Every one of our experts is a specialist personal injury solicitor who is a member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority expert panel. Compensation claims are dealt with on a risk free no win no fee basis and compensation is in full with no deductions. You do not pay for any expenses, disbursements, medical reports or insurance as the claim proceeds.
If you have had an accident there are a number of things you can do to preserve evidence to help your personal injury solicitor improve your chances of successfully claiming compensation :-
- Record as much information as you can at the scene of the accident including the exact location, time, weather and lighting conditions.
- Take the names, addresses and telephone numbers of any witnesses to your accident.
- Take photographs of any injuries and take photographs of the location of the accident scene including any damage to vehicles or property.
- If the police attended, obtain full details of the attending officer and the crime case number.
- If your accident occurred on commercial property such as a supermarket or office then you should ensure that you make an entry in the accident book.
- Make a note of the insurance details of all parties involved in the accident.
- Visit the hospital or your GP as soon as possible after the accident to record the extent of any injuries sustained as your medical record will be used to value the claim.
- Keep a full record of any losses or expenses incurred as a result of the accident.
To make a claim the first thing that you have to do is to consider who was to blame for causing the accident. Without taking legal advice from a specialist personal injury solicitor it is very easy to blame it on ‘bad luck’ or to shrug your shoulders and blame it on yourself. There are many occasions where it is not obvious that someone else has a duty to ensure that you come to no harm and it is in those instances that injury may go uncompensated when in fact the injured person has a legal right to claim compensation. Our personal injury solicitors are able to give you free legal advice on the telephone to help you to decide whether or not someone else was responsible for causing the injury. We'll help you to decide if you do have a good claim, and we'll help you to claim the compensation you need and deserve. If you are in any doubt just complete our contact form and we’ll phone you. It won't cost you a penny.
DAMAGES
For the sake of convenience the financial award in an accident compensation claim is usually separated into different categories by your personal injury solicitor, called general damages, special damages and future loss as follows:-
- Special Damages
This represents compensation for items of loss which can be calculated reasonably accurately and includes loss of salary both past and future, travelling expenses, cost of medical treatment and medicines, personal effects damaged in the accident and the excess on an insurance policy. It is usually necessary for a personal injury solicitor to prove these losses by production of receipts, however in the absence of receipts estimates of loss can often be made and verified by other documentary evidence. - General Damages
This represents compensation for items that cannot be calculated precisely that require a degree of assessment initially by your own personal injury solicitor to establish value and thereafter by all other parties including the Judge. The main item of general damages is usually payment for the injury itself including pain and suffering. Damages for pain and suffering are normally established following review of medical reports obtained specially for the purpose. Other items under this part of the claim include damages for any disadvantage on the job market caused by the injury, loss of congenial employment if a less than satisfactory new job has to be taken and any loss or change of lifestyle compared to that which was previously enjoyed. - Future Losses
The calculation of these losses in an accident compensation claim is quite complex and if you have losses that are likely to continue for the foreseeable future a special calculation is applied to the estimated annual loss to arrive at a fair figure for compensation. - Interest
You may be entitled to interest on some of your accident compensation. The rate payable and the period for which it is payable varies depending on the type of damages. Interest on special damages runs from the date of the accident whereas interest on general damages runs only from the date of service of legal proceedings.