Serious Injury Claims Solicitors

If your injury has resulted in one or more of the following, your injury is likely to be considered serious and/or life-changing:

• You’ve undergone, or are due to undergo, lengthy or ongoing treatment or have had many hospital appointments
• Your injury has left you needing significant care and assistance to keep your life as close as possible to what it was like before
• You’ve had to take a lot of time off work as a direct result of your injury

Our personal injury solicitors appreciate that no amount of money can make up for what you’ve been through or erase any trauma you experienced. However, getting compensation can make recovery and life going forward more secure and promote independence.

If you have been seriously injured and you do not believe it was your fault, you are strongly advised to speak to an expert serious injury claims solicitor. This injury could arise from a road traffic accident, an accident at work, medical negligence, industrial disease or an incident in a public place.

Such claims are usually complex, have large volumes of documents and technical questions to resolve so you will need a team with the necessary experience on your side.

If you ask us to pursue your claim, we will start by investigating the circumstances to ascertain what has happened, and who was at fault. Expert opinion may be required to establish fault.

We will need to establish that you were owed a duty of care, that this duty was breached and that you sustained some injury as a result (negligence).

Our team has a high level of experience in putting together the right evidence to demonstrate both negligence and causation.

We will identify the nature and seriousness of your injuries. With respect to each injury sustained we will need evidence to demonstrate the injury was caused by the negligence (causation).  We will arrange for you to be examined by appropriate medical experts who will prepare reports detailing your injuries and give an expected prognosis.

We will notify the person or organisation at fault of your claim and liaise with them or their insurers to achieve the best result for you. We will build the strongest possible case based on the evidence on your behalf. Where possible, we will negotiate a settlement of your compensation. If the other side are not willing to offer the right amount or they do not admit liability for the incident we will take your claim to court. You will be represented throughout by a personal injury advocate with expertise in dealing with serious injury claims.

A serious injury claim is a case involving negligence on the part of a third party that has caused a serious level of harm. This could be a road traffic accident, an accident at work, medical negligence, industrial disease or an incident in a public place.

The level of compensation you will receive will depend on the nature and severity of your injuries and the effect they have had on your life to date and in the future.

If your injuries are serious and your ability to work has been affected, you may be entitled to a large sum in compensation. Compensation is made up of two types of damages, namely general damages and special damages.

General damages are awarded to compensate you for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity you have experienced. Loss of amenity is the inability to do or restriction on doing things you used to be able to do, for example, walking long distances or doing sports.

Special damages are awarded to compensate you for the financial losses you have suffered and that you will suffer in the future due to your injury. This could include loss of earnings, future loss of earnings, the cost of care or treatment not provided by the NHS, prescription charges, the cost of special equipment and expenses relating to adapting your home, should this be necessary.

With serious injuries, you are likely to be advised to wait a while before settling your claim so that the extent of your likely recovery can be assessed or to enable the success of various types of rehabilitation to be measured. We need to make sure that you are fully compensated for all losses and expenses you will have due to your injuries  in the future.

We will put together full evidence in support of your claim, including medical reports in identifying your injuries and your likely prognosis. Other expert evidence may be needed to identify the costs of your  care, assistance, equipment or housing modifications.  We will look at how your anticipated work or career have been impacted by the injuries and obtain  evidence to substantiate losses relating to your employment. This could include losses because you will be unable to advance further in your career.

The amount we claim will be put to the other side and we will negotiate robustly on your behalf to secure the highest possible payment and, if a reasonable settlement is not achieved, pursue the matter to court.

Compensation from a serious injury claim could help cover losses or expenses incurred, such as:

• Care or support given by a professional, friends or family
• The cost of paying someone to do the DIY tasks or domestic chores you can no longer do
• Travel expenses in attending appointments or providing you with the support you need
• Loss of earnings, loss of promotion opportunities, loss of pension
• Loss of amenity, i.e. sport you play during your spare time
• Effects on work, i.e. you’re no longer able to carry out your existing role due to your injury or you won’t be able to progress as a result. This also takes into consideration a lack of future job opportunities elsewhere
• The cost of adapting your home
• Buying specialist equipment

Receiving compensation can potentially affect your right to certain means-tested benefits, so it is important to take the right steps to protect your access to any benefits you rely on or may rely on in future.

Placing your compensation into a personal injury trust can allow you to use the money as you need while ‘ring-fencing’ it, so it will not be considered as part of your assets for means-testing.

You will normally need to set up a personal injury trust to hold your compensation within 52 weeks of first receiving compensation (including any interim payments). It is therefore important to consider this as soon as possible to avoid any impact on your benefits entitlements.

We can advise you on the availability of financial  advice to manage your personal injury settlement and arrange for a trust to be set up on your behalf so that you will have a regular income for the future as well as funds to cover any expenses, such as therapy or special equipment.

Find out more about personal injury trusts.

You will usually have three years from the date of the incident in which to start a compensation claim. If you were not aware of the harm at the time, for example, if you have contracted an industrial disease, then the three-year period starts from the date on which you should reasonably have known you were suffering injury due to the fault of someone else.

If you were under 18 at the time, then the three-year period starts on your 18^th birthday. If you are bringing a claim on behalf of someone who does not have the mental capacity to manage their own affairs, then there is no time limit.