We all know that you are far more likely to be seriously injured in a motorcycle accident than you are in a car accident. Unfortunately, despite numerous campaigns to maintain awareness of motorcyclists for road users, accidents are still happening.
It’s an obvious statement to make – motorcyclists are far harder to spot on the roads than cars / vans / lorries. People are often looking out for cars and any other larger vehicles when emerging from a junction, changing lanes, or entering on to a roundabout. Drivers often fail to consider the presence of a motorcyclist, or even fail to spot one. We have the “look, look, and look again” rule – personally its “look, look, look again, then look again for good measure” with me; and I’ve not been in an accident in my years of driving so far! (Touch wood).
But more to the point – what can be done if you become the victim of an accident as a motorcyclist, or even cyclist?
If you were not at fault for the accident, it’s likely you have a successful claim for compensation.
Injuries and Treatment
So, hopefully you are still in one piece. Treatment for your injuries is normally a given when it comes to motorcycle accident victims, as its likely you will have sustained some degree, or evens severe, trauma to your limbs; a fracture, or ligament damage, for instance. The healing process is always difficult; but physiotherapy or another form of rehabilitative treatment is an excellent way of helping you to get back on the road to recovery and return to normality.
With proper personal injury expert, you needn’t worry about going through the NHS or paying for private treatment yourself. We will always arrange for private medical care from the outset of the case, and you are never liable to pay for the treatment at any stage. If your case wins, the treatment costs are recovered directly from the other side. You don’t have to pay any part of them at all. If the claim loses, we have an insurance policy in place to cover it all. So win or lose – we give you private medical care free of charge to you.
Financial Assistance
Statistically, your injuries are probably quite severe. So – how does this affect your claim? It means that it will probably take longer to settle – unfortunate, but this is for a very good reason. You may need to attend a couple or more medical appointments for evidence purposes in order to fully assess all of your injuries. You may need treatment for weeks, or even months. Your recovery period may be some time away as well. In all of these scenarios, our professional advice is not to settle your claim; it is always within your best interests to wait until all evidence has been collated, all treatment has been completed, and all injuries are fully healed up.
Whilst you wait, you are entitled to make a claim for an Interim Payment to assist you financially before your claim concludes. This is a part payment of your settlement that is provided to you early to prevent your finances from spiralling out of control in the event you are losing out on thousands of pounds in earnings whilst you are unable to work because of your injuries.
With a good injury lawyer representing you for your claim, an interim payment should be one of the first matters sorted out at the earliest possible stage.
Your Compensation
You are entitled to claim for your pain, suffering, loss, and inconvenience caused by the accident and your injuries. Again, given that your injuries are likely to be quite severe, you need to protect your position and make sure you get the best injury lawyer to represent you for your claim.
You should always make sure to tick the following boxes when it comes to looking for your lawyer:
- 100% Independent: avoid insurers referring you on to solicitors, and avoid claims companies, brokers, or anyone doing the same thing. They will sell your claim on for a huge referral fee, leaving you with a solicitor willing to charge you, or leaving you with a poor service thanks to them wasting a huge proportion of their budget on buying your claim.
- 100% Compensation: you are always entitled to 100% compensation on every occasion. Never pick a lawyer that will take a percentage or one that may charge you anything for their services whatsoever.
- Genuine No Win No Fee – No Deductions, No Hidden Charges: check any paperwork – you should always get a Genuine No Win No Fee which means that your lawyers cannot charge you for a successful claim, because the legal fees are limited to whatever is recovered. Never accept any of this “seek to recover fees” or “you may be liable for”. If it’s that way in writing, you’re agreeing to the possibility of paying it!
For more information or a little helpful advice, please feel free to get in touch!