Personal injury solicitors for clients throughout England & Wales
England & Wales
If you were injured while cycling in a collision, a dooring, or because of the condition of the road, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and the losses that follow. Injury Law Specialists is a personal injury law firm acting for cyclists throughout England and Wales, and our solicitors can assess your circumstances and explain whether you have grounds to claim.
Cyclists have no protection beyond their own skill and any equipment they wear, so injuries are frequently serious. We have a particular interest in cycling claims involving multiple injuries, surgery or lasting effects, and we take on straightforward claims just as readily.
Yes. A cyclist injured in a collision caused by another road user can usually claim compensation for their injuries and financial losses, provided the other party was at fault or shared responsibility. Cyclists have almost no physical protection, and the law expects drivers to take proper account of them when emerging, turning, overtaking and opening doors. Injury Law Specialists offers cyclists a free claim assessment so the position can be looked at before you commit to anything.
Cycling claims fall into two broad types, and it is worth knowing which one yours is from the outset because they are handled quite differently. The first is a collision with another road user, where the claim is normally against that driver's insurer. The second is an injury caused by the road itself, such as a pothole, a sunken drain cover or loose gravel, where the claim is usually against the body responsible for maintaining the highway.
There is also a common worry worth setting aside. Many cyclists assume that because they chose to ride, any injury is their own risk. That is not the law. Nobody consents to being driven into, doored or forced off the road, and the fact that cycling carries its own risks does not reduce what a cyclist can recover for someone else's carelessness.
The circumstances change who the claim is brought against and what evidence tends to decide it. These are the situations we deal with most often.
A driver or passenger opening a door into a cyclist's path is one of the most common causes of serious cycling injury, because the cyclist has no time to react and is thrown onto the road. The Highway Code now sets out a specific technique for opening doors to avoid this, and responsibility rests with the person who opened it.
This covers drivers pulling out of side roads and junctions, turning right across oncoming traffic, and turning left across a cyclist continuing straight ahead. These collisions often turn on whether the cyclist was there to be seen and at what point the driver should have registered them.
A vehicle passing too close can force a cyclist into the kerb or off the bike entirely, even without contact. The Highway Code sets out the space a driver should give when overtaking. Camera footage is often the single most useful piece of evidence in these cases.
Sunken drains, broken surfaces, loose chippings, raised ironwork and badly reinstated trenches all cause cycling injuries. These claims are brought against the highway authority, which has a defence if it can show a reasonable system of inspection and repair, so the history of the specific defect matters.
Where a cycle lane or crossing has been designed or maintained in a way that creates danger, there may be a claim against the body responsible for it. This is a less common route but worth considering where the layout itself contributed to what happened.
Where a driver failed to stop, a claim through the Motor Insurers' Bureau may still be possible. These claims have their own rules, and the requirement to report the incident to the police within a set period makes prompt action important.
This is the question cyclists ask most, and the answer is more reassuring than most people expect. There is no legal requirement to wear a helmet when cycling in the United Kingdom, so not wearing one is not an offence and does not prevent you from claiming.
If the other side raises it, the argument is limited in two important ways. It applies only to a head injury, not to injuries elsewhere. And they have to show that a helmet would actually have prevented or reduced that specific head injury, which is a higher bar than insurers sometimes imply. A neck injury, a broken wrist or a leg fracture is unaffected by whether you wore a helmet.
The same reasoning applies to high visibility clothing and lights. If it is argued that you could not be seen, the question is whether you could reasonably have been seen given the conditions, the lighting and the driver's position, not simply whether you were wearing something bright.
Suitable personal injury cases may be accepted under a Conditional Fee Agreement, commonly called a No Win, No Fee agreement. Acceptance depends on an assessment of liability, evidence, prospects of success and the funding arrangements available.
If the claim succeeds, a success fee may be payable. The amount and how it is calculated is explained before you decide whether to proceed, so there is no uncertainty about the position later.
How No Win, No Fee worksCycling claims frequently turn on what can be shown, and much of the most useful evidence disappears quickly. Acting early matters.
Camera footage
Helmet, handlebar and bike cameras are invaluable. Footage often settles liability on its own, so save it immediately and do not rely on the card staying put.
The police report
The collision report and reference number, along with what the driver told officers at the scene and any witness statements taken.
Witness accounts
Names and contact details of anyone who saw the collision, including other cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers who stopped.
The location and the bike
Photographs of the road layout, the position you came to rest, the damaged bike, and any defect in the surface with something for scale.
Medical records
Ambulance and A&E records, GP notes, imaging and a report from an independent medical expert on the injuries and prognosis.
Records of loss
Payslips or accounts showing time off work, plus receipts for treatment, travel, replacement equipment and any care needed.
