In the UK, more than a hundred thousand people every year make a personal injury claim through the County Courts. Personal injuries come in many forms, and it isn’t always easy to determine which are likely to result in damages being paid out, or fault being officially recognised. So how do you work out whether you qualify?
What are the criteria?
There are a few factors you’ll need to consider. These will determine whether your claim is going to be successful.
Time
In most cases, you’ll have three years from the date that your injury was inflicted to set the process in motion. The exceptions come if you only become aware of the injury later on, in which case you’ll have three years from then, or if you were under eighteen when the injury was inflicted, in which case you’ll have three years from your eighteenth birthday.
Financial Hardship
Damages are awarded to compensate for what’s called ‘pain and suffering’. This is a catch-all term for both mental and physical hardship. But compensation is also there to set right all of the earnings you might have made if you had not been injured.
If your injury has prevented you from earning a living, or caused you to incur additional costs, then you should collect as much evidence as possible throughout your experience. These additional costs might include everything from payment for hospital parking to transport costs.
Blame
If your injury was inflicted on you by someone else, then you have room for a claim. This ‘someone else’ might be an individual, or an organisation like the NHS. They might be partially responsible for your injury, or entirely.Â
Get a Good Solicitor
If you have an experience legal expert on your side, then your claim will stand a much better chance of success. Moreover, they’ll be able to provide you with guidance over whether to proceed. Personal injury solicitors usually proceed on what’s called a Conditional Fee Agreement (better known as a no-win, no-fee agreement). The lawyer will determine at the outset whether your claim is likely to succeed, and assume the financial risk on your behalf. This means that you won’t need to worry about your legal costs. A good lawyer will rarely lose in this situation, because they pick the clients most likely to win.Â
What about Violent Crime?
If you’ve been the victim of violent crime, then you can apply to the government for compensation. If you’ve been injured while trying to stop the crime taking place, then you might also be entitled – though your intervention will have had to have been proportionate to the threat. You will have two years to make this sort of claim.
