What Will Your Solicitor Need From You?
Your personal injury solicitor will need several things to help make your claim. These generally fall into three categories:
Evidence that helps prove someone else was responsible for your injuries
Evidence of your injuries (such as medical records)
Evidence of any expenses you have incurred as a result of your injuries.
We'll need your permission to access your medical records. And it's likely that you'll have to attend an independent medical examination too.
Don’t worry if you don’t have certain documents or items – but in general, the more you have the better. The golden rules are to:
Keep everything – receipts, letters, emails – that might be useful to your claim
Take photos of the scene of your accident as soon after the event as possible
Make a note of any witnesses to your accident, and take down their contact details.
Even if you can’t provide evidence of your injuries, don’t be put off making a claim. We will investigate the circumstances fully.
How Will You Handle My Claim?
Free Initial Consultation
When you contact us, you’ll speak to one of our friendly team members, who will talk to you about your injuries or illness. This initial consultation is free, confidential and from there, we’ll advise you on the best way to take your claim forward and if there are any steps we can take straight away to help with your immediate needs.
Contacting Those Responsible For Your Injuries
We’ll contact those responsible for your accident or illness to see if they accept responsibility for what happened. If they accept responsibility, we’ll try to secure interim payments, which can fund any immediate medical care, rehabilitation and expenses while your claim is ongoing. These interim payments will be taken out of your final compensation award.
Gathering The Evidence
Our experts will look into your case in detail, gathering evidence from various sources such as witnesses and independent medical professionals.
We’ll employ medical professionals to find out how your accident or illness impacted your health and recommend the care, rehabilitation and support you’ll need in the future in order to make the best recovery possible.
Final Settlement & Compensation Awarded
We’ll always try and negotiate claims out of court. However, if your opponent doesn’t accept responsibility or doesn’t agree with the amount of compensation we feel you need, we’ll start court proceedings.
Even when trial dates have been set, claims are still often settled before reaching court. 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.
Read more about what happens if your case goes to court .
What Can Compensation Pay For?
Every personal injury case is different, so there’s no set amount of compensation you’ll receive. The amount of compensation you’ll get will depend on your circumstances, the severity of your injuries and the long term impact.
To work out how much compensation you’re entitled to, we’ll take into account factors such as:
Expenses – including travel expenses to medical appointments, medical equipment and things that help with practical day-to-day living.
Loss of earnings – to cover any time you’ve had off work and time off you may need in the future. This figure can also cover matters such as not returning to the same role or not being able to return to work.
Pain and suffering – caused by your injury or illness.
Rehabilitation – to help provide the necessary rehabilitation for your recovery and well-being.
Adaptations Care – to provide for any care and support you may need.
If you’d like to make a compensation claim, contact us to set up a free initial consultation on 0800 056 4110 .
Can You Take Over From My Current Lawyers?
If you have a personal injury claim underway with another law firm and you’re concerned about the way it has been handled, you can ask for a second opinion. We’ve helped many people who’ve been dissatisfied with the advice or service they’ve received, and will make your transition between firms as smooth as possible.
If you’ve received poor quality service, we suggest that you present your concerns to your current lawyers first. After this, we’re happy to offer a second opinion and will give you free independent advice on your claim so you can make an informed choice about moving.
We’ll provide you with honest guidance about your claim and will quickly decide how we can best help proceed with your case.
If you decide to move your case to us, you won’t have to worry about a thing as we’ll take care of all the necessary arrangements.
Read more about changing solicitors during a personal injury claim
Meet Our Personal Injury Lawyers
By making a claim with us, you’ll deal with friendly and professional lawyers who’ll take time to get to know you and understand what happened to you. You’ll benefit from our expert knowledge of compensation claims and will be represented by a lawyer with a specialism in a particular area of personal injury law.
Our solicitors are based across the country and have the knowledge and experience to make a real difference to your life, securing you the compensation you need to move forward. We handle thousands of successful personal injury claims each year, and have secured more than £1 billion in compensation for our clients over the last two years.
Your lawyer will run your case as efficiently as possible and will start investigating your claim immediately. We’ll always provide you with clear advice that can help you with a variety of issues relating to your claim. We can offer advice on financial issues, state benefits and claiming against your employer, if the injury or illness you suffered was while you were at work.
Our Personal Injury team has been applauded by leading legal guides, Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500. In 2016, Chambers & Partners said: “They are excellent, very knowledgeable and considerate to their clients, in whom they take a personal interest.” The Legal 500, in 2015, described us as a “leading player” and recognised that we “handle every case thoroughly and compassionately.”
We’re also proud to have won the Claimant Solicitor of the Year prize at the Rehabilitation First Awards on seven different occasions. This award recognises our key focus on rehabilitation, making sure that our clients can access the care and support they need.
View our Personal Injury team .
Will My Personal Injury Claim Go To Court?
Most of the personal injury claims we handle do not go to court.
Even if we have to go through the court process, and a hearing date is set, it’s not unusual for your opponent to try and settle your claim before.
There are usually two reasons we might have to take your claim to court:
There is a dispute about responsibility for your injury
There is a dispute about the amount of compensation we’re claiming.
If your claim does go to court, rest assured that our personal injury solicitors are extremely experienced in this area. Our team have taken cases as high as the Supreme Court, and have helped shape the law through our work.
We understand that you may be worried about appearing in court. While it’s unlikely you will, if you have to we’ll make sure you’re fully prepared and will be there to support you throughout the process.
