No Win, No FeeMost personal injury claims are made against insurance policies. If you’ve ever dealt with an insurer, you’ll know that they don’t like to pay out unless they really have to. As such, you’ll need to present as strong a case as possible if you’re to make a successful claim. In this article about building a strong personal injury claim, we’ll consider what you can do to improve your chances of being compensated following an accident that was not your fault.
We can help you to build as strong a claim as possible. Initially, we’ll offer free legal advice if you call us for a no-obligation consultation. During the call, any questions you might have will be answered and your advisor will set out your options. If you wish to make a personal injury claim and a solicitor from our panel agrees to represent you, they’ll build your case and manage your claim on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Please continue reading to learn more about building a strong personal injury claim or call us on 0800 652 1345 for free advice on how to proceed.
Why do you need to build a strong personal injury claim?
You might think that it’s completely obvious why you should be compensated following an accident that someone else caused. The other party might even have apologised at the time of the accident or contacted you to check how you are since you were injured.
However, no matter how clear you think the case is, you are very unlikely to be compensated properly, if at all, unless there’s clear evidence to support your claim. Generally, insurance companies will immediately deny liability in a compensation claim regardless of anything the defendant has said. In most cases, it will be for you to prove how the accident happened, who was to blame and how your injuries have affected your life.
If you can’t, the insurer may simply deny that their client was liable for your accident and injuries which means you wouldn’t receive any compensation. They may also argue that your injuries aren’t as bad as you say they are to try and reduce how much compensation you’re paid. These are just some of the reasons you need to build a strong personal injury claim.
We believe it’s easier to do so if you have a specialist solicitor on your side. Please call if you’d like to check if one of our personal injury solicitors can help you.
When are personal injury claims possible?
Before a personal injury claim is taken on, a solicitor from our panel will review it to see if it has a realistic chance of success. They will therefore assess whether:
- The party you wish to claim against (the defendant) owed you a duty of care (legally); and
- Because the defendant was negligent, you were involved in an accident; and
- You sustained injuries or an illness because of that accident.
To build a strong case, proof will be required to show that each of the above is true. Proving that the defendant owed you a duty of care isn’t that difficult as you’re often protected by legislation while you’re driving, walking in the street, in shops and other public places and while you’re working. Your solicitor will confirm which law applies to your case at the start of the claims process.
We’ll look at various types of proof that could make your claim stronger throughout this article. Some of the types of personal injury claims our solicitors can help with include:
Essentially, based on the criteria above, any type of accident caused by another party’s negligence could allow you to claim compensation for your suffering.
How to build a strong personal injury claim
We’re now going to spend some time explaining some of the steps you could take to build a stronger personal injury claim. Remember, the idea is to make it abundantly clear that a) you’ve been injured and b) the defendant was to blame for the accident.
Some of the ways you can do so include:
Seek medical attention
While you might receive first aid at the scene of an accident, it’s always important to have any injuries assessed by a medical professional. This might involve a trip to A&E, your GP or a minor injuries unit.
If you later decide to claim compensation for your injuries, your solicitor will request copies of any relevant medical records, scans, X-rays or test results to help confirm your diagnosis.
Additionally, personal injury claims usually need to be backed up by an independent medical report. This is something your solicitor will set up with a medical specialist (usually locally). This is important because as well as verifying your injuries, the specialist’s report will explain whether you’ll continue to suffer in the future.
Report the accident
Many organisations are legally obliged to have an accident report book and log details of any incidents on their premises. As such, you should tell someone about your accident as soon as possible.
The accident report form should include details about where and when the accident occurred and any injuries that you sustained. It will also include some of your personal details. Having all of this information in black and white will make it very hard for the defendant in your case to deny that the accident occurred.
Take photographs
A good way to strengthen your personal injury claim is to provide photographic proof. If you can do so safely, you should try to take pictures at the scene of the accident. Your photos should be taken from various angles to try and capture the cause of the accident before it is repaired, removed or replaced. Additionally, if there are any signs of damage (such as in an RTA), try to take pictures so that your solicitor can try to piece together how the accident happened.
Additionally, photographs of any visible injuries like cuts, bruising and scars should be taken. Ideally, this should be done periodically (with timestamps if possible) throughout your recovery to help prove how long you suffered.
