Personal Injury Lawyers

Last updated on: January 30, 2024

A personal injury claim means taking legal action if you have been injured or harmed from an accident that was a third party’s fault. A personal injury claim can be made following a road traffic accident, a public place accident, or an accident at work.

If a personal injury claim is successful, compensation could be awarded for the different impacts of the injury/illness that the accident has caused you to suffer. Compensation will cover suffering caused by physical injury or illness, psychiatric harm, and financial loss, such as lost wages. 

Making a personal injury claim can seem like a daunting process, especially if you have no legal background knowledge. However, our advisors are on hand to help as much as they can.

If our advisors connect you to our panel of personal injury lawyers, you could make a No Win No Fee personal injury claim. In simple terms, No Win No Fee agreements mean that there are no fees to be paid unless your case wins. We explain how these types of agreements work in more detail towards the end of this page.

Continue reading to see when you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim. You can also discover how our panel of personal injury solicitors can specifically help you throughout the claims process.

Contact our team now for free, impartial, and confidential advice. 

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Select A Section

  1. When Can You Make A Personal Injury Claim?
  2. How Can Personal Injury Lawyers Help You Claim?
  3. Personal Injury Lawyers For Road Traffic Accidents
  4. Personal Injury Lawyers For Accidents In A Public Place
  5. Personal Injury Lawyers For Accidents At Work
  6. How Is A Personal Injury Claim Valued?
  7. What Is The Time Limit For A Personal Injury Claim?
  8. What Are The Benefits Of Using No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers?
  9. More Resources About Personal Injury Claims

When Can You Make A Personal Injury Claim?

You may be eligible to begin a personal injury claim if you can prove that you suffered third-party negligence.

Certain third parties owe you a duty of care depending on whether you are on the road, at work, or in a public space. If they breach their duty of care, and you are injured in an accident due to this, then this is third-party negligence.

Thus, here are the criteria that need to be met to prove third-party negligence:

  1. A third party owed you a duty of care.
  2. The third-party, with their actions/inactions, breached their duty of care.
  3. As a result of this breach, you were injured.

Our team is available 24/7 to be contacted for free if you think you have an eligible personal injury claim. They can assess your case on an obligation-free basis. 

Male judge in a courtroom on wooden table and Counsellor or Male lawyer working in office.

How Can Personal Injury Lawyers Help You Claim?

If our team confirms that your personal injury case is eligible, they can pass you on to our panel of personal injury lawyers.

Whilst it is not a legal requirement to have representation to claim compensation, there are many advantages that you could benefit from if represented by a personal injury lawyer.

Our panel of personal injury lawyers can:

  • Collect evidence, such as medical evidence, to build the case on your behalf.
  • Interview potential witnesses.
  • Provide you with an estimate of potential compensation.
  • Send important legal claims correspondence on your behalf.
  • Keep you updated on your claim.
  • Ensure court proceedings are issued on time. 

For more information on what personal injury lawyers can potentially do for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for a free initial consultation. The following sections now explain in more detail what specific duty of care is owed to you in certain circumstances.

Personal Injury Lawyers For Road Traffic Accidents

All road users owe a duty of care to one another when on the roads to use the roads in a lawful and safe way and, thus, not put themselves or anyone else at risk of injury. The Highway Code and Road Traffic Act 1988 must be followed to fulfil this duty of care. 

Here are a couple of examples of how a road traffic accident could occur due to a road user breaching their duty of care:

  • A van driver is exceeding the speed limit on a road. This results in them not being able to brake in time and causes a rear-end collision with the car in front of them waiting at the traffic lights. Being rear-ended could cause a spinal cord injury, for example.
  • A pedestrian is halfway on a zebra crossing. However, a car driver fails to stop at the crossing, running the pedestrian over. Being run over by a car could cause fractures and bone breaks, or a serious injury such as paralysis or brain damage, for example.
  • On the road, a lorry driver fails to see a cyclist as they are looking at their phone. Therefore, the HGV collides with the bike, causing serious injuries to the cyclist, such as chest and lung injuries.

If you have been injured in a road traffic accident and another road user is liable, contact us.

A car that is half on the pavement and half on the road in front of a zebra crossing, with broken glass and a broken bumper. There is a leg in framed from a person lying on the floor with their shoe off.

Personal Injury Lawyers For Accidents In A Public Place

All occupiers (anyone who has control) of a public space owe a duty of care to every member of the general public using their space and facilities as it’s designed for. The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 outlines this duty of care.

To comply with their duty of care, occupiers must take steps to ensure the public’s reasonable safety and minimise the risk of someone getting injured in their space.

Some steps that are expected to be taken by occupiers include conducting regular risk assessments, maintenance checks and responding to reported hazards as soon as is reasonably possible.

Here are a couple of examples of how a public place accident could occur due to an occupier breaching their duty of care:

  • A faulty handrail in a library causes a public member to fall down the stairs when they grab the handrail. The occupier was aware that the handrail was broken but had not fixed it.
  • There is a spillage in a supermarket aisle. Although the spillage is reported by shoppers, there are no wet floor signs displayed, leading to a slip and fall accident. Slip, trip and fall accidents can lead to a number of injuries, such as a dislocated shoulder or hip.
  • A child is on a defective swing in a public park. The broken swing had been reported many times but never repaired. When the swing breaks, the child falls. This can lead to neck injuries, for example.

