Personal Injury Claims - A quick run-through

by Mark Hudson

Most of us have, unfortunately, been involved in accidents at some point of time in our lives; accidents at home, accidents while traveling, accidents while playing (for the younger ones amongst us), accidents at work, etc, and some of these accidents have even caused us injury. Now most of these accidents may have been 'accidental' but some of them also might have been caused due to negligence on part of another. The moment an accident has been caused due to negligence on part of an unknown party, it qualifies the victim to make a legal claim.

Fortunately for the victim, the eligibility to a legal claim provides much needed relief, but hang on; making a legal claim and having it accepted in the court of law is not an easy task. It is in fact a long drawn process which involves not just making the claim, but also, substantiating it with appropriate evidence against the accused party, which is then followed by going through a list of structured processes laid down by law to finally get to the compensation. The appropriate evidence could be a medical report, a photograph or a voice recording, an invoice or any such document depending on the case, for all you know it could even be an eyewitness! In some cases where none of this is possible one can even get a statement issued by the police stating the cause of the injury to the claimant.

The best thing to do if you have been a part of an accident caused by a third party is to notify the police and get yourself thoroughly checked for any external or internal damage and ensuring the safety of everyone involved in the accident. Having done so, one can then start with the process of collecting the evidence. Once one has collected the evidence one can file a claim. The court or authorities of the law then begin the process of verification of the authenticity of the claim. Invariably it is this process which delays the time taken for the dispensation of the compensation. The court decides upon the compensation by considering the evidence provided and the severity of the damage to the claimant. In case the severity of the damage to the claimant is yet to be determined, the claim compensation can get further delayed. Also since most claims can be seemingly unreal or extremely complex, it takes a while till they are processed, therefore it is best to seek the help of a claims solicitor to ensure efficient filing and quick processing of claims.

Many a times it becomes difficult for the courts to assess the extent of involvement of one party in the causing of damage to the other, in such cases the courts usually recommend both the parties to either mediate and come to a conclusion or to consider an out-of-court settlement. This is where once again one can not only ensure protection for the self from further losses, but also ensure speedy compensation disbursing by seeking help from a claims solicitor.

About the Author
Learn all about making a claim and also about personal injury claims at claims4negligence.co.uk