When making your personal injury claim, there is a certain procedure you need to follow. There are, for example, strict time limits to follow, and failing to keep to them may mean you lose your right to claim compensation for your injuries entirely. That’s why it’s so important to get specialist legal advice as soon as possible.

Choosing your Personal Injury Solicitor

The first thing to do when considering making a personal injury claim, is to instruct a specialist personal injury solicitor. Rest assured, our fully accredited team are personal injury specialists – that’s all they do. They really understand the claims process and will make sure your claim is handled properly

Investigating your injury claim

The first thing that your personal injury solicitor needs to do is to investigate your claim to make sure that you have proper grounds for compensation – and then to collect evidence to support your claim. This will involve gathering information such as incident reports, witness statements and any relevant medical evidence.

Contacting the defendant

If your personal injury solicitor thinks that you have a good case, they will then be able to contact the other side[known as the defendant]. This will usually involve contact with the defendant’s insurance company, too, notifying them of the claim and including any relevant information, such as the level of compensation we are proposing for your injuries.

The defendant’s reply

Once the defendant has received the initial letter of claim, they have up to 4 months to accept their liability – i.e. that they were responsible for your injuries. If they do accept liability, then it is likely that you will be able to settle following their response, as the only thing to be decided is the right level of compensation.

If the defendants dispute your claim, they will need to put together their own evidence to prove their case. This may include witness statements or their own medical evidence.

Settlement of your claim

Fortunately most injury claims settle without the need for a fully contested final hearing – not least because taking claims to contested hearing at court is expensive for both sides. This could mean that your case could be settled within 6-8 months of commencing proceedings – unfortunately cases usually take longer, even if they are finally settled.