Will My Personal Injury Claim Go To Court?

If you’re thinking about seeking compensation, you may be wondering if your personal injury claim will go to court? This might be creating some anxiety for you, so this guide will explain how the process typically works.

After an accident at work, in a public place or in a road traffic incident, you may have suffered harm that you feel was the fault of a liable party. To initiate court proceedings, you may have strong evidence or a defendant who has already admitted liability. This guide will explore the potential steps required if the claim needs to go to court and how long this may take.

As you read the sections below, you can connect with our dedicated advisors with any questions. They can offer an expert opinion on the strength of your personal injury claim and also suggest help from a solicitor from our panel if the claim is strong. To learn more right now, you can:

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Jump To A Section

  1. Will My Personal Injury Claim Go To Court?
  2. What Happens If My Personal Injury Claim Does Go To Court?
  3. Will I Have To Attend Court Proceedings In Person?
  4. How Long Do Personal Injury Claim Court Proceedings Take?
  5. Contact Us To See If You Can Make A Personal Injury Claim
  6. Resources About How To Make A Compensation Claim

Will My Personal Injury Claim Go To Court

If you would like to know will your personal injury claim go to court, you may be pleased to hear that most can be settled beforehand, particularly with the help of a skilled personal injury solicitor.

Largely it depends on whether the other side (the defendant) admits or disputes liability for your injuries. Either way, it is in the best interests of both parties to find a speedy resolution without going to court because it can be expensive.

However, there is no guarantee that your claim will stay out of court. In the next section, we look at what could happen if your case goes to court.

What Happens If My Personal Injury Claim Does Go To Court?

Court proceedings can be issued regularly for personal injury claims. Should the defendant deny liability or fail to put forward a reasonable offer of compensation, proceedings might begin.

The courts then allocate a ‘track’ for the claim depending on how complicated it is and what financial value is involved. There are three tracks:

  • Small claims track – deals with cases that are worth up to £10,000 (unless it is a road traffic accident case valued at £5,000).
  • Fast track claims – applies to claims likely to be valued between £10,000 (£5,001 for road traffic accidents) and £25,000.
  • Multi-track claims – Where the compensation awarded is expected to exceed £25,000.

After allocating a suitable track, the courts will set a timetable for both parties and issue a date for a court hearing if the case is not resolved before this. Negotiations for a settlement can still continue to take place.

Will I Have To Attend Court Proceedings In Person?

Should your claim proceed to court, you might have to attend in person. For example, in some of the tracks listed above, the judge may have to ask you questions about your injury and how you acquired it in person. Additionally, how much your claim is worth could affect whether or not you need to attend court proceedings.

How Long Do Personal Injury Claim Court Proceedings Take?

There is a time limit for starting a personal injury claim that is typically 3 years from the date of the accident. However, once the claim has started there is no set time frame for how long it’ll take as each claim will differ. Also, the following factors can impact how long court proceedings take:

  • The severity of the injury and its future implications.
  • The complexity of the accident and injuries.
  • The length of time it takes for medical evidence to be gathered together.
  • Whether the opposing side continues to dispute liability or makes insufficient offers of compensation.
  • Delays caused by the workload of the Court.

Contact Us To See If You Can Make A Personal Injury Claim

Whilst anyone can launch a personal injury case, it makes sense to access the advice and support of a skilled solicitor for their claim. With decades of expertise handling claims, the solicitors on our panel can help gather evidence and professionally assemble your claim. Furthermore, they will ensure that your claim is submitted in full and on time, meeting all the court deadlines and any requests for correspondence that come up.

Our panel of solicitors can extend these excellent services to eligible claimants by offering a type of No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under terms like these, there are no upfront or ongoing solicitor’s fees that need to be paid. In addition to this, there are no solicitor’s fees owed for completed services if the claim fails.

An amount needs to be paid to your solicitor if the claim wins. This is called a success fee. It is taken as a percentage of the compensation that has been awarded to you.  The success fee amount is subject to a legal limit. This ensures that the claimant always benefits first and foremost from the positive outcome.

Why not connect with our advisors to discover more about how No Win No Fee agreements could help you? When asking ‘Will my personal injury claim go to court or not?’ access expert advice first by:

A solicitor explains whether your personal injury claim will go to court at a desk.

Resources About How To Make A Compensation Claim

As well as having a better idea if your personal injury claim will go to court or not, these other guides might provide more useful information to help:

External resources to help:

  • Information about the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims from the Ministry of Justice.
  • A guide to legal jargon from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
  • Lastly, what to expect from going to court from the Government.

In conclusion, thanks for your interest in our guide. We hope it has helped answer the question ‘Will my personal injury claim go to court?’ with more clarity. Call for any further advice and information.