- We’ve mentioned loss of earnings above, but it’s also possible to claim for future loss of earnings in a personal injury claim. This will apply to cases that involve more serious, life-changing injuries. If you cannot work again due to losing a leg, for example, you can claim the money you would have earned if you hadn’t been injured. Future losses like this are usually paid annually rather than in a lump sum.
- It’s also possible to claim back any care costs relating to the injury. If, for example, your partner or parent had to look after you while you recovered from a broken leg, you can claim an hourly rate for the time they spent caring for you. Care can include cooking, cleaning or helping you get dressed. Therefore, keep a note of how many hours per day or week people looked after you.
- You can claim back the cost of travel relating to the injury too. So if you could drive beforehand but had to take taxis, train or buses instead, you can claim back those costs. Again, keep receipts so you can recover them without issue.
- The same applies to medication costs. If you had to buy painkillers to manage the symptoms of your injury, you can also claim back these losses too.
- One thing that you can claim for which is something a lot of our clients make a claim for is to get private medical treatment. While the service provided by the NHS is first-class, waiting times and delays in treatment can go on for months if not years. As part of your personal injury claim, you can claim for the cost of private medical treatment, such as operations and rehabilitation.
If you’re at all unsure about what you can claim back, please get in touch with Personal Injury Claims UK today.
How Can Personal Injury Solicitors Help Me Claim Compensation?
While it’s not compulsory to instruct a personal injury solicitor to help you claim compensation, we always advise it. The legal system is made up of a complex set of principles and procedures. If you fail to follow them or understand them properly, your case can easily be dismissed.
Instead, you can work with a lawyer on a No Win No Fee basis and they’ll handle everything on your behalf. In exchange, they’ll deduct a fixed percentage of your compensation award, which is capped by law at a low level.
With quality personal injury solicitors on your side, they’ll gather evidence that you might find it hard to obtain, such as personnel records from your employer if you make an injury at work claim. They can also help obtain CCTV footage and speak with witnesses to obtain evidence from them.
They also possess the knowledge and expertise to navigate the claims process, ensuring you get compensated in full and in a timely fashion. Here at Personal Injury Claims UK, we only work with the best personal injury solicitors, so if you’re looking for professional help and support, get in touch for a free eligibility check.
Connect With No Win No Fee Personal Injury Solicitors
A No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel could help you receive thousands of pounds of compensation. Benefits of using them include:
- Not having to pay any legal fees to your personal injury solicitor either upfront or during the claims process. This is guaranteed through a Conditional Fee Agreement, often referred to as a No Win No Fee agreement.
- Only taking payment for the legal costs and fees from your compensation in the form of a small, legally capped portion. What’s more, this only happens if your personal injury claim has been successful.
- If your claim is unsuccessful, they will not request any legal fees from you. This means you have a reduced financial risk than if you paid a personal injury lawyer by the hour.
Our advisors offer free legal advice so if you still have questions or queries about making a claim, please get in touch. They can clarify if you’re eligible to make a claim and answer questions such as “what are the different stages of a personal injury claim in the UK?”
And if they can see you’re entitled to compensation, they can connect you with our panel of experienced personal injury lawyers.
Call us using the button at the top of the page.
As well as providing help with making a claim for compensation, we also write extensively on personal injury law and any recent developments in the news.
We also conduct our own research and produce statistics on a wide range of issues that affect all of our lives. You can learn more about us and our team here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How Long Do Personal Injury Claims Take?
There’s no definitive time for the resolution of personal injury claims. However, if the defendant admits liability and your injuries heal quickly, the claim could resolve in around 12 months.
Do You Have To Go To Court For A Personal Injury Claim?
There is a very good chance that you won’t have to go to court for your personal injury claim. The industry average for cases reaching court is around 5%. That means around 95% of claims are either settled or abandoned due to a lack of good prospects of success.
Even if you do have to go to court, there’s nothing to worry about, though we do appreciate that the experience can be daunting. We work with some of the most experienced solicitors around and attending court is part of their usual routine. You’ll be in good hands as a result.
How Long Does It Take To Receive An Offer Of Compensation?
The length of time it takes to receive an offer of compensation in a personal injury claim can vary depending on the case. If your injuries heal quickly and the defendant does not dispute liability, an offer could be made within a few months.
This offer is usually made once your solicitor has obtained expert medical evidence. At this point, you can calculate the value of your claim so you know how much to ask for. Presenting this medical report to the defendant usually prompts them to make an offer.
Sometimes an offer of compensation could come later on, especially if the defendant is still investigating the case, you’re still recovering from your injuries, or if the defendant disputes liability.
Could I Get An Interim Payment?
In some cases, it’s possible to claim an interim payment. This is a payment of a percentage of your compensation before your case has settled. The idea is to release the money to you early if you’re experiencing difficulty paying bills, especially if you’re unable to work.
An interim payment is often suitable in cases of serious injury where your source of income is effectively stopped.
Does Personal Injury Compensation Get Taxed?
No, personal injury compensation is not subject to tax from the HMRC. This means that other than the deduction to cover your solicitors’ fees, you won’t have to pay any fees to other organisations.
Will My Personal Injury Claim Affect Any Benefits I Receive?
No, your personal injury claim will not affect the benefits you receive. The only impact a personal injury claim could have on benefits is if you receive payments because of your injury. A government body known as the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) will keep track of how much is paid to you, with the condition being that you have to pay this back when you receive your compensation award.
In some cases, you may be able to claim other benefits because of your injuries. The industrial injuries disablement benefit is one example. This will see you receive money to help you get by while you recover.
Who Pays Personal Injury Compensation?
In many cases, the party that pays you your compensation in your personal injury claim is an insurance company.
For instance, in accident at work claims, all employers must have employers’ liability insurance cover in place in case anyone gets hurt. Payouts are paid for by this insurer.
When it comes to road traffic accidents, we’re required by law to insure our cars and motorcycles in case we crash. Cyclists and pedestrians don’t carry specific insurance for this, though in some cases home insurance might cover it. However, if a driver has no insurance, a claim can be made against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), which was set up to handle these cases.
In cases where you slip and fall in a shop, the public liability insurer of that shop will cover a settlement. However, this type of insurance isn’t compulsory, so if there isn’t any in place a claim can be made against the shop directly.
Customer Stories
When Michael was knocked off his bicycle, we helped him find solicitors specialising in road traffic accidents.
I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t work because of my injuries and my bike was broken after the accident. I decided to get some advice from PersonalInjuryClaimsUK.org.uk and never regretted it.
Michael, Client
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