Strengthening A Personal Injury Claim

Essentially, any type of accident caused by someone else could result in a personal injury claim. Some of the most common claims include:

• Car accident claims.
• Work injury claims.
• Back injury claims.
• Slip and trip claims.
• Council compensation claims.
• Cycling injury claims.

No matter the type of personal injury you’re dealing with, it’s always worth calling us for a free consultation to check if you could be entitled to claim compensation for any suffering you’ve endured.

During the claims process, you’ll be asked to explain how the accident happened. It can be quite a challenge to remember the exact details so we’d always suggest taking pictures at the accident scene on your phone.

Firstly, if there’s an obvious root cause of your accident, you should take pictures of it. For example, if you cut yourself on a damaged chair in an accident in a restaurant, take pictures of the damage, and your injury.

For road traffic collisions, pictures of any damage to each vehicle involved can help to clarify how the accident occurred. For example, if there’s damage to the back of your car and the front of another, it’s quite clear that you’ve been hit from behind. Having photographs will make that fact hard to deny.

Ideally, photographs should be taken at the scene of the accident before anything is moved, replaced or repaired.

The fact that you sustained injuries in an accident is something that can be contested in personal injury claims. Some insurers might say you already had the injury or they could argue that your injuries aren’t as bad as you say.

So, to strengthen your case, your solicitor will request copies of any medical notes, X-rays, scans or test results if you sought medical attention after your accident. These can be from a hospital, GP surgery or minor injuries unit.

It’s a great idea to keep a record of all of your medical appointments during your recovery as these can show the amount of inconvenience you suffered because of your injuries.

If you’re claiming for injuries caused by an accident at work, it may be prudent to request copies of work records to substantiate your claim. For example, if you contest that your injuries were caused by a lack of training, your solicitor might ask your employer for a copy of your training records. This could strengthen your case even if the records show that you were initially trained some years ago but you hadn’t received refresher training.

In this day and age, many accidents are captured on cameras. So, if yours was recorded by a mobile phone, CCTV camera, body-worn camera or dashcam, you should try to secure a copy of the footage.

It’s important to note that video footage from CCTV cameras is not usually stored for too long and dashcams will eventually record over any footage that’s not been saved. For these reasons, you should act quickly. Even if the camera is owned by the defendant, you are entitled to ask for a copy of any footage of your accident.

Many organisations are legally obliged to keep records about accidents on their premises. This usually involves an accident report book or a similar online system. Legally, you are entitled to a copy of the form so you or your solicitor can ask for a copy if one wasn’t provided at the time of the accident.

The accident report form should provide details of the date and time of the accident. It will also have your personal details on it plus details of any injuries you sustained and any first aid that was provided.

Having a copy of your accident report form should make it impossible for the defendant to claim that the accident didn’t happen.

Any type of personal injury can leave you out of pocket. However, if you win a compensation claim, it’s sometimes possible to recoup any financial losses. To do this, you will need to provide proof of every penny you wish to claim back. As such, to strengthen your personal injury claim you should retain:

• Wage slips to help prove any earnings you’ve lost because of your injuries.
• Bank statements.
• Receipts for any personal items that you’ve replaced because they were damaged in the accident.
• Invoices for any medical treatment such as physiotherapy.
• Other records to show the cost of making changes to your home to help you deal with an ongoing disability.

Before committing to any costs, it’s a good idea to check with your solicitor. With their experience of the personal injury claims process, they’ll probably have a good idea of what you can or can’t claim back.

It’s a good idea to write down how you’ve been affected by your injuries so that it’s easier to recall when discussing your claim with your solicitor. The diary you keep could include details of:

• When your injuries prevented you from working.
• The dates that you had to miss out on family or social events.
• When you couldn’t participate in your normal hobbies because of your injuries.

Additionally, you could record information about any psychological suffering you’ve endured. For example, you could write down when you had sleep problems caused by nightmares and flashbacks or the dates you felt depressed because of the effect of your injuries.

Personal injury claims generally require a report from an independent medical expert. This is an important part of the process that can strengthen your claim because the specialist will provide details of any suffering you’ve endured but will also provide a prognosis for the future. For example, they will provide details of any care you’re likely to need going forward or any pain and suffering you’ll continue to endure even after your treatment has ended.

Some injuries can have a negative impact on your ability to earn in the future. For example, if your hand was crushed in an accident it could stop you from carrying on as a scaffolder, bricklayer, or computer programmer etc, in the future. This might mean your income in the future will be greatly reduced and so this would need to be factored into your claim. In these cases, your solicitor would look at your age, job prospects and current salary to try and determine a fair settlement.