Did you know that if you were a passenger injured in a road traffic accident that you have one of the best prospects of making a successful personal injury claim?
It does not matter whether you were the passenger in the car whose driver is at fault for the accident, or the passenger in a vehicle which has been involved in a collision with a negligent third party – so long as the blame for the accident cannot be attributed to you (which is, as a passenger, highly unlikely), you almost have a definite guaranteed claim for compensation.
This is because you have sustained injuries through no fault of your own, and the law allows you, as the innocent party, to obtain compensation for these injuries. Road users owe other road users a duty of care to ensure their safety and wellbeing; the same applies to drivers who owe their passengers the same duty of care.
What’s better, in addition to the fact that you have a great claim for compensation, the process of obtaining that compensation is very straightforward and speedy too! Under a new procedure which was introduced in April 2010, your claim could be settled in just a couple of months with the right injury lawyer on board. What happens now is that you are required to submit what is known as a Claim Notification Form via the online Ministry of Justice portal (your injury lawyer can do this for you) which outlines your accident and the details of the parties involved. The negligent party’s insurers have 1 business day to acknowledge receipt of the claim form and a further 15 days to admit or deny liability. Now, given that you are a passenger, this should be a straight forward decision, and the admission will normally be received well within that 15 day period so progress on your claim can be made faster.
The next step is to get a medico-legal report compiled. You will be required to see a medical expert which arranged at a time and place convenient for you, and should not take too long at all; say 30 minutes or so. Once your injury lawyer gets the medical report back they will check you are happy with it and disclose it to the Defendant and see if compensation can be agreed.
One of the common issues we come across at The Injury Lawyers when we hear of potential passenger claims, is that where the passenger is the passenger in the vehicle which was at fault for the accident, it is often suggested that they do not want to sue their family member or friend. What you have to bear in mind is that you will be obtaining compensation from the insurer, not the negligent driver, and the insurance is there for this very reason – to compensate people for their losses. There is normally no added effect on the insurance premiums that will be increasing anyway as a result of the other driver involved making a claim as well.
If you want to discuss a potential passenger claim then get in touch today on 0800 634 75 75 and we will be more than happy to advise you
If you want, we can get the ball rolling on any claim you may have straight away for you.
