Personal Injury FAQs

Here are the Top 10 Questions we are often asked about Personal Injury Claims:

How long will my claim take?

If your injury is serious or takes some time to stabilise, we cannot settle the claim until we have final medical evidence. However, in straightforward cases where the injury settles quickly, we would hope to conclude the claim within 12 to 18 months of starting to act for you.

How much will it cost me to make a claim?

When you commence any legal action, you must consider how you are going to pay for your solicitors fees. For personal injury claims, one option is enter into a conditional fee agreement. These agreements are commonly called “no win/no fee” agreements.

Conditional fee agreements are an agreement between you and your solicitor that if your case is lost you do not have to pay any fees for the work your solicitor has done, but if your case is won you must pay your solicitors fees in full, together with an additional % which is called a success fee. You are not able to recover the success fee and certain other fees from your opponent and therefore the success fee and other non-recoverable fees are deducted from any compensation you recover.

So, in the case of a conditional fee agreement, you would pay a % success fee if your case is won, and nothing if your case is lost.

The second option is legal expenses insurance. Legal expenses insurance is typically sold as an optional 'add-on' when purchasing an insurance policy - although it does sometimes come as part of standard insurance cover. It is often included with:

Home contents insurance
Buildings insurance
Car or motorcycle insurance

What is liability in personal claims?

Liability can simply be described as 'fault'. To establish liability, three factors have to be proven:

The other party owed you a duty of care
That duty was breached
Injury resulted from that breach of duty Liability has been admitted by the defendant

What does this mean? This means the defendant has agreed they were responsible for your accident or injury, i.e. at fault and they will therefore compensate you for any injury and loss you have suffered. Liability has been denied by the defendant, what does this mean? This means the defendant believes they can successfully show they were not negligent (have not breached any duty of care to you) and they consider therefore that they are not responsible for paying you compensation. If liability is denied, your solicitor will review your claim and advise you whether your claim will likely be successful if the matter proceeds to court.

True or False?

I need to live near my solicitor - FALSE
Companies are automatically liable for Industrial Accidents - FALSE
If my injuries worsen, I can claim more compensation - FALSE
Accidents in shops qualify as Personal Injury claims - TRUE
Personal Injury Claims have Time Limits - TRUE
Personal Injury Claims involve going to Court - FALSE
Personal Injury Claims can be made for anxiety, emotional distress and PTSD - TRUE