If you have been injured in a public place accident and the occupier of that place is liable, contact us.

A wet floor sign at the top of some stairs.

Personal Injury Lawyers For Accidents At Work

All employers owe a duty of care to their employees while they are working. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 establishes this.

To comply with their duty of care, employers must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety, welfare and health of employees.

Some reasonable steps that are expected to be taken by employers include training staff on how to do their jobs safely, providing the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), and conducting regular risk assessments and maintenance checks.

Here are a couple of examples of how an accident at work could occur due to an employer breaching their duty of care.

  • An employer gives an employee on a construction site a faulty ladder to use. The employer had not checked if any equipment was defective in a long time. Because the ladder was broken, the employee fell from the top of the ladder. Falling from a height could lead to a fatal injury.
  • In a factory warehouse, an employer does not provide an employee with safety goggles. They are working in a hazardous environment where employees are exposed to flying particles. From this, the employee suffers eye injuries.
  • An employee is asked by their employer to use a forklift truck. However, the employee has never been trained on how to use a forklift. So, when they are operating it, they do not know how to brake. Meaning they accidentally run over the foot of another employee. This kind of accident could necessitate amputation.

If you have been injured in a workplace accident and the employer is liable, contact us.

A construction with a hi-vis jacket and his helmet on the floor lying on his back next to a fallen ladder, with blood beneath his head.

How Is A Personal Injury Claim Valued?

A personal injury settlement awarded after a successful claim can potentially consist of two heads of loss.

The primary head of loss is called general damages. The compensation awarded under this head compensates for the physical and psychiatric impacts you have suffered due to your accident. When personal injury compensation is being calculated, these are some of the injury’s impacts that are looked at:

  • If your quality of life has changed.
  • The pain severity.
  • What treatment you need and how long the recovery time is.

Personal injury lawyers can use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) alongside an independent medical assessment to help them calculate your general damages value. The JCG contains guideline compensation figures for all types of injury and illness at different severities. 

The secondary head of loss is called special damages. You are compensated for the past and future financial costs and losses due to your injury under this head of loss. When personal injury compensation is being calculated, these are some of the financial impacts from the injury that are looked at:

  • Loss of earnings.
  • Medical expenses.
  • Travel costs.

Unlike general damages, the special damages head of claim is not guaranteed to be awarded for every successful personal injury claim. It is, therefore, recommended that you provide evidence of your injury’s expenses, such as receipts, payslips, and invoices.

Contact our team to learn more information about how personal injury lawyers calculate compensation.

What Is The Time Limit For A Personal Injury Claim?

The typical time limit to initiate a personal injury claim within the courts, as set in the Limitation Act 1980, is 3 years. Generally, these 3 years start from the date of the accident.

There are only a couple of circumstances that would warrant the time limit to be paused. These circumstances are:

  • If the claimant is under 18 years of age when they are injured.
  • If the claimant lacks the mental capacity to make a claim.

For these claimants, a litigation friend may be appointed to make the claim on the injured party’s behalf. The time limit will remain paused until:

  • The claimant turns 18.
  • The claimant regains the mental capacity to make a claim.

When the time limit is no longer paused, if no claim has been pursued by a litigation friend, the claimant then has 3 years to initiate legal proceedings. 

If you are wishing to make a personal injury compensation claim, get in touch with our team. They can confirm whether you are within the personal injury claim limitation period. For more information on time limits and personal injury cases, call our advisors for free advice.

An hourglass timer on a brown piece of wood.

How Long Does Claiming Personal Injury Compensation Take?

There is no set time for how long the process of claiming personal injury compensation can take.

However, the length of the process can differ based on different aspects. Such as:

  • Whether the defendant admits liability.
  • If your case has to go to court (although this is usually unlikely).
  • How quickly the defendant’s team responds to legal correspondence.
  • If there are multiple parties involved in the case.
  • If there’s an ongoing investigation where you are waiting for evidence from that.
  • How serious your injuries are and whether you are recovering from a serious condition.

Our panel of personal injury lawyers can make the personal injury compensation claims process run as smoothly as possible for you without undue delays. Contact us today for a chance to be connected to our panel.

What Are The Benefits Of Using No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers?

The benefits of using No Win No Fee personal injury solicitors are huge. The particular No Win No Fee agreement that our panel of personal injury solicitors offers is called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

When personal injury solicitors take your claim under a CFA, you will not have to pay them for their services unless your claim is successful. This includes before and throughout the process of the claim, and if your claim is unsuccessful.

Instead, successful personal injury claims have a success fee taken from the compensation. Success fees are a legally capped percentage to ensure that the claimant is always given the majority of their award.

No Win No Fee red sign

Contact Us

Find out whether you can be passed onto our panel of specialist personal injury lawyers by getting in touch. They can review the grounds of your personal injury compensation claim for free. Contact our team now for free, impartial, and confidential advice. 

More Resources About Personal Injury Claims

Here are some links to external useful information from relevant sources that you may find helpful:

External links:

  • Gov.UK – find out how to receive Statutory Sick Pay for any time you have had off work due to your injury.
  • Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – information and services about health and safety at work.
  • NHS – know when to call 999 after being injured.