Many people who make a personal injury claim will have been approached by a third party to act on their behalf. Much of the paperwork and admissions will be taken out of their hands but it is still very beneficial to understand the important elements of a personal injury claim. These are elements which could make or break your claim, potentially reduce any compensation, or see you land in serious trouble.
The Stress Of Making A Personal Injury Claim
While much of the stress associated with making a personal injury claim can obviously depend upon the severity of the injury, this can be an extremely stressful time in general. Many of those who make a claim will have undergone some kind of medical treatment and may even have been admitted to hospital. This in itself is stressful and for many people the additional elements of stress which will follow can make life traumatic for a while. These include:-
Reliving The Incident Time And Time Again
For many people being asked to relive the incident which caused injury, whether physical, mental or both, can add to their stress levels. Unfortunately this is a very important requirement of pushing ahead with the case and while seen as a strategy to “push the claimant to the limit” this is not necessarily the case. However, that does not help the stress levels of those involved in the case.
Adversaries In The Court
The very fact that bringing a personal injury claim to court is a legal process known as “adversarial” is again another simple fact of making a legal claim. In effect this means that the defendant and the claimant are in direct opposition to one another, with each trying to weaken the others case to the maximum benefit of their client. The fact that the vast majority of defendants will have their case conducted by their insurance companies should not be forgotten, and they will do their upmost to minimise any potential damage to a client whether this is in monetary terms or reputation.
Prying Into Your Personal Life
Once you make a claim then to all intents and purposes you are opening up your working and your private life to the courts and legal representatives. Many personal injury claimants have been caught out by surveillance footage showing them carrying out activities which perhaps they indicated they were unable to do after their “injury”. Even if the claimant has a reasonable case for compensation the insurance companies may well use surveillance footage and details of a person’s private life to discredit them and minimise the financial and PR damage to their customer.
Exaggerating Your Claim can Be Counter-Productive
Many people wrongly assume that if they have a valid claim for personal injury compensation then they can add on a variety of exaggerations to maximise any potential payout. Just because you have what may be a cast-iron case for compensation does not mean that you should look to exaggerate or add potentially dishonest elements to your claim. The courtrooms are littered with those who have tried to exaggerate their claims to maximise compensation only to have their integrity and their reputation torn to shreds in the courtroom.
This kind of action, no matter which party suggested this strategy, can actually lead to relatively low damages because of the dishonesty factor. If you have a legitimate claim then the courts are there for you to pursue damages but if you exaggerate your injuries and potential loss of earnings you could end up with an extremely disappointing settlement or in some cases no settlement. If the judge is not able to take your evidence at face value and there is damage to your reputation this could rock the foundations of your claim.
Loss Of Earnings
One interesting area regarding loss of earnings is the fact that many people, rightly or wrongly, seem to over exaggerate their own value and their future career progression. Those who make a loss of earnings claim suggesting that they are in line for promotion or set for a greater salary in the future can open themselves up to attack.
Defending lawyers will rake through an individual’s work record in minute detail as a means of undermining any significant career progression and connected loss of earnings. If for example an individual has a bad attendance record, perhaps a number of disciplinary issues, this would indicate limited career progression in the future. If the person was claiming for continued increases in salary due to their working career then this element, and the overall claim, could be severely undermined.
Making Additional Connected Claims
The vast majority of insurance companies would prefer to make an out-of-court settlement which would reduce legal fees and avoid any negative press coverage. As a consequence, many claimants will have the opportunity to discuss such a settlement in a very prompt and professional manner. We know from past court records that many claimants who are offered an out-of-court settlement are very often tempted to make additional claims because “the defending team is on the ropes”. This is not the case!
It is very dangerous to make additional claims after agreeing an out-of-court settlement in principle even if nothing has been signed. Very quickly the claimant may find their out-of-court settlement has been withdrawn and the defending team will go on the attack. They will dig their heels in, drag the court case out and look to undermine the reputation of the claimant. If you have a valid claim for personal injury, and you are offered an acceptable out-of-court settlement, the moral of the story is, do not be greedy.
Keeping It Professional
Over the years many people have made claims of against their employers which have resulted in the individuals in question being unable to return to work due to a breakdown in their relationship. It may sound a little bizarre to suggest that somebody pursuing a personal injury claim may even wish to remain with their employer but this is very often the case. Whether there is any long-term damage to an individual’s career with that company is debatable but by keeping everything professional and letting the “lawyers do the talking” this will give the best opportunity to maintain some kind of relationship going forward.
Relying On Expert Opinion
The vast majority of personal injury claims will in some part be supported by expert opinion on various elements of the action. The one problem here is that if either the claimant or the defendant is seen to be “shopping around” to find an expert to support their argument then this can significantly backfire.
In the majority of personal injury cases, where any unused/ used expert opinion has been commissioned it will need to be made available to the other side. It is therefore vital that the experts approached are able to support either the claimant or defendant without actually offering assistance to the other side. Many people are probably under the misapprehension that you can shop around until you find the “right expert” but this is not the case.
More To Follow
There are many different areas of personal injury claims which remain a mystery to the actual claimants as their advisers will do most of the work. However, it is imperative that those claiming personal injury compensation know exactly how the system works, what is expected of them and the potential pitfalls. We will be covering an array of other issues in the weeks ahead to give you a wider knowledge of what to expect and, perhaps more importantly, what the courts will expect of you.
