Accident Compensation

Accident Compensation is designed for people who, through no fault of their own, have received injury, either physically or psychologically. An accident can have a major impact on your health or your life, which is why the law allows you to sue someone else for their negligence.

There are a number of awards that can constitute compensation, for example: cost of treatment, both now and in the future; loss of earnings; disablement; and much more. The fact that every accident and set of circumstances is different makes each case unique. If it can be proved that your accident was due to someone else’s negligence, you may have a case for a claim.

Accident Compensation - The 3 year rule

It is imperative that that you register a claim or issue legal proceedings within three years of the accident or injury happening or it will become what is called “statute barred” meaning that you will have lost the right to claim compensation. However, this rule does have some exceptions as follows:

• the 3 year rule only commences after your 18th birthday, so accident claims for minors have a longer period of consideration;
• if the injury was not recognisable or apparent at the time of the accident, but appeared later, then the 3 year rule commences from the date that the injury was first noticed; and
• the Court, at its own discretion, may extend or overrule these time limits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is very important to instruct a specialist accident compensation solicitor to discuss this in the first instance.

In a world where there is an endless opportunity for accidents to occur, personal injury lawyers are in high demand. Whether it is an accident at work, a road accident, medical negligence or a holiday accident, it is the aim of the personal injury solicitors to ensure that each client is awarded as much compensation as possible.

Perhaps the first thing that springs to mind when ‘personal injury’ is mentioned is the ‘no win no fee’ basis, advertised by so many accident compensation solicitors. The lawyers who promote this arrangement promise to awarded 100% of the compensation, if the claim is successful, to their client who has suffered a personal injury. The agreement between the solicitor and the client is that they will be paid nothing at all if the claim fails. On the other hand, if it is successful, they are awarded with a ‘success fee’ or a bonus. Furthermore, there will be standard charges for the compensation claim, however these would be recoverable from the other side. The ‘No Win, No Fee’ arrangement, otherwise known as Conditional Fee Arrangement, came into existence in 2000, following the governments decision to refute public access to legal aid for most accident claims. Consequently, understanding that most people could not cover the financial costs of hiring a lawyer to deal with their case, many solicitors began using this new arrangement.

Often, a common misconception is that Britain has developed a compensation culture, in particular since the ‘no win no fee’ arrangement has become increasingly popular. Despite this, statistics show that since 2000, compensation claims in the UK have in fact decreased, and after Denmark, it has the lowest level of compensation of any developed country.

When a solicitor is presented with a claim for personal injury compensation, the first thing he/she will do is asses the claim and decide the likelihood of its success. If it is believed that the claim will be successful, the solicitor will gather as much information as possible from the claimant about the accident and the injuries it has caused. If a compensation claim can prove that an accident was the fault of an individual/company as a result of failing to uphold a certain duty of care, it should be successful. Though this may be obvious in some cases, in others it can be more difficult to prove. Furthermore, the personal injury solicitor must be presented with, and begin proceedings with the claim within three years of the accident or it will not be valid in the court of law.