No Win, No FeeWhether you’re a driver, passenger, cyclist, or pedestrian, encountering an HGV or lorry on the road is a common experience. While HGVs play a vital role in transporting goods, their size and weight mean accidents involving them can have serious consequences. If you’ve been injured due to negligence by a lorry driver, haulage company, or another road user, you could be entitled to make an HGV accident claim for the harm you’ve suffered.
It’s important to understand that claims aren’t limited to those driving smaller vehicles. Pedestrians injured by an HGV, cyclists struck by a lorry, or even HGV drivers hurt due to their employer’s negligence may also have the right to seek compensation.
Our team can help if you are thinking about claiming compensation against a lorry driver. They’ll begin by working with you to review the merits of your case and provide free legal advice about your next steps too. If your claim appears to have a reasonable chance of being successful, they’ll introduce you to one of our personal injury solicitors. Should they agree to represent you, you’ll benefit from their legal experience and skills on a No Win, No Fee basis. As a result, you won’t pay for your solicitor’s work if the claim is lost and you won’t need to pay them upfront either.
To learn more about how LGV and HGV claims work, please read on. Alternatively, If you’d like to contact us about your claim, please call us on 0800 652 1345 right away.
Am I Entitled to Compensation for an HGV Accident?
According to the Road Traffic Act 1988, all road users must try to keep each other safe by driving in a safe manner. This is called their duty of care. If a personal injury solicitor is to take on an HGV accident claim, they will want to verify that:
- The lorry driver was negligent in some way (breaching their duty of care); and
- An accident resulted because of that accident; and
- You sustained injuries during the accident.
If all of the above is true in your case, you could be compensated and one of our solicitors might offer to represent you during your claim. To help establish how the HGV accident occurred and what injuries you sustained, you’ll need to supply some evidence. We’ll explain what you could use to do this later on in this guide.
Common Examples of HGV Accident Claims
A lorry or HGV accident claim typically involves incidents where individuals suffer injuries due to negligence by the HGV driver, another road user, or the haulage company. Common examples include:
- Collisions: If an HGV collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, or cyclist due to poor driving, driver fatigue, or blind spot errors. This may also include accidents caused by tailgating or failure to signal.
- Improper Loading: Overloaded or improperly secured cargo can shift during transit, causing the lorry to become unstable and result in an accident.
- Maintenance Failures: Mechanical issues like brake failure, worn tyres, or faulty steering from inadequate vehicle maintenance, can lead to serious accidents.
- Hazardous Driving: Accidents caused by speeding, distracted driving, or violating traffic laws, such as failing to adhere to weight limits or overtaking dangerously.
- Debris or Spillage: Cargo falling from the lorry or fuel spillages creating hazardous road conditions can cause multi-vehicle accidents.
Anyone injured in an HGV or lorry accident caused by another party’s negligence may be entitled to claim compensation. This could include road users, pedestrians, or even the HGV driver themselves if employer negligence is to blame.
What Types of Injuries Can I Claim For?
It isn’t really practical to list every type of injury that could result from being hit by a lorry here. However, to give you some idea of the more common types of claims, we’ve listed some examples below:
- Spine injuries.
- Crush injuries.
- Fractured bones.
- Head injuries including brain damage.
- Cuts, bruises, lacerations.
Whatever form of injury you’ve sustained, if it was caused by the negligence of a lorry or truck driver, we could help you start a compensation claim. Please get in touch if you’d like further information.
What Evidence Do I Need for an HGV Accident Claim?
When making claims for injuries sustained from an accident with a Heavy Goods vehicle, you’ll need to supply proof to substantiate your allegations. Your case is likely to be handled by the defendant’s insurers so you’ll need to show why their client was to blame and how you suffered as a result. To help with this, you could:
- Take photographs at the scene. It is a good idea to try and take pictures from a variety of angles at the accident scene if it’s safe to do so. These images can help to clarify who was responsible for the accident.
- Obtain dashcam/CCTV recordings. If there is any dashcam or CCTV footage of the lorry accident you should ask the owner for a copy. If the HGV or LGV had a dashcam, your solicitor may need to act on your behalf to secure the relevant data.
- Get medical treatment. Your medical files can be used to help prove how seriously you were injured. For that reason, if you were treated at A&E or a minor injuries unit, you should ask for a copy of the relevant notes to be sent to you.
- Ask witnesses for their details. In some cases, your case can stall if liability can’t be proven for the accident. As such, if anyone else witnessed what happened, you should ask them for their contact details in case a statement is needed from them later on.
- Swap details with the lorry driver. Without admitting liability for any part of the accident, you should give the HGV driver your details and take a note of theirs. Additionally, you should record the registration plate, make, model and colour of their vehicle. Importantly, some lorries may have a different registration on the trailer compared to the cab so it’s worth checking both.
