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OK – so, how much is a claim for compensation worth? Can you calculate it online and get an accurate figure? If you can, is the amount representative of what you could be expecting to receive?

There are long and short answers for these questions…

Realistically, the only way to value a claim for compensation is with an independent medical report and an assessment with a fully qualified expert personal injury lawyer. There is genuinely no other way to value a claim properly; all other methods are based on guesswork and estimations.
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We at The Injury Lawyersare a specialist law firm dealing only in personal injury and clinical negligence claiming, we also have a great deal of experience in handling claims for whiplash injuries. This means that we are best placed to maximise your compensation claim, and give you a high level of service. The following blog aims to give you on overview of whiplash and your possible personal injury claim.

Causes and Symptoms

Whiplash is caused by a sudden jolt to the head/neck that causes the neck to move beyond it’s normal range of movement. This in turn causes damage to the muscles and tendons in the area, thus inflicting the sufferer with the symptoms of whiplash. These symptoms include:
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My message to anyone who is thinking of making a claim for compensation for injuries they have suffered at the hands of a negligent third party, is to instruct a quality and expert injury lawyer working under a Genuine No Win, No Fee agreement, and one who, importantly, has not paid a referral fee for your claim!  The reason is simple – lawyers who pay referral fees have less money to spend on you and have demonstrated at first instance that the reason they want to deal with your claim is not because they genuinely care for you, but because they want to make a quick bit of cash.

What are referral fees?

A referral fee is a sum of money paid to an insurer, claims company, or even garages and the police (apparently) by your legal representative to get hold of your details after you have had an accident so that they can take on your compensation claim.  For example, law firm (A) will pay insurer (B) £1000.00 so that they can get the details of your accident and your contact details to enable them to get in touch with you and convince you that you should be making a claim for compensation with them.  In other words, lawyers who pay a referral fee for your claim are saying that you are merely a pawn in their grand business plan.  Once a lawyer has paid a referral fee for your claim, you will no doubt be bombarded with text messages and cold calls – after all they will be desperate to get you on board – they have just paid a significant sum of money to get your claim information.
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Making a claim for a relatively minor road accident claim is a straight forward and simple process – well, it is now, anyway. I say this as for road accidents that occurred after 30^th April 2010 and are between an estimated value of £1000 and £10,000, they are likely to go through the relatively new system. This new system will be the topic of the following blog.

Compared to the system of old, the new road traffic accident process is much simpler, more stream-lined, and most importantly; it is much faster. One reason for this is that it is all completed over an electronic portal over the internet, so all correspondence is sent and received simultaneously, therefore cutting out the time waiting for the post to arrive.

The new system is made up of 3 stages. The first stage begins with your solicitor filling out a Claim Notification Form (CNF), it is this form that sets out all the accident circumstances, and full details of the negligent driver. If you were unable to get all the details of the Defendant driver, this should not be a problem, as long as you have the registration number of the car – a search can be performed to gain the driver’s insurance details.
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When you begin a claim you want to know a.) that it has good prospects of success and b.) what compensation you are likely to gain from the claim. Well, at The Injury Lawyers we do not take on claims unless we feel that it has a good chance of success, as we do not want to waste your time or our own time and money. As for item b) – giving clients an accurate prediction on what amount of compensation they can earn can be difficult at the early stages of a claim; however, at The Injury Lawyers, we do not take on a claim unless we feel that it is worth at least £1000 – in this respect you know that making your claim is worth while.

Now, why is valuing a claim at the outset difficult? Furthermore, how do solicitors value claims? Solicitors use a variety of tools to place a value on a claim – these I have set out below:

1. Medical report: Once liability has been admitted on your claim your solicitor will arrange for you to have a medical examination. This examination produces a report which provides extensive information on your accident, injuries and the effect of the injuries on your life. The medical report also gives a prognosis detailing when you are likely to recover from your injuries. The medical report therefore provides a valuable foundation from which your claim can be valued.
2. Judicial Studies Board Guidelines: The JSB guidelines band neck injuries for the purposes of valuations. These bands are as follows:

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We all attend supermarkets, whether it be on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. It is therefore crucial that they are safe places. For the most part our trips to supermarkets go by uneventfully and safely, but for some, accidents can happen. At The Injury Lawyers we have many clients that approach us after an accident in a supermarket, and we are able to advise them of the following.

Do you have a claim?

If you have suffered an accident in a supermarket that was through no fault of your own, and you have suffered injury as a result, you may have a claim for compensation. At The Injury Lawyers we offer free claims assessments whether we take on your claim or not, so you have nothing to lose by simply getting some free legal advice and assessing your options.
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OK – so you’ve had a car accident, it wasn’t your fault, and you’re wondering what on earth you should do to sort it all out! It can be particularly scary if it’s your first time in an accident as well; made even worse if the driver at fault was being quite nasty with you as they knew they were at fault, and were perhaps trying to dodge the bullet.

Here is your one stop shop advice guide as to what exactly to do. My best suggestion is read this first before you do anything (and I mean anything  – including speaking to your own insurers) and you will hopefully be able to rest a little easier when you know what you need to do.

At The Scene
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OK – so you have had an accident at work and you want to know if you are entitled to make a make a claim for compensation. Well, here is a quick guide to fill you in as to whether you could be entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation for your injuries, suffering, and loss.
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In most cases, making a claim for compensation for the injuries you have suffered out of a relatively minor road traffic accident is actually a quite straightforward and fast process.  At The Injury Lawyers we are well aware of a perception that some people hold that claiming for compensation takes years and years and is ultimately not worth the hassle.  Yes, we admit that there are some claims that do take a couple of years; however, most straightforward road traffic accidents are settled within a few months or less.  If you think you have a claim for compensation arising from a road traffic accident, please do not be put off – it’s easy, especially when you instruct a quality injury lawyer.

The first step of your road traffic accident is to complete what is known as a ‘Claim Notification Form’.  Your injury lawyer will take you through this – it is again straightforward.  We just collate the details of your accident, get you to sign the form and then submit it electronically to the other side.

Once your Claim Notification Form is submitted the other side have 1 business day in which to acknowledge it and then a further 15 business days to investigate your accident and come back with an admission or denial of liability.  Just because they have 15 days does not mean it will necessarily take this long – they could well admit liability within a day, and it really does depend on the efficiency of the other side.  One thing for sure though is that it should not take months to resolve.  Under previous law the other side could take nearly 4 months to come back to you with their position on liability – now they have roughly 3 weeks.  Who said claiming for compensation still takes ages?
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At The Injury Lawyers we are experts in the field of personal injury as this is the only type of law we deal with.  Importantly, we have vast experience in dealing with claims for compensation for whiplash injuries.  When we receive a whiplash claims we give it our utmost attention because we know how serious a whiplash injury can be – as many of my colleagues can testify.  This blog gives a brief outline of a whiplash injury and how to make a claim for compensation for your whiplash injury.

Causes:

Most of our whiplash claims arise from road traffic accidents – typically where our client has been correctly proceeding in their vehicle and a negligent third party has collided with the rear of their vehicle.  What this means is that our clients head and neck area is suddenly jolted and a whiplash injury ensues.  That said, whiplash injuries occur in other types of road traffic accidents and we have also come across them in sporting accidents where again the person’s neck is suddenly jerked.
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