Not all of this will exist in every case, and you should not worry if you have none of it. Tell your solicitor what you do have, and they can work out what else can be obtained, including CCTV from nearby premises.
Compensation is usually split between the injury itself and the financial consequences of the accident. The two are assessed separately.
Pain, suffering and effect on life
The injuries themselves, how severe they are, how long they last and how they affect work, sleep, mobility and day to day life.
Loss of earnings
Pay already lost through time off work, and future loss where the injuries affect what you are able to earn.
Treatment and rehabilitation
Surgery, physiotherapy, private treatment and rehabilitation where these are needed and evidenced.
Care and assistance
Help with household tasks, shopping, gardening or personal care that you could manage before but cannot now.
Bike and equipment losses
Damage to the bicycle, helmet, clothing, lights and other equipment, along with the cost of replacement or repair and any hire charges.
Future expense
Aids, equipment, adaptions and other costs likely to arise in future, where they can be properly supported.
Cycling claims often involve contested arguments about who was at fault, along with more than one injury to value. That is precisely the work a solicitor is there to do.
Establishes who was at fault
Your solicitor reconstructs the collision, gathers the camera, scene and witness evidence, and builds the case on responsibility, including where the other side denies it.
Obtains the medical evidence
Independent medical experts are instructed to examine you and report on each injury, its severity, your prognosis and any treatment still needed.
Quantifies the losses
Earnings, treatment, care, travel, bike and equipment losses and future costs are calculated and supported with evidence, so nothing recoverable is left out.
Deals with the insurer
Correspondence, negotiations and any arguments about liability, helmets or the level of compensation are handled for you, rather than landing on your doorstep.
Pursues the claim if needed
If a fair settlement cannot be agreed, court proceedings can be issued. Most claims settle long before a hearing, but the option is there when it is needed.
Keeps you informed
You should know where your claim stands at each significant stage. We aim to keep clients updated by whichever method of contact suits them.
If you would like to understand the process in more detail, our page on how our solicitors help sets out each stage from first enquiry to resolution.
Yes. A cyclist injured in a collision caused by another road user can usually claim compensation for their injuries and financial losses, provided the other party was at fault or shared responsibility. Cyclists are among the most vulnerable road users, and the law expects drivers to take proper account of them. What matters is showing how the collision happened and what injury and loss it caused.
You can still claim, and this is not the barrier people often assume it is. There is no legal requirement to wear a helmet when cycling in the United Kingdom. If the other side argues that a helmet would have prevented or reduced a head injury, that argument applies only to the head injury, and only where they can show it would have made a difference. It does not reduce the rest of the claim.
This is a point that needs to be raised openly with your solicitor rather than left unspoken, because it affects the arguments about shared responsibility. Cycling through a red light or on the pavement is an offence, and a court would take it into account. It does not automatically end a claim, since the other party still has to answer for their own carelessness, but it may reduce the compensation.
This is a different kind of claim, and it is brought against the body responsible for maintaining the highway, usually the local authority. The law gives highway authorities a defence where they can show they had a reasonable system of inspection and repair. That makes the condition and history of the specific defect important, so evidence should be gathered quickly.
A claim may still be possible through the Motor Insurers' Bureau, which exists to compensate victims of untraced and uninsured drivers. These claims operate under their own rules. For untraced driver cases there is a requirement to report the incident to the police within a set period, so prompt advice genuinely matters.
Yes. Damage to the bicycle itself, to a helmet, clothing, lights, a bike computer or other equipment can all form part of the claim where it was caused by the accident. Keep the damaged items where you can, take photographs, and keep any receipts or proof of value that you have.
Compensation usually has two parts. The first covers the injury itself, including pain, suffering and the effect on your daily life. The second covers the financial losses the accident caused, such as lost earnings, treatment and rehabilitation, care and assistance, travel, bike and equipment losses, and future losses where they can be evidenced.
For most personal injury claims in England and Wales, the limitation period is three years from the date of the accident, or from your later date of knowledge where that applies. Exceptions exist, including for children and for people who lack mental capacity to manage their own affairs. Early advice is always sensible.
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, legal services, casework, representation, legal support, and any free initial assessment or consultation promoted or arranged through Injury Law Specialists are provided by MB Solicitors, a trading name of MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
MB Legal Solicitors Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales under Company Number 12281731. The firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under SRA ID 8000764 and is a member of The Law Society. Injury Law Specialists does not itself provide legal advice or carry out reserved legal activities. Any solicitor-client relationship arising from an enquiry will be directly between the client and MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
Read our Regulatory InformationTell us what happened and a member of our team can review your circumstances and explain the possible next steps. The assessment is free, there is no obligation to instruct us, and you will be speaking to someone who deals with these claims regularly.
