Making a claim for compensation where you have been involved in a relatively straightforward road traffic accident is an uncomplicated and fast process. The Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents deals with personal injuries sustained from road traffic accidents on or after the 30th April 2010 which are valued at less than £10,000. In most cases, your road traffic accident will be worth less than £10,000, and so the procedure I am about to outline will be applicable to your case.
The Pre-Action Protocol is designed to settle claims speedily and without the need for court proceedings. As such, it sets out several simple steps which allow for you to be compensated fast.
Firstly, a Claims Notification Form (‘CNF’) must be filled out and submitted to the other side’s insurers. This is done online at The Injury Lawyers specially created portal and records your details and your accident details. Don’t worry if this sounds daunting, our specially trained personal injury lawyers are always on hand should you have any questions, and we will always review your CNF before it is submitted to ensure everything is okay! Once this is submitted the other side’s insurers, they must acknowledge receipt of the CNF the day after they receive it. They are then entitled to a period of 15 days in which to come back to you with their position on liability. This could be an admission, or denial of liability, or it could be an allegation of contributory negligence. By contributory negligence, we mean that they are suggesting you are in some way partly at fault for your injuries – for instance, if you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, the other side may suggest you made your injuries worse by failing to help protect yourself.
Secondly, and where liability is admitted, we will get you to attend a GP local to yourself so that a medical report can be obtained. This will outline your injuries and how they relate to your accident. Once this is done you will have the opportunity to make sure that the medical report is in fact accurate and we will then, with your permission, pass it to the other side. The other side will then have a period of 35 days in total to try and settle your claim. This consists of an initial 15 days to consider your accident and make an offer of compensation, and a further 20 days in which your specialist injury lawyers can negotiate your maximum compensation.
If you have been injured in a road traffic accident, it is important that you seek professional advice. The Injury Lawyers should be your first port of call for a high quality and speedy service. Not only are we experts in the field of Road Traffic Accidents, we will walk you through every stage of your claim and will ensure that you get the maximum compensation you deserve.
