Personal Injury Claims: Your Questions Answered

A personal injury claim is a legal claim for compensation following an injury caused by someone else's negligence. In England and Wales it usually involves showing three things: that another person or organisation owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty, and that the breach caused your injury and the financial losses that followed. Compensation can cover both the injury itself, known as general damages, and the financial consequences, known as special damages.

Anyone who has suffered an injury caused by another party's negligence can potentially bring a claim, including employees injured at work, road users, pedestrians, customers injured on premises, and people harmed by medical treatment that fell below the expected standard. Where a person lacks the mental capacity to conduct a claim, or is a child, different arrangements apply, including the appointment of a litigation friend, and there are different rules on how long the claim has to be brought.

Three things, in broad terms. First, that the other party owed you a duty of care. Second, that they breached that duty by failing to take the care a reasonable person or organisation would have taken. Third, that the breach caused the injury and losses you are claiming for. Causation is often the most heavily contested element, particularly in claims where an injury may have more than one cause or where an existing condition is involved.

It may still be possible to claim. Where a claimant is partly responsible for their own injury, the law on contributory negligence allows the compensation to be reduced by the proportion of responsibility attributed to them. That means a claim is not necessarily defeated by the fact that you contributed to what happened, but the amount recovered may be reduced. How that apportionment is assessed depends on the circumstances and the evidence.

It depends on the type of accident. In road traffic claims, the Motor Insurers' Bureau operates schemes that can deal with claims against uninsured and untraced drivers, so a driver who cannot be traced does not necessarily mean there is no route to compensation. In other settings — an accident in a public place, for example — establishing who was responsible for the hazard is part of the investigation. It is worth taking advice, because the answer differs with the circumstances.

No, and most claims do not. The great majority of personal injury claims settle through negotiation with the defendant or their insurer without a hearing. Where liability is disputed and no settlement can be reached, court proceedings may be issued, but issuing proceedings is a step in the process rather than a sign that a trial will follow, and many cases resolve after proceedings have started. Where a hearing is needed, we explain what is involved in advance.

Useful evidence often includes the accident report, photographs of the scene and of any injuries, CCTV footage where it exists, the details of any witnesses, and records held by an employer or the occupier of the premises. Medical records and an independent medical examination are also usually required. Not all of this will be available in every case, and what is needed depends on how liability is disputed and what losses are claimed, so the evidence gathered is tailored to the claim rather than applied uniformly.

In most personal injury claims, yes. Medical evidence is the foundation of a claim, because it establishes the nature and extent of the injury, how long symptoms are likely to last and what treatment or rehabilitation may be needed. That evidence usually comes from an independent medical expert instructed by the solicitors, who examines you and reports on your injuries. The expert is independent of both sides of the case and reports on what they find, and what is involved in an examination is explained in advance.

Anything that records what happened and what it has cost you, gathered as early as possible. Photographs of the scene, the surface, the defect or the equipment, taken from several angles and with something for scale, are worth more than a description. Keep the details of any witnesses, any correspondence with an insurer or employer, receipts for treatment, travel and anything else the accident has caused you to pay for, and a note of the days you have been unable to work. It is also worth keeping any damaged clothing or equipment, and noting the weather and lighting conditions at the time.

The expert takes a history of the accident and your injuries, asks about your symptoms, treatment and how the injury affects your day to day life, and examines you in the area of the injury. Some examinations are conducted remotely, particularly for conditions that can reasonably be assessed that way, while others require an in-person appointment. The examination is not adversarial and is not there to test you; its purpose is to give the expert the information they need to write an accurate report. We explain what to expect beforehand.

An existing condition or previous injury does not prevent a claim, but it can affect how the claim is assessed. The principle is that a claimant should be compensated for the additional injury or the exacerbation caused by the accident, rather than for the pre-existing condition itself. Where there is a relevant history, the medical expert is asked to address it directly, explaining what the accident added to the existing position. Full and honest disclosure of your medical history to the expert is important, because it makes the evidence more robust rather than less.

Yes. A dispute about liability is common, and it does not by itself end a claim. Where liability is denied, the evidence is investigated further — the accident records, witness evidence, CCTV, expert evidence on the mechanism of the accident and, in workplace claims, the employer's own documentation. Negotiation may then continue, and where no agreement can be reached, court proceedings may be issued so that the issue can be determined. What happens in a particular case depends on the strength of the evidence on each side.

The identity or size of the employer does not change whether a claim can be brought, and an employer is required to have insurance to cover claims of this kind. Employers are also prohibited from dismissing an employee because they have brought a personal injury claim. That said, many people find the prospect of claiming against an employer they know difficult, and that is entirely understandable; it is a consideration to weigh up rather than a legal bar, and the duties an employer owes are the reason the insurance exists.

Yes, where the occupier failed to take reasonable care to keep the premises safe and that caused your injury. The occupier of premises owes a duty to visitors to take reasonable steps to ensure they are safe for the purpose for which they are used, which in practice covers how the premises are maintained and inspected, how hazards are dealt with, and what warning or protection is in place. A shop or business is not liable for every accident that happens on its premises, but it is expected to operate a reasonable system and to deal with hazards it knew or should have known about.

In a road traffic claim the physical evidence is often transient, so the priority is to gather what you can quickly. Photographs of the position of the vehicles, the damage, the road layout, the surface and the markings are all useful, as is any dash camera or helmet camera footage, and footage from nearby premises or a bus or commercial vehicle. The details of witnesses, the police report or collision reference if one was made, and the details of any vehicles and people present all help. Where the collision involved a working vehicle, the tachograph, telematics, vehicle and driver records can matter a great deal.

Not necessarily, but it makes the claim more difficult and that is worth understanding from the outset. Accident books, incident reports, defect logs and CCTV are time limited, and a report made at the time is often what establishes that a hazard existed and had been identified. Where no report was made, the claim is rather more dependent on other evidence, such as witnesses, photographs or records that can still be obtained, and it may be harder to prove that the defendant knew about the hazard. It is worth taking advice even where no report was made, because whether a claim is possible depends on what evidence can be reconstructed rather than on the absence of a report alone.

Yes, where the psychological injury is a recognised condition caused by the accident and is supported by medical evidence. Claims are made for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression arising from an accident, and these can be claimed alongside physical injuries or, in some cases, where the physical injury is limited. The evidence usually comes from a psychiatrist or psychologist instructed as an expert, and the assessment is made in the same way as for a physical injury.

An early offer should not be accepted without advice, and in most cases it is worth far less than the claim is actually worth. An offer made before the medical evidence is complete cannot properly account for an injury whose prognosis is not yet known, or for future losses and treatment that have not yet been identified. What looks like a straightforward payment early on may leave you unable to return for the balance later, because accepting a settlement concludes the claim. There is no obligation to accept an offer, and it is worth having one assessed rather than responding to it under pressure.