Personal injury solicitors for clients throughout England & Wales
England & Wales
Some injuries affect far more than immediate health. A serious accident can change how someone works, how they get around, how independent they are, and what the years ahead look like for them and for the people around them. Our personal injury solicitors have a particular interest in claims involving significant and life-changing injuries.
We assist clients throughout England and Wales, and the initial assessment is free.
The main difference is scope. In a straightforward claim, the central question is what the injury was and how long it lasted. In a serious injury claim, the injury is the starting point rather than the whole picture: the claim has to consider treatment and rehabilitation, care and assistance, equipment and adaptations, the ability to work in future, and the financial consequences that follow a person for years or for life.
That difference in scope is the reason serious claims take longer and need more evidence. A single medical report may be enough to value a straightforward injury. A serious injury may need evidence from a consultant in the relevant specialty, together with a care expert, a rehabilitation specialist, and in some cases an employment or accountancy expert. Each of those pieces of evidence takes time to obtain.
It also means the timing of settlement matters a great deal. Where an injury is still developing, or where further surgery is expected, settling too early risks accepting compensation for a position that turns out to be worse than it appeared. There are mechanisms designed to deal with that, but they need to be considered deliberately rather than by default.
Serious injury is a description of consequence rather than a single diagnosis. These are the categories we deal with most frequently.
Traumatic brain injury
From severe injuries affecting speech, movement and cognition, to more subtle changes in memory, concentration, mood and behaviour that can be harder to prove but just as significant.
Spinal injury
Including injuries causing paraplegia or tetraplegia, and incomplete injuries where function is affected. Housing, transport, care and equipment all form part of the claim.
Amputation and limb loss
Claims following the loss of a limb, including the cost of prosthetics over a lifetime, adaptation of the home, and the effect on work and independence.
Complex and multiple fractures
Where fractures are multiple, involve joints, need surgery or fixation, or where the recovery is incomplete and permanent symptoms remain.
Burns and significant scarring
Claims involving burn injuries, skin grafts and scarring that is visible or affects movement, sensation or confidence, particularly where further treatment is required.
Multiple and complex injuries
Where several injuries combine, or where an existing condition is made considerably worse, so that the overall effect is greater than any single injury considered alone.
We can consider personal injury claims ranging from relatively straightforward cases to serious and complex claims. If your injury is not listed here, that does not mean we cannot help, and the free assessment exists precisely so that the circumstances can be looked at properly.
Recoverability depends on the evidence and the individual circumstances. These are the heads of loss that serious claims most often involve.
Pain, suffering and loss of amenity
General damages for the injury itself and for the effect it has on day to day life, including the things a person can no longer do or no longer do without difficulty.
Care and assistance
The help a person needs both now and in future, whether provided by professionals or by family members, including the additional care a child may need.
Rehabilitation and treatment
Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychological support, specialist treatment and private medical care where it is appropriate and justified.
Equipment and adaptations
Wheelchairs, prosthetics, aids, assistive technology, vehicle adaptations, and alterations to a home such as ramps, wet rooms or extensions.
Loss of earnings
Past loss of earnings, and future loss where the ability to work is affected, including reduced earning capacity and pension loss where a career has been curtailed.
Future financial losses
Long-term costs arising from the injury, including the expense of additional accommodation requirements and the cost of managing affairs where that has become necessary.
Serious claims are built around evidence, and the evidence takes time. Medical experts in the relevant specialties assess the injury and give a prognosis, which means their view on how it is likely to develop. Where care, equipment or housing needs are in issue, further experts assess what is reasonably required.
Alongside the medical and care evidence, financial losses have to be proved. That may mean obtaining payslips, accounts, pension records and benefit information, and in larger claims instructing an accountant to project what the person would have earned had the injury not happened.
Only once that picture is reasonably clear can the value of the claim be advised on properly. That is why we are cautious about early figures, and why we would rather explain the process and the timescale honestly than offer a number the evidence does not yet support.
The cause of the accident changes who the claim is brought against. It does not change the way the injury itself is assessed.
High-speed collisions, motorcycle accidents and accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists are among the most common causes of serious injury. Where a driver is uninsured or cannot be traced, a claim through the Motor Insurers' Bureau may be possible.
Falls from height, machinery accidents, incidents on construction sites and moving vehicle accidents at work regularly cause life-changing injuries. Employer liability insurers usually meet these claims.
Where medical care has fallen below the standard reasonably expected and caused avoidable harm, a clinical negligence claim may arise. These cases need evidence from independent medical experts on both the standard of care and the resulting injury.
Where a serious injury results from a crime of violence, an application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority may be possible. That is a separate route from a negligence claim, with its own rules, tariff and time limits.
There is no single legal definition, but in practice a serious injury claim is one where the consequences are substantial and long lasting. That commonly includes brain and spinal injuries, amputations, multiple or complex fractures, significant burns and scarring, and injuries that leave permanent impairment, require further surgery, or affect a person's ability to work or live independently.
Two things mainly. The first is the evidence: serious claims usually need evidence from several medical specialists rather than one, and often expert evidence on care, rehabilitation and future needs. The second is the scope of the losses: a serious claim has to consider future care, equipment, accommodation and lost earnings over a lifetime rather than focusing on the injury alone.
Often it can. Where liability is admitted or the insurers accept responsibility in principle, it is sometimes possible to obtain rehabilitation or treatment early, and sometimes an interim payment can be sought to fund it. Whether that is achievable depends on the attitude of the defendant and insurer in the individual case, and we will advise you honestly on the prospects.
An interim payment is a payment on account of compensation before the claim is finally settled. It can be used to fund treatment, rehabilitation, care, equipment or living costs while the claim continues. Interim payments are not available in every case, and in most cases an admission of liability or a court order is needed first, but where they can be obtained they make a real difference.
Serious injury claims generally take longer than straightforward ones, often a year or more, and sometimes several years where the full extent of the injury is not yet known. That is not delay for its own sake. Where the injury is still developing, settling early risks under-compensating for problems that emerge later, so the medical evidence needs time to mature.
A claim can still be brought. Where someone lacks the mental capacity to give instructions, a litigation friend is appointed to act on their behalf, and any settlement requires the approval of the court. The court also has power to appoint a deputy to manage any award. These protections exist to make sure the person's interests are properly looked after.
Yes, where the evidence supports it. Serious injury claims commonly include past and future care, rehabilitation and treatment costs, aids and equipment, and the cost of any necessary accommodation adaptations. Loss of earnings can be claimed for the past and also for the future where the injury affects the ability to work, including reduced earning capacity and, in some cases, pension loss.
Yes. Injury Law Specialists assists claimants throughout England and Wales, and we can work with clients remotely where that is easier for them, as well as meeting in person where appropriate. Where an injury makes travel difficult, appointments and enquiries are arranged around what is manageable for you and your family.
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 explain whether you may have grounds to claim, what evidence would be needed, and how the process would work in practice. The assessment is free and there is no obligation to proceed.