Speak to any witnesses
Having witness statements can stop your claim from becoming a ‘your word against theirs’ scenario. For that reason, if anyone else saw the accident, ask them for their contact details. Anyone can be a witness but proof provided by independent witnesses i.e. people you don’t know can be stronger.
As well as statements about the accident, friends or family members could be asked to provide a statement about how you’ve been affected by your injuries. For example, if you’ve lost a limb from an accident at work, your loved ones might be asked to describe the impact your injuries have had on your mental health.
Check if the accident was recorded
Camera footage of the accident is a really good way of proving how you were injured. So, following your accident, you should try to find out if anyone else recorded the incident. This could be on a dashcam, mobile phone, CCTV system or body-worn camera.
You are legally allowed to ask for a copy of any such data but it’s important to ask for it quickly. That’s because dashcams overwrite data that is not saved and CCTV footage is often deleted within 30 days or so unless it’s saved.
Keep a diary of how your injuries have affected you
Another way of building a strong personal injury claim is to keep a diary of events following your accident. This will make it easier to describe the extent of your suffering when asked by your solicitor or the defendant’s insurance company.
Your diary could include information about:
- When your injuries stopped you from working.
- The dates when you couldn’t participate in your normal activities or hobbies.
- Any days when you struggled emotionally because of your injuries.
- Dates when you missed family events due to your injuries.
Record any financial losses linked to your injuries
You may be entitled to claim back any costs associated with your accident and injuries. This type of compensation is called special damages and can cover care costs, medical expenses, loss of earnings, travel expenses and more. As such, if you’re left out of pocket in any way because of your injuries, you should send your solicitor the proof. This could include receipts, wage slips, benefits statements and bank statements.
Having a strong personal injury claim can prevent court cases
While it might seem time-consuming to look for proof to support your case, building a strong personal injury claim can make the process quicker. That’s because if you can prove the defendant has been negligent and they are liable for your accident, they may opt to settle your case out of court. This is because court cases can lead to bad publicity and can be very costly.
If your solicitor can prove your case because there is plenty of proof that the defendant is liable, the rest of the claims process will be about proving how much compensation you might be entitled to. In our experience, very few of the cases handled by our panel of solicitors end up in court. That’s because they have checked your chances of success before accepting your claim which can make it easier to reach an amicable settlement with the defendant.
How a solicitor can help build a strong personal injury claim
In some ways, we’ve simplified the personal injury claims process in this article. There is in fact a lot more involved in claiming compensation than we’ve described here. We believe you’ll find everything easier if you work with one of our personal injury solicitors. That’s because our team have been working on personal injury claims for decades and understand the process inside out.
If your claim is accepted, your solicitor will typically:
- Make contact with the defendant and explain that you are going to begin a claim.
- Search for the proof needed to strengthen your case.
- Arrange for medical reports and records to be collected.
- Negotiate on your behalf and try to counter any objections raised by the defendant’s insurers.
- Keep you updated about how your claim is progressing.
- Fight to secure the compensation that fully covers your suffering.
It’s important to point out that a personal injury solicitor won’t always accept the first compensation offer they receive. Although that would be an easy way to win the claim, it might not offer the right amount of compensation to help you get back on your feet. As such, they’ll also review and discuss any offers with you and go back and ask for more if the value offered is too low.
No Win, No Fee Claims
Importantly, if your claim is taken on by a solicitor on our panel, it’ll be managed on a No Win, No Fee basis. As a result, you:
- Don’t pay legal fees in advance of the claim.
- Won’t need to pay any legal fees at all if the claim is lost.
- Will have up to 25 per cent of your compensation deducted as a success fee if the claim is won.
The success fee is used to pay your solicitor for their work and any costs incurred. The exact level you’ll pay is listed in your No Win, No Fee agreement but is legally capped at 25 per cent.
Start a personal injury claim today
If you’d like to find out your chances of being compensated following an accident that was not your fault, please call 0800 652 1345 today.
There’s no obligation to start a claim but will offer advice on how to make your claim stronger after reviewing it for free.
Please use live chat to connect with us if you’ve any further questions on building a strong personal injury claim, or claim your free consultation here.
