Make A Personal Injury Compensation Claim

If you’ve suffered harm through no fault of your own, we can help you make a personal injury claim.

Make A Personal Injury Compensation Claim Today

When it comes to claiming personal injury compensation, it’s important to be aware of your legal rights and the steps you need to take to help you succeed.

At Accident Claims, we offer free advice on a range of topics relating to personal injury claims. This advice comes in the form of our guides, the links to which you can read below.

We can also provide you with advice on your case if you:

Call us on 0800 073 8801
Speak with us now via our live chat service
Or write to us about your case via our contact page

What Is A Personal Injury?

A personal injury is any type of injury that you may suffer in an accident. This could be a fall at work, a slip in a supermarket or a car accident.

When it comes to making a compensation claim, the accident needs to have been caused by a negligent third party.

However, you can also make a personal injury claim if you were partially at fault for what happened.

Can I Claim Personal Injury Compensation?

In order to be eligible to make a personal injury compensation claim, it’s necessary to prove negligence. This is achieved by satisfying three criteria:

That the defendant owed you a duty of care
Their acts or omissions breached that duty
And as a result of that breach, you suffered an injury

In cases involving accidents at work and road traffic accidents, proving duty of care is quite straightforward. That’s because all employers owe their employees a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Likewise, all road users owe each other a duty of care when on the roads.

The point of contention is often proving a breach of duty occurred. This is because the duty of care owed is only a reasonable one, not an absolute one.

So, for example, your employer is expected to do all they reasonably can to keep you safe at work. If they can prove that they’ve taken all possible steps but an accident still occurred, they may escape liability.

What Is The Personal Injury Claim Time Limit?

In addition to proving negligence occurred, you must start the legal process within the personal injury claim time limit. This is typically three years from the date of the accident that caused your injuries.

However, for certain personal injury compensation claims, there are exceptions to this limitation period. This includes:

Those who lack the mental capacity to start their own claim. In these cases, the time limit is indefinitely suspended. During this time, a court-appointed litigation friend could make the claim on their behalf. However, if the injured party regains this mental capacity and a claim has not been made for them, they will have three years from the date of recovery to begin the claiming process.
Those under the age of 18. In these cases, the time limit is paused until their 18th birthday. Prior to this, a litigation friend could make the claim on their behalf. Once the injured party turns 18, they will have three years from the date of their 18th birthday to start a claim if one has not been made for them.

If you have any questions about the time limits for personal injury claims, get in touch with one of our advisors using the contact details at the top of the page.

How Are Personal Injury Claims Calculated?

Settlements for successful personal injury claims could include general and special damages.

General damages compensate you for the pain and suffering you have endured due to your injury. When valuing your claim, a legal professional may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document that lists guideline compensation brackets for various types of injuries. In our table below, we’ve included some of the figures stated in the 16th edition of the JCG.

Please only use this table as a guide.

Edit
Injury	Notes	Compensation Bracket
Severe Leg Injuries (b) Very Serious (ii)	Found within this bracket are injuries that lead to permanent mobility problems, multiple fractures that take years to heal and require extensive treatment and where arthritis has developed making further surgical treatment likely.	£54,830 to £87,890
Severe Neck Injury (iii)	The award will consider the duration of the most serious symptoms, the extent of the required treatment and the prognosis. Injuries in this bracket include those that cause chronic conditions and a significant permanent disability, such as fractures, dislocations and severe soft tissue damage.	£45,470 to £55,990
Less Severe Brain Damage	The award will consider the severity of the initial injury, any continuing disability and personality changes as well as depression.	£15,320 to £43,060
Moderate Pelvis and Hip Injury (i)	Claimants have experienced a significant injury to the pelvis or hips, but permanent disability is not major.	£26,590 to £39,170
Less Severe Arm Injury	The claimant has suffered from significant disabilities, but a substantial degree of recovery has occurred or is expected.	£19,200 to £39,170
Moderate Back Injury (ii)	The award depends on the severity of the original injury, pain levels, the extent of any required treatment, lifestyle impact and prognosis.	£12,510 to £27,760
Moderate Shoulder Injury	In this bracket, the claimant suffers from a frozen shoulder that causes movement limitations and discomfort with symptoms lasting around two years. Also included in this bracket are soft tissue injuries with non-minimal symptoms lasting beyond this time.	£7,890 to £12,770
Wrist Injury (d)	In this bracket, the claimant takes longer than 12 months to recover from a fracture or soft tissue injury, save for minor symptoms.	£6,080 to £10,350
Moderate Toe Injuries	Injuries found within this bracket include relatively straightforward fractures or exacerbation of a pre-existing degenerative condition or laceration injuries.	Up to £9,600
Nose or Nasal Complex Fractures (iii)	In this bracket, the claimant has suffered da displaced fracture that has required nothing more than manipulation.	£2,520 to £3,150

Special Damages

You might also be awarded special damages as part of your personal injury compensation. This compensates you for any expenses you incurred due to your injury. However, to be able to claim special damages, you will need to submit evidence regarding your financial losses, such as bank statements or receipts.

Examples of losses you might be able to recover under special damages include:

Medical expenses, such as the cost of prescriptions.
Loss of earnings. This could include your past, present and future losses.
Travel costs, including taxi fares to and from medical appointments.
The cost of adaptations to your home, such as installing a ramp, if they are needed to cope with your injuries.

If you have any questions about how compensation is awarded in personal injury claims, please get in touch with one of our advisors.

