Guides & Advice

Personal Injury Guides & Advice

Injury Law Specialists is a personal injury law firm assisting claimants throughout England and Wales. These guides explain how claims work in plain English, so you can understand the process before deciding what to do — whether or not you ever instruct a solicitor.

36 guides across 8 subjects, each answering one question properly rather than covering everything briefly.

Ask Us About Your Claim Call 01582 415 836

How Claims Work

The process from first enquiry through to resolution, and what happens at each stage.

How does a personal injury claim work?What actually happens between making an enquiry and receiving compensation?Do personal injury claims go to court?Whether every claim ends up before a judge, and when proceedings may be needed.What is an interim payment?Getting money before the claim settles, and why it is not available in every case.What is a litigation friend?Who conducts a claim for a child or for someone who lacks capacity.

Evidence & Medical Assessment

What is gathered to prove a claim, and how your injury is assessed.

What evidence do I need for a personal injury claim?The photographs, reports, witnesses and records that support a claim.What evidence should I preserve after an accident?What to keep in the days after an accident, before it is lost.What happens at a medical examination?Who the expert is, what they assess, and what to expect from the appointment.What if I had a pre-existing condition?How an existing injury or condition affects a claim, and how it is dealt with.

Time Limits & Deadlines

How long you have, and the circumstances in which the rules differ.

How long do I have to make a personal injury claim?The three year limitation period, explained in plain English.What is the date of knowledge?When the clock can start later than the accident, and why that matters.What is the time limit if the injured person is a child?Why children have longer, and how a claim on their behalf is run.What happens if the time limit expires?What becomes of a claim once it is out of time, and why advice should not wait.

Compensation & Losses

What can be recovered, how it is assessed, and why a figure cannot be quoted from an injury name.

How is personal injury compensation calculated?The two halves of a claim, and how each is worked out.What are general damages and special damages?The injury element and the financial element, in plain English.Can I claim for loss of earnings?Recovering income lost because of the accident, past and future.Can I claim for care and assistance?Claiming for the practical help you have needed at home.Can I claim rehabilitation and treatment costs?Recovering the cost of treatment, therapy and rehabilitation.Can I claim future care and financial loss?Where an injury leaves a continuing need for care or affects future income.

Fault & Liability

Who is responsible, what happens when it is disputed, and what follows if you share some blame.

What is contributory negligence?What happens to a claim when the injured person was partly responsible.What happens if liability is disputed?How a denied claim is investigated and what the options are.Can I claim if the driver cannot be identified?Uninsured and untraced driver claims, and how they are brought.What if the other side makes an early settlement offer?Why an early offer is usually worth far less than the claim, and what to do.

Funding & Fees

How a claim is paid for, what you would owe, and what happens if it does not succeed.

What does No Win No Fee actually mean?What a Conditional Fee Agreement commits you to, and what it does not.What is a success fee?How it is calculated, the cap that usually applies, and when it is payable.What happens if my claim is not successful?The position on our fees and the other side's costs if a claim fails.What are disbursements, and who pays for them?Medical reports, expert fees and court fees, and how they are carried.

Accident Types

Guides specific to where and how the accident happened.

Road traffic accident claimsClaims for drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians injured on the road.Accidents at work claimsInjuries caused by unsafe conditions, equipment or systems at work.Public place accident claimsInjuries in shops, restaurants, gyms, car parks and on pavements.Medical negligence claimsWhen treatment falls below the standard that could reasonably be expected.Fatal accident claimsClaims following a death, and who may be able to bring one.Criminal injury claimsApplications to the CICA, and how the process differs from a civil claim.

Serious Injury

Where an injury has life-changing and long-term consequences.

Serious injury claimsHow claims involving long-term effects, care and future loss are put together.Head and brain injury claimsClaims following traumatic brain injury and its cognitive effects.Spinal injury claimsClaims involving damage to the spinal cord and vertebrae.Amputation claimsClaims following loss of limb, including prosthetics and future needs.

How to Use These Guides

These guides are general information about personal injury claims in England and Wales. They are written so that you can understand the process and ask better questions, not so that you can run a claim yourself.

Start with the question you have

Each guide answers one question. If you are unsure where to begin, the most-read list above covers the questions people ask most often.

General information, not legal advice

A guide cannot account for your circumstances, your evidence or the strength of your case. Nothing here should be relied on as a substitute for advice about your own situation.

Written for claimants

The guides assume no legal knowledge and avoid jargon where it can be avoided, explaining terms where they are unavoidable.

No predicted outcomes

You will not find compensation predictions, success rates or case results here. A figure cannot be given for an injury by name, and we would rather say so than guess.

Who Provides the Legal Services?

Injury Law Specialists is a marketing and advertising platform and is not a law firm or a provider of regulated legal services. All personal injury legal advice, casework and representation arranged through Injury Law Specialists are provided by MB Solicitors, a trading name of MB Legal Solicitors Ltd, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under SRA ID 8000764.

The guides on this page are general information and are not legal advice. Our Legal Disclaimer sets out the basis on which this information is provided, and our team page names the solicitors who act for clients, with links to verify them on the SRA register.

Question Not Answered in the Guides?

You do not need to understand the law before contacting us. Tell us what happened and a member of the team will explain whether you may have grounds to claim, what evidence would be needed and how the process works. The assessment is free, and there is no obligation to proceed.

Start Your Free Assessment Call 01582 415 836

info@injurylawspecialists.co.uk