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If you have been involved in a road traffic accident which was not your fault then it is highly likely that, if you have been injured, you will be able to make a claim for compensation. 

For instance, if someone has collided into the rear of your vehicle and you have sustained whiplash then you will probably have a claim; or if you were a passenger in a car which was involved in a collision, again you are likely to have a claim.  In most circumstances it would be the Defendant’s, that is the negligent third party’ insurer who would pay you this compensation.  But what happens if the Defendant was not insured? Does that mean you cannot be compensated?

Well there is always the option of suing the Defendant directly, but in all likelihood they won’t be worth suing – in other words, they don’t have any money to recompense you with, and so it would be a waste of time.  There is, though, another option – to make a claim from a compensation fund held by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (‘MIB’).
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One of the questions that sometimes crops up here at The Injury Lawyers relates to claims against uninsured drivers.  The usual course of action in a road traffic accident is to pursue the insurer of the negligent third party driver who has caused your injuries. 

In most cases the other driver will have insurance and it really is a simple process of submitting a claim form online and receiving their admission of liability within a couple of weeks.  But what happens if the other driver is not insured?  Well you could pursue the other driver themselves personally, but in the vast majority of cases they will not be worth suing (in other words, they do not have enough money to recompense you).  Instead, what you can do is make a claim through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (‘MIB’).

In 1946 the MIB was set up to provide compensation for those who have been injured by the negligence of an uninsured third party driver.  Instead of saying that they cannot be compensated because the other driver broke the law and drove with insurance, the MIB can dip into their compensation fund and pay out for your vehicle damages and injuries.  The reason they can do this is because each year every motorist contributes roughly £30 through their insurance premium to set up this fund.  Although you may not like the sound of that, at the end of the day, one day it could be you that requires this fund.  In fact, each year over 50,000 people are compensated by the MIB.
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At The Injury Lawyers we deal solely with personal injury cases.  Every day we deal with claims for injuries sustained at work, whilst out and about on our streets, stemming from faulty products, and so on.  But it is road traffic accident claims that account for much of our work.

Unfortunately, it is somewhat of a fact of life that numerous road traffic accidents occur each day – as a result people suffer a whole host of injuries.  In most cases it will be human error that has caused the accident.  Where the accident was not your fault, but the fault of a negligent third party, and where you have been injured as a result, you will more than likely be able to make a claim for compensation.  Doing this is actually very easy and does not take long at all.  Here is a quick guide as to how you can claim compensation.

Firstly you should seek to instruct an experienced and quality injury lawyer who will not charge you whatsoever for their work.  They will then take you through the road traffic accident claiming process right from the start, and get your claim moving forward from day 1 onwards.
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One of the most common sorts of accidents that involve motorcycles and / or bicycles arise from drivers pulling out of side roads without checking that the road they are turning in to is fully clear!

It’s normally quite easy for a car to spot another car or similar larger vehicle on the road; motorcycles and bicycles are harder to spot, despite the best efforts of the riders to make themselves visible with illuminated clothing and well lit vehicles.

We will not broach the reasons as to why this happens, as I think it’s pretty simple to work it out: some drivers simply do not pay enough attention and do not keep a special lookout for motorcycle and bicycle riders. Unfortunately, the end result is a collision and a potentially seriously injured rider.
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There’s a general rule when it comes to making claims for compensation – if you were a passenger in an accident, you pretty much have a dead cert definite winner of a claim for compensation if you have ended up injured. So, is this the case for bus passengers too?

Unfortunately not – bus claims can actually be very difficult to win; dependant on the circumstances.

Collisions
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Claiming for injuries arising out of road traffic accidents is often straightforward.  This is because in most accidents it is quite clear who at fault.  It follows that if you were not at fault for the accident then you can be compensated for any injuries you may have suffered.

Here is an example: You are driving along and you are approaching a roundabout, you slow down to a halt as there are already cars on the roundabout, when unfortunately a third party driver negligently collides with the rear of your vehicle and you sustain whiplash.  You are not at fault for this accident and have been injured at the hands of another person, and you can therefore make a claim for compensation.  The Defendant’s insurer knows this and this is what you have to look out for.

