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One of the most common questions people ask when they make a claim is ‘how much will I receive from my claim?’ If you have been injured as the result of an accident that was not your fault, you are entitled to claim compensation. In the majority of cases, financial compensation is the only remedy available and it is only natural for claimants to want to know how much they will receive.

There are two types of compensation, or ‘damages’ as they are formally called – ‘special damages’ and ‘general damages’.

Special damages are those paid to compensate the claimant for the actual financial losses caused as the result of an accident.  The aim of a personal injury claim is, as far as is reasonably possible, to put the injured person back in the position that they would have been in had the accident not have occurred.
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There are several ways of making compensation claims, and there are several companies you could enlist to help you. In fact, the world of compensation claiming can be made so confusing when you have no idea what to do or where to turn.

So – to help you out, read this guide on the best ways of making a claim, and what to look out for when deciding who should represent you.

At the end of the day, you’ve been injured at no fault of your own, and you are legally entitled to recover compensation for your injuries and losses (losses such as lost earnings or medical expenses).
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Yes – there is a time limit in which to make a claim for compensation. The limit your claim will fall in to depends on a number of general factors; so really, the best thing you can do is speak to an injury lawyer direct to find out when the limit runs out for your claim.

As a general rule – THE QUICKER YOU CLAIM, THE BETTER! Events will be fresh in your mind, and you can get access to private medical care to help you recover quicker with a good injury lawyer on board.

How Long Do You Have to Claim?
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The cost of making a claim can run into thousands of pounds; but this should not put you off making a claim. Although your solicitor can give you an idea of whether your claim will be successful, it is rarely possible to be 100% certain unless you have been hit in the rear by another vehicle whilst stationary, or you were a passenger in a road collision.

Legal aid for most personal injury claims was abolished in 2000 and a different way of funding these claims was introduced – the no win, no fee agreement.

This is an agreement that means that, if your claim is not successful, you will not have to pay a penny to your solicitor for their fees. Under this agreement, if the claim is unsuccessful your solicitor will do the work for your claim without any payment from you for their fees;.  The way that claims are now funded means that solicitors can charge an additional fee to the defendant – a ‘success fee’ –  when they win. This extra amount is used to pay for those claims that aren’t successful. This means that there is no reason for a solicitor to charge you for their costs whether you win or lose and you should always avoid using a solicitor that will take any money out of your  compensation.
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Should I make a claim for compensation? This is a common question asked to us when we are advising people about the merits of any potential claim they think they might have. Ultimately, it’s your life, and therefore your decision – no one can take that away from you, or force you in to making a claim.

So, as the decision is entirely yours, here are a few positive reasons why making a claim for compensation is a good thing.

Compensation Payout
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Our clients come to us on a daily basis seeking compensation for their whiplash injuries.  Some are even unsure if the pain and suffering they have can be classed as whiplash.  I have therefore prepared a short guide to whiplash claims.

What is whiplash?

Whiplash is a soft tissue injury that is typically sustained when your head and neck area is suddenly jolted.
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Making a claim after an accident is not always just about obtaining compensation for the injuries and financial losses caused by the negligence of another party. The courts recognise how important it is for the victims of accidents to receive early medical treatment to help with their rehabilitation and recovery from their injuries.

The law encourages insurance companies to arrange and pay for any necessary medical treatment as soon as possible. This means that injured claimants are given access to private medical treatment that will help them recover from their injuries as soon as the claims process begins. This often includes physiotherapy to help speed up the recovery of victims of road accidents that have suffered from whiplash and other muscular and soft tissue injuries common in this type of accident.

The rehabilitation that can be provided to a claimant can include any medical treatment that will speed up their recovery, help them deal with their injuries, or make them more comfortable during their recovery.
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At The Injury Lawyers we are very clear that, under no circumstances, will we ever pay a referral fee for your claim.  If a third party contacts us with a person’s details claiming that they have been involved in an accident and would pass their details to us for a fee, we will simply refuse.  We do not believe in paying referral fees and believe that they have a negative impact on your claim.

A referral fee is a fee paid by a solicitor to an insurer or claims management company, or even the police, a garage, and other companies involved in the process, in return for the details of a person who has had an accident and who potentially has a very good claim for compensation.  What this means is that, for a sum anywhere between £200 and £1,000, a solicitor can try and get this person to make a claim for compensation using their service.  By successfully acting for this victim of someone else’s negligence, they will be entitled to recover their costs from the third party, and could make a handsome profit.  Essentially they may not really interested in your injuries and helping you get what you deserve for them – they just want to get your claim through so that they can turn a profit at the end of it.

It is important to note that if you are bombarded with texts and phone calls from a third party wanting to help you make a claim for compensation, you do not have to instruct them.  You have the free will to say no, and that you want someone else to act on your behalf, or that you do not wish to pursue a claim for compensation at all (if that’s the case).  It really is entirely up to you.
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At The Injury Lawyers we are well aware that people who want to bring a claim for compensation generally want it over and done with as fast as possible.  That is why we vow to get you the maximum compensation you deserve in the shortest possible time.  That said, although we do all our work at our end as fast as we can, there will always be periods of time where we have to wait for the other side to respond and allow them time to do this.  Of course, we can chase them up and make sure everything is going smoothly at their end as well; but inevitably there will be some small periods where we simply have to wait.  Here is a quick guide to your compensation claim:

Most accidents, except for minor road traffic accidents, will be dealt with under the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims.  This Protocol has been designed to achieve a speedy end to your compensation claim. 

The first stage is to produce a letter of claim which outlines your accident precisely, details your injuries, and confirms why we believe the other side were negligent.  Your expert injury lawyers will produce this for you and this letter should not take long at all.  Once it is ready your lawyers will send it to the Defendant who then have a period of 21 days to acknowledge the letter of claim.  In the most part, Defendant’s acknowledge this letter well within those 21 days and then either pass it ot their insurers or solicitors to deal with.
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At The Injury Lawyers, we provide free legal advice to numerous people every day, whether they be existing clients, or potential new clients wanting more information about the services we offer.  A lot of the time such people ask very similar questions.  One of the most common is whether they have a claim or not; and an equally common question is how much their claim is worth.  In respect of the latter question there is often some difficulty placing a precise value on their claim at the early stages.  This is because there are several factors which need to be taken into account when calculating the value of the claim, and because at the start of your claim, without medical evidence, we do not know how your injuries will be in a few months time.  This blog intends to set out how can we try and help you value your claim.

If anyone tells you they know exactly how much your claim is worth at the outset, that is simply not possible.  This is because your injuries can only be properly valued when your injury lawyers are in receipt of your medical report.  This will outline the nature of your injuries, whether they directly relate to your accident, and how long the medical expert believes they will persist.  From this, your expert injury lawyer can begin to properly value you your claim.  Without it, it is guess work based on other cases that they have experienced that have similar attributes to your own.

There are several considerations when valuing your claim other than the nature of your injuries and their seriousness.  If you have had a lot of time off work, or you have suffered a substantial loss of amenity, such factors like these add up to make your claim more valuable.  Your injury lawyer can try and recover these related losses and this adds value to your claim.  So, for example, a person with a six month back injury who has had six months off work and was not able to go to the gym during these six months, would have a claim that could potentially be worth more than the person who’s back injury lasted 2 months when and had minimal time off work.  The value of your claim really does depend on your circumstances, and it is not often easy to predict from the offset.
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