Real Examples Of Personal Injury Claims

To give you an idea of the types of personal injury claims that could justify compensation, we thought we’d share some real-life examples from cases handled by our solicitors:

One of our clients secured a compensation payout of £143,770 when he suffered a serious injury to his ankle. It was caused by a scaffolding plank that hadn’t been properly secured, causing the claimant to fall and injure himself.
Another of our clients received a compensation award of £280,000 in an accident involving faulty machinery. She was operating a rewind roll machine when her hand was pulled into the mechanism, causing multiple hand fractures that required surgery and skin grafts. The accident could have been avoided if her employer had secured a guard to the machine to protect from hand injuries.
Another claim involved a lack of training on health and safety and manual handling, plus a failure to conduct a risk assessment on the part of the employer. Our client was asked to load a 1-tonne press onto an electric stacker lift. However, it fell and pinned our client to the floor. He suffered a broken collar bone, shoulder blade, ribs, jaw and a large cut to the head. He received £58,000 in personal injury compensation.

What Evidence Do I Need For My Personal Injury Claim?

In order to make a successful personal injury claim, it’s necessary to prove that your injuries were caused by the defendant. This is done with evidence.

There are lots of pieces of evidence that you can get. However, the more you can provide your personal injury solicitor, the greater the chance you have of succeeding.

Some examples of the best types of evidence you can get include:

Photographs of the scene of the accident – If you tripped on a pothole, for example, take a picture of the hole. If you can measure how deep it is, do that too.
CCTV footage – If you have a dashcam, for example, this would be very helpful in a personal injury claim after a car accident.
Medical notes – if you visited the doctors or hospital to get treatment for your injury, any letters they give you can be useful
Receipts and bills – it’s possible to claim compensation for any lost earnings or extra bills you had to pay because of the accident.

This is not a complete list, so if you have any questions about evidence and how to get it, speak with us today.

Can I Make A Personal Injury Claim On Behalf Of My Child?

It’s possible to claim compensation on behalf of your child if they suffered an injury which was caused by someone else.

A child cannot represent themselves in a claim, so they must be represented by a relative or guardian. They would be referred to as a litigation friend.

If compensation is awarded, it will be held in a trust which is monitored by the court. When your child turns they’ll be able to access these funds, though applications can be made to access the money sooner.

Should you choose not to make a personal injury claim on behalf of your child, they can make a claim themselves when they turn 18. They will have until their 21st birthday to issue court proceedings in the case. If they don’t, they may be prevented from claiming altogether.

Learn More About Personal Injury Compensation Claims

Below, you can find more of our guides on personal injury compensation claims:

If you’ve suffered an injury but have encountered trouble with your treatment, you could also make a medical negligence claim. This may apply to cases involving the likes of a misdiagnosed fracture.
If you’ve been injured in a wheelchair accident and want to learn about your legal rights, head here. You can find examples of different injuries, how they’re caused, compensation payouts, and how our solicitors can help you.
For help and advice on claiming dog bite compensation following an attack on you or your loved one, head here. Our solicitors are specialists in dog bite claims and can help you too.
To learn more about child personal injury claims, head here. Learn how to claim compensation on behalf of your child if they’ve been injured in an accident that wasn’t their fault.
If you’ve been injured in a zebra crossing accident, you could be entitled to personal injury compensation. Our guide offers lots of advice and support on the claims process and potential payouts.
To learn more about accident at work claims, head here
Head here to learn more about concussion compensation claims
Or check this page out to learn more about making an electric shock compensation claim
This guide discusses multiple injury claims and how the process works
See how to claim compensation for a lift accident here
Check out this guide to whiplash claims
This guide explains everything you need to know about making a burn injury claim
This guide explains making a claim for permanent facial scar compensation under personal injury law
This guide discusses claiming nerve damage compensation in detail. You can learn all about the claims process and the average payout.
Find out how to prove fault in a car accident claim with our helpful guide.
Learn about the whiplash recovery time and how to claim with our informative article.
Find out if you can sue a company that has ceased trading with our helpful guide.
Learn about using alternatives to a wrist injury compensation calculator to help you with your claim.
Learn about potential hip replacement compensation payouts with our helpful guide.
Get more information on potential chronic pain compensation amounts with our helpful guide.
Get help if you suffered a burnt scalp from bleach applied by a hairdresser. Learn more about claiming compensation for scalp burns with our guide.
Find out how many personal injury claims go to court with our helpful guide. Learn more about the compensation claims process.
Get help claiming for a hot coffee burn caused by negligence with our helpful guide.
Learn about the supermarket accident claims process with our helpful guide.
Find out how to claim for an accident at home with our informative guide.
Learn how to claim if you got stuck in a hotel elevator with our helpful guide.
Get help making a funfair accident claim by reading our article on claiming personal injury compensation after being injured in a funfair.
Learn about eye injury compensation claims and get more information on personal injury claims process with our article.
Advice on claiming compensation for gym injuries caused by negligence. Learn more with our guide.
Learn about potential broken leg compensation payouts with our helpful guide.
Get more information on shoulder injury compensation payouts by reading through our case study guide.
Learn how to claim for an accident caused by faulty traffic lights with our helpful guide.
For advice on the car insurance claim time limit and how to make a personal injury claim following a road traffic accident, head here.
If you’re interested in the typical payouts for personal injury, as well as checking out our compensation chart and how to claim on a No Win No Fee basis, head here
If you’ve been injured in a car accident, you may be interested in the typical payouts for whiplash, a common neck injury in road traffic collisions. Find out more about it here
If you’d like to learn more about head injury compensation claims, then head here. You can discover the criteria for making a claim, how much compensation you could get, and how No Win No Fee agreements work.