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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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OK – so you want to make an accident claim, and you have no idea what to do at all, and no idea what it actually entails. You’ve probably seen the adverts on TV for No Win No Fee lawyers, and 100% compensation, but you still don’t really understand the ins and outs of how it all works.

Here is a quick guide to fill you in:

No Win No Fee
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If a minor i.e. anyone under the age of 18, or a protected party as deemed under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, has an accident that was not their fault, and they have been injured as a result, they, like anyone else, can make a claim – the process is slightly different.

Say, for example, your child has an accident a school – I bet you can’t imagine them calling a law firm and making a claim – so how do we get around this? Well it is through the system of having a ‘Litigation Friend’.

A Litigation Friend is someone that acts on behalf of the child or protected party in the running of their claim for personal injury. This person is normally a parent or guardian, but can also be a carer, social worker, or suitable person. It is important that whoever the Litigation Friend is, they have regular contact with the claimant and they have their best interests at heart.
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When you are first thinking about making a claim for compensation you will no doubt be considering which injury lawyer to instruct.  Again, you will no doubt be looking for a specialist injury lawyer who has an abundance of experience in dealing with the sort of accident you have had.  Most importantly though you will probably be looking to instruct an injury lawyer who will not charge you a penny for your claim as they will recover their fees from the other side if you win, and write them off if you lose. This is extremely important because you do not want to be lying awake at night thinking about potentially hefty bills coming through your letterbox from greedy lawyers.

At the end of the day you want compensation for your injuries and you do not want to be paying a fortune to get this compensation, as that would defeat the object of claiming.  Good news – there are numerous injury lawyers who will not charge you a penny for their work whether the claim wins or loses.  Here is a quick guide to our Genuine No Win, No Fee agreement.

At The Injury Lawyers we never charge our clients a penny for our work if the case is won or lost.  You get to keep 100% of the compensation you are awarded if you win as we recover our fees directly from the other side.  There simply are no catches, and to make you feel secure, we write into our agreement with you that we will NOT even seek to recover our costs from you if the other side do not pay them all.
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