Recent changes in the law regulating the way in which personal injury claims are run have resulted in the introduction of a new protocol. Claims occurring after the 31st of July 2013 for employers and public liability claims valued between £1,000 and £25,000 are now dealt with via a new online portal system. The idea of the online portal system is to make your claim process easier, faster and more efficient, than claims previously run under the pre-action protocol.
It is similar to the one already used for road accidents since April 2010.
The Initial Stages of the Process
When a new claim is initiated under the new protocol, the first thing that must be completed is a Claim Notification Form (CNF). This is in effect similar to the previous way of working which was to send a letter of claim. The form contains all the useful information needed for the opponent to investigate the claim.
It is crucial that all the required information is included in the CNF; without this, the defendant may opt out of the protocol meaning that the case then runs under the pre-action protocol (the previous way of working) creating a more lengthy timeframe for responding. Once completed, a copy of the CNF is then swiftly sent to the defendant or submitted to them online directly or via their insurers.
For a public liability case a response is required from the defendant within 40 business days of the CNF being sent to them – this is reduced to 30 business days in the instance of an Employers liability case. The defendant can admit or deny liability at this point. If liability is admitted the case will proceed to the next stage of the protocol. If denied the claim will fall back under the pre-action protocol. Under the pre-action protocol defendants had 21 days to respond to a letter of claim and then a further 3 months to investigate if no admission was made within initial 21 days – making a possibly much lengthier case.
The Next Stage
After liability has been admitted, you will require a medical report in order to value the claim. This should include medical records relevant to the claim and any photographs or non medical expert reports which aid in valuation. The claim will then be valued to give the amount of damages that need to be paid to you by the defendant.
Your losses can also be claimed for as well – like lost earnings, or medical and travel expenses.
