This isn’t a straightforward question to answer – so to guide you in the best way I possibly can, I’ll explain the process and some general timeframes and tell you the main factors that affect the length of an accident at work personal injury compensation claim.
One important thing to know though is that the quality of your lawyer can affect the speed in which it takes to settle a claim, so make sure you go to the best like us!
Getting Started
For most work accident claims, we will submit an electronic claim notification form directly to your employer or to their insurers if we have been able to trace them using our various resources. The information we must give to them is a standard set of information that is outlined on a Claim Notification Form.
If we can’t locate the insurers we will need to post a copy of the form and ask that they respond as soon as possible.
But once a claim form has been submitted, the investigation period that is allowed for the other side is normally 30 working days – which works out at approximately six weeks. If they admit liability within this period, this can help shorten the length of a claim. If they fail to respond or deny liability, it’s probably going to take longer.
So, the sort of things that could hold up a claim at this stage could be:
- Difficulty getting information from you
- Difficulty finding your employers insurance information
- A denial of liability
But if you can act as quickly as we can, we can get a claim submitted straight away for you, and if they admit liability early that’s one hurdle out of the way!
Medical Evidence and Losses
With an admission that your accident was your employers fault comes the need to prove the injuries caused. We will arrange for a medical examination to take place and we will normally get the ball rolling with this right from the start of the claim before liability has been admitted or denied. Some lawyers will wait until the investigations have finished first – so be aware.
We normally expect an appointment date within a few weeks, and once you have attended an appointment we would expect the report to be sent to us within four to six weeks. So if all goes well, you’re looking at a turnaround of about 8-10 weeks to complete the medical evidence side of things.
At the same time we will need details and evidence to show what losses or expenses you have incurred, like lost earnings for example. You will need to prove the loss with wage slips or other evidence to prove your loss.
Settling a Claim
It is normally advisable to only settle your claim once you have fully recovered or recovered as much as you are going to. So, once we have a complete report and a schedule outlining all of your losses and expenses, we should have everything we need to start negotiating the settlement of your claim with the other side.
There is normally a bargaining process between us and the other side, as insurers will normally want to settle for as little as possible, and we want to maximise your claim. In most cases it isn’t normally something that will last months and months though!
Once we have agreed a settlement figure we would expect the other side to send a cheque out within a few short weeks.
The sort of things that could hold you up for settling a claim at this stage could be:
- Complicated or severe injuries that require treatment over a long period of time or a lengthy prognosis period for recovery
- The need for several medical appointments
- Difficulty getting evidence together to prove your losses
- Difficulty reaching a compromise when it comes to settling your claim
A Guideline
So, if your injuries are fairly minor and recover quickly, and there are no issues when it comes to liability, there is no reason why we can’t settle your claim in less than six months. But it is important to understand that every case is different, and there are potential hurdles as mentioned above that could delay the claims process.
