Serious Injury Claims Solicitors
Suffering a serious injury can be a traumatic and stressful experience, which not only affects you, but those close to you. Serious injuries can have a lasting impact on your life and well-being, and if it wasn’t your fault, you’re likely to feel frustrated and like you want to seek compensation.
If you’ve experienced an injury which has had a life-changing impact on you as a result of an accident, our specialist serious injury solicitors can help you claim compensation. This is often essential to help you deal with the impact of your injuries and start to get your life back on track.
Our expertise with serious injury claims
If you are wondering whether your injury is considered serious and if you’re eligible to start a compensation claim, our personal injury lawyers can help get the answers you need. Our serious injury solicitors can support you through the whole claims process, giving you the best chance of securing fair compensation for your injuries.
With many years of experience handling the most serious, high-value personal injury claims, our team regularly secures substantial compensation for clients under the most challenging circumstances.
Case study | Seven-figure settlement for head and brain injury
We work with clients all over the UK from our offices spread across Bristol and the surrounding area in Bedminster, Bishopston, Kingswood, Queen Square and Thornbury.
Our solicitors understand that serious injuries can have a huge impact on your life, and our friendly, expert team are here to support you the whole way.
We are recognised as leading personal injury lawyers by the top client guides to the legal profession, with a band 3 ranking from Chambers and Partners for Bristol and the surrounding area, and a tier 3 ranking for the South West from the Legal 500.
Our personal injury solicitors are Business Members of the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) and are listed in their guide to choosing a specialist Personal Injury Solicitor. Our team is also included in the Headway Head Injury Solicitors Directory.
Arrange a no win, no fee consultation with our serious injury solicitors
The idea of claiming compensation can be confusing and intimidating. Therefore, we offer a no win, no fee consultation with a member of our personal injury team to discuss your legal position and next steps.
To discuss a potential serious injury claim, call us on 0117 325 2929 or complete our online enquiry form for a swift response.
Our serious injury compensation claims service
Starting a claim for serious injury compensation
You likely have lots of questions, including whether you have a claim, how much it might be worth and how the claims process works.
To help answer these questions and put you at ease, we offer a no win, no fee initial consultation with no obligation to move forward with a claim afterwards. This allows you to talk us through your situation. We will then be able to advise you on your legal position and your options for taking your claim forward.
No win, no fee serious injury claims
Most of our clients choose to fund their claims using a ‘conditional fee agreement’, more commonly called a ‘no win, no fee’ deal. The advantage of this type of funding is that you do not need to pay anything to start a claim. We will only charge you our fees if we secure damages for you. If we don’t win compensation for you, you won’t owe us anything, hence the term ‘no win, no fee’.
Other options for covering the cost of a serious injury claim include legal expenses insurance. This is sometimes offered as an optional extra with motor insurance and home insurance policies.
Read more about ways to fund a personal injury claim.
Determining whether you are entitled to compensation
The first step in making a claim for serious injury is to establish that you are eligible for compensation. To do so, we will need to show that someone else is responsible for your injuries, either through their negligence or through deliberate action.
Our personal injury solicitors will use various types of evidence to build your claim. This can potentially include CCTV, witness reports, and testimony from independent experts.
By building the strongest possible claim for you from the outset, supported with all of the right evidence, we can significantly increase the chances of an early settlement or a positive result if your case later goes to court.
Valuing your claim
Once it’s clear you have grounds for a claim, we will need to establish how much compensation you’re entitled to. You may hear this referred to as ‘assessing quantum’ or ‘assessing the quantum of damages’.
The value of your claim will depend on various factors, including:
- The level of injury you suffered
- Any financial costs you have incurred due to your injuries e.g. paying for private treatment, loss of income, etc.
- The impact on your life, e.g. any activities you have had to give up (known as ‘loss of amenity’)
- Your pain and suffering
We will rely on evidence from medical professionals and other experts to show the extent of your injuries and their impact on your life and your family’s lives.
Time limits for serious accident claims
The standard time limit for making any type of personal injury claim is three years. This will either be counted from when the injury occurred or when you became aware of it.
However, there are circumstances where you may have longer to claim, including:
- If the injured party is under 18 years old – Their parents or guardians can make a claim until they turn 18. The claimant can then bring their own claim up until their 21st birthday.
- Where the claimant lacks the mental capacity claim – There is no time limit for someone else to claim them.
- If you need to claim for someone who died – You will normally have three years from the date of their accident to make a claim on behalf of their dependents.
Out-of-court settlements for injury claims
In most cases, we can secure compensation without the need for court proceedings. This is done using negotiation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). This allows you to get compensation faster and with lower legal fees while allowing you to avoid the stress and uncertainty often associated with going to court.
Court proceedings for serious injury compensation claims
Sometimes the other party is not willing to settle out of court or does not offer a suitable settlement. In these cases, we have the skills and experience to get you the right outcome in court.
As well as our own strong in-house advocacy expertise, we also work effectively with a number of specialist personal injury barristers. We can therefore ensure you have the very best representation and close personal support through every stage of proceedings.
Serious injury claims FAQs
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
- Your injury has left you needing ongoing hospital appointments
- You’ve had to take significant 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 just that little bit easier.
Compensation from a serious injury claim could help cover expenses incurred such as:
- Care or support given by a professional, friends or family, this includes mileage
- Loss of earnings, including 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
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.
Find out more about personal injury trusts.
Start a serious injury compensation claim today
If you have been seriously injured in an accident anywhere in the UK, our friendly, expert solicitors are here to help you get the compensation you deserve to rebuild your life.
To discuss a potential serious injury claim with a member of our team, fill out our simple online enquiry form or call us on 0117 325 2929, and we will be happy to advise you.