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How Much Compensation Can I Expect?
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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Workplace Accidents- How Much Compensation Could I Receive?
OK – so you have had an accident at work, and you think you may have a claim for compensation; now, you may want to know what sort of payout you could be expected to receive.
Firstly, just for the avoidance of confusion, let us address whether you have a potential claim for compensation. A basic criteria to check through is as follows:
- The accident was not entirely your own fault.
- The cause of the accident was in some way attributable to your employers / or was caused by a colleague.
- The accident was entirely preventable in some way by your employer.
The BBC have recently reported on comments from the Former Justice secretary, Jack Straw, about the referral fee system in Britain.
It is believed that the increasing cost of insurance is as a result of referrals made to personal injury lawyers without the permission of the client. Recommendations had been made last year to implement the banning of referral fees, and there is now a further request to follow this through.
Once a referral is made, clients are often hounded by interested parties to put in a claim for compensation after an accident – even when the client has said they do not wish to proceed. This can be very distressing and frustrating for the client.
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Had an accident at work, and wondering what to do? As well as being in pain, and perhaps being a little annoyed that you’ve ended up injured in the line of duty, you’re probably wondering why the accident has happened, and whether something should be done about it.
Well, read on for some quality advice as to where you stand legally, and what you should be doing after you have been involved in an accident at work.
Where Do You Stand?
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If, in the eyes of the law, the road traffic accident you have been involved in which has led to your injuries is relatively minor and straightforward, claiming for compensation is a very straightforward process. As of the 30th April 2010 a new protocol was introduced for these sorts of road traffic accident claims which means that in a matter of weeks or a couple of months your compensation claim could be settled.
Nowadays making a claim for compensation for a road traffic accident involves submitting a simple form over the internet, waiting a day for the other side to acknowledge it, then giving them 15 days to investigate your accident. Once liability is admitted, getting a medical report compiled and settling your claim on the best terms is just as quick with the right lawyer on board for the claim. Your compensation could genuinely be sorted in a matter of weeks.
The first stage of your claim is to instruct a quality injury lawyer who specialises in road traffic accident claims. They should know what they are doing and be able to get the ball rolling on your claim straightaway.
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If you are ever unfortunate enough to be involved in a road traffic accident, you will find that your phone never stops ringing with calls from interested parties offering their services to assist you with your claim. In addition to this, you will probably also receive a call from the third party’s insurer with a proposal for you to accept an offer directly from them.
At the time, this may appear to be a good idea: a quick settlement with no medical involved, and without the hassle of seeking out a reputable injury lawyer to do this for you.
However, there is a downside to this early settlement. The insurance companies can make you an early offer of compensation without identifying the extent or the seriousness of your injuries, and without explaining to you the full meaning of ‘full and final settlement’. Once paid out, if your injuries persist and you have further treatment and losses (including loss of earnings), there is no way to reopen the claim and you will be responsible to pay for these bills.
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Your Duty to Mitigate Your Losses
If you have been involved in an accident that was not your fault, you are probably aware that you are entitled to claim for compensation for your injuries. You may not be aware that you can also claim for any financial losses that you have suffered as a result of the accident. This is because compensation is meant to put you back in the position you would have been in had the accident not have occurred; therefore, recouping your financial losses is a crucial aspect to this.
I have listed below some of the more common types of loss which you may be entitled to recover:
- Loss of earnings
- Treatment costs
- Care and Assistance
- Travel expenses
- Miscellaneous (call charges, postage costs etc)
OK – so you’ve had a car accident, it wasn’t your fault, and you’re wondering what on earth you should do to sort it all out! It can be particularly scary if it’s your first time in an accident as well; made even worse if the driver at fault was being quite nasty with you as they knew they were at fault, and were perhaps trying to dodge the bullet.
Here is your one stop shop advice guide as to what exactly to do. My best suggestion is read this first before you do anything (and I mean anything – including speaking to your own insurers) and you will hopefully be able to rest a little easier when you know what you need to do.
At The Scene
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For those who may not be sure, here is a bit of advice on what an Accident Claim is, what it entails, and what happens if you make one:
An accident claim is generally a claim for compensation for injuries and loss incurred after an accident you have been involved in that was caused through no fault of your own. The accident must have been caused by someone else’s negligence – whether it’s a person or a company. You can actually be partly to blame, and still make a claim, subject to a reduction in your payout. But, ultimately, the thing to know when trying to figure out of you have an accident claim is whether the accident was the fault of someone else.
If this accident has caused you to suffer any sort of injury, you are entitled to make a claim for compensation that reflects the nature, severity, and length of the suffering involved. You are also able to take in to account for any literal financial losses you incur as well; a matter I will come on to shortly.
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At The Injury Lawyers we are experts in the field of personal injury as this is the only type of law we deal with. Importantly, we have vast experience in dealing with claims for compensation for whiplash injuries. When we receive a whiplash claims we give it our utmost attention because we know how serious a whiplash injury can be – as many of my colleagues can testify. This blog gives a brief outline of a whiplash injury and how to make a claim for compensation for your whiplash injury.
Causes:
Most of our whiplash claims arise from road traffic accidents – typically where our client has been correctly proceeding in their vehicle and a negligent third party has collided with the rear of their vehicle. What this means is that our clients head and neck area is suddenly jolted and a whiplash injury ensues. That said, whiplash injuries occur in other types of road traffic accidents and we have also come across them in sporting accidents where again the person’s neck is suddenly jerked.
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