If you have been in such an accident it may be that the other side’s insurer gets in touch with you, knowing full well that you have a very successful claim for compensation, and try and settle your compensation claim directly with you.  This is by no means illegal but it is important to note that if you agree any compensation with the Defendant’s insurers, in most cases, this will be in full and final settlement of your claim.  So if later you realise you are still injured and feel that you should receive more compensation – tough! Your claim has settled and no more compensation can be obtained.  Likewise, if you accept £400 compensation but are later advised that your claim was actually worth £2,000 you cannot go back and say you under-settled my claim, give me the difference.  The process in which your claim is settled directly with the Defendant’s insurer is known as ‘third party capture’.
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Road traffic accidents, or RTAs, cover various different types of accidents that involve vehicles on the public highways.

Collisions between cars will usually be dealt with by the drivers’ insurance companies if the crash only caused damage to property. If the accident was more serious and resulted in one or more of the people involved being injured, it will usually be necessary for a personal injury lawyer to get involved.

The most common RTA’s involve collisions between car drivers on the roads. If there are passengers in the car, van, bus or coach who also suffer injuries in a crash, they can claim compensation from the company that insured the vehicle or vehicles that caused the crash as well.  This is even if they are travelling in the car of the driver who was at fault and they are closely related to the driver. This it to make sure that anyone injured in a road accident that was not their fault is fully compensated for their injuries.
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At The Injury Lawyers we are experts in the field of personal injury law having dealt with thousands of personal injury claims over many years.
In particular we deal with an enormous amount of road traffic accident claims where our clients have been injured as a result of the negligence of a third party driver.

In 99 out of 100 cases the Defendant driver will be insured, so it is straightforward to make the claim for compensation as their insurer will pay your damages.  Unfortunately, there are cases every so often where the Defendant was uninsured.  If that’s the case, how do you get your compensation?

In most cases the actual driver will not be worth suing unless they have some financial assets in to claim from.  Does that mean you are to be left uncompensated for your injuries because the other driver has no insurance? No, and here is a quick guide as to why.
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Making a claim for compensation for injuries sustained in a relatively straightforward road accident is quick and easy.  As of the 30^th April 2010 a new process came into place which streamlined the compensation claiming process making it a heck of a lot faster and easier.  Whereas previously an admission of liability could potentially take four months to come from the Defendant, now the Defendant only has 15 business days to admit or deny liability.  As I am sure you would agree, this is a massive improvement.

What happens now is that when you get in touch with an injury lawyer you will be asked to help your lawyer fill out what is called a claims notification form.  This will outline your accident circumstances, the vehicles involved, the injuries you have sustained, and the parties details.  This will be submitted, once completed, to the Ministry of Justice portal online and the Defendant’s insurers will have just one day to acknowledge receipt of it. 

After this they then have the 15 business days to come back with their position on liability.  At The Injury Lawyers we only take only cases which we genuinely believe will be successful; therefore in most of our cases an admission is received well within this 15 day period.
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At The Injury Lawyers we deal with all sorts of personal injury claims on a daily basis.  In the main they concern the innocent victims of the negligence of third party drivers.  Road traffic accidents are unfortunately a common occurrence – but when it comes to claiming compensation they are relatively straightforward matters and can be dealt with very quickly.  In most cases you will be able to provide the third party’s details and we can get the ball rolling on your claim straightaway.

But what happens if the third party was uninsured, given that it is the third party’s insurer that will normally be providing your compensation?

Naturally you can still make a claim for compensation; it is just that your compensation will be provided by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (‘MIB’) and not the third party’s insurer as they do not have one.  It would simply be unfair if you were injured like anyone else but could not be compensated because the third party had committed the criminal act of driving with no insurance.  That is why the MIB was set up in 1946 – to provide compensation to victims of uninsured drivers.
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