As well as this evidence, your solicitor may need to arrange for a medical assessment to be carried out independently. This can usually be booked with a specialist at a local venue. During your meeting, the specialist will assess your injuries and discuss them with you. Once finished, they’ll prepare a report to explain what injuries you’ve suffered and your prognosis for the future.
What Is the Time Limit to Make an HGV Accident Claim?
The time limit to claim compensation after an HGV accident is typically three years from the date of the accident, as outlined in the Limitation Act 1980. However, there are some important exceptions and nuances to this rule:
- For Children: If your child is injured in an HGV accident, the three-year time limit won’t start until their 18th birthday. A litigation friend can lodge a claim on their behalf at any point before they turn 18. If no claim is started during this period, the injured child has until their 21st birthday to start their own claim.
- Fatal Accidents: In cases of fatal HGV accidents, the three-year time limit begins either from the date of death or from the date when the cause of death is confirmed, such as through an inquest or post-mortem. Please see our page on fatal accident claims.
- Lack of Mental Capacity: If the injured person lacks mental capacity to lodge a claim, whether due to the lorry accident or a pre-existing condition, the time limit is suspended. It will only begin if they regain capacity. If they remain incapacitated, there is no time limit for making a claim.
- Knowledge of Injury or Negligence: In some cases, the three-year time limit may start from the “date of knowledge,” which is when you became aware that negligence caused the injury. This may apply in cases where the injury or its cause was not immediately apparent.
It’s generally advisable to start the claim as soon as possible. Delaying could result in difficulties gathering evidence or risk missing the deadline entirely. If you’re unsure about your specific time limit, please get in touch with our team.
How Much Compensation for a Lorry Accident Can I Claim?
When you make a claim for a road traffic collision involving a lorry, any settlement would be based on the injuries you’ve suffered and any financial losses you’ve sustained. Some examples of what a settlement could be based on include:
- The short-term and long-term pain and suffering caused by your injuries and any subsequent treatment.
- Compensation for any loss of amenity caused by the lorry accident.
- The cost of private medical treatment.
- Care costs if you’ve hired a carer or a friend has supported you.
- The price of modifying your home or vehicle to make dealing with any disabilities easier.
- Travel expenses linked to your injuries.
When you claim compensation for a lorry or truck accident, you must try to include all aspects of your suffering. That’s important because if you forget something, you can’t request further compensation once your claim has been settled.
Our solicitors specialise in road accident claims and could help to try and secure the maximum level of compensation for you if your HGV accident claim is accepted. So, call 0800 652 1345 today to see if you’ve got a chance of being compensated.
Can I Claim for Loss of Earnings Due to a Lorry Accident?
If you are the victim of an HGV accident, you could claim for any income you’ve lost while you were injured. This can include your normal wage, bonuses, commissions and overtime so long as they can be proven.
For serious injuries that will have an ongoing impact on your ability to work, future loss of earnings may also be considered.
Will I Need a Solicitor to Claim HGV Accident Compensation?
While it is possible to make a road traffic accident claim alone, you could face objections from the defendant’s insurance provider. As such, you may wish to take on legal representation from a solicitor who specialises in HGV accident claims.
Additionally, you probably won’t want to risk your money on solicitors fees. Crucially, ours provide a No Win, No Fee arrangement for all claims they take on.
That means they’ll work on your case without needing you to pay them in advance. Also, if the claim is lost, you won’t have to pay for their work either. In fact, the only time your solicitor will be paid for their work is if you are compensated.
When that happens, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from any settlement. By law, our solicitors can only retain 25% of your compensation when working on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Want to check if you could claim in this way? If so, please call today.
HGV Accident Claims Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Claim for Emotional Distress Caused by an HGV Accident?
It’s not just physical injuries that are covered by successful HGV compensation claims. You could also be entitled to claim for any emotional suffering caused by your accident and injuries.
For instance, after you’ve recovered physically, you might still be anxious about driving in the same area as the HGV accident occurred. You could also suffer from sleep disorders, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
If you’ve suffered any type of psychological injury that can be proven by medical diagnosis, it could be factored into any compensation you’re awarded.
What Happens If the Lorry Driver Cannot Be Identified?
In some cases, it might not be possible to identify the driver of the lorry that caused your accident. This might be the case if:
- They did not realise they’d collided with you.
- English was not their first language.
- They refused to provide their contact details.
In such cases, your solicitor could still help you to get compensated. Using the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB), your solicitor may be able to trace an insurance company linked to the lorry. Alternatively, the MIB might be able to compensate you directly if the driver was uninsured or cannot be traced. Please get in touch to find out more.
Start an HGV Accident Compensation Claim Today
To begin a claim with us today, you simply need to call our friendly team of claims advisors on 0800 652 1345. There’s nothing to lose by calling us as we’ll review your chances for free and explain your options whatever you decide to do, and again, any claims that are taken on by our solicitors will be managed on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Thanks for reading our article on HGV accident claims, and please use live chat if you have any further questions, or request your free consultation here.
