Quick Guide On UK Accident Helpline

If you have been injured in an accident and you are thinking about making a claim, we have prepared a quick guide for you below.

Hopefully, this will answer your most important claims-related questions.

Date of Limitation

All personal injury claims in the United Kingdom have a Date of Limitation, otherwise known as the Date of Knowledge. This is the date your accident happened, or the date your injuries first became clear. In most cases, you only have three years from this date to bring your claim forward, after which your case will be time-barred or statute-barred under UK law.

‘No win, no fee’ agreements

‘No win, no fee’ agreements, otherwise known as conditional fee agreements, are client-solicitor agreements which set out terms for compensation and legal fees. Under such an agreement, the solicitor only gets paid if their case wins.

Furthermore, such agreements stipulate that in the event that a claim is unsuccessful, the claimant will have none of their own solicitor’s costs to pay. However, in the event that a claim fails, the claimant may be billed by the other side. Always clarify this with your UK accident helpline, to avoid any surprises further down the road.

Liability

Your level of liability determines the strength of your claim, and also how much compensation you can realistically expect. To be eligible for compensation, at the bare minimum you must have a level of diminished liability – or in other words, you cannot be wholly responsible for the accident in which you sustained your injuries.

The lesser your liability, the more you can claim. This is because if you were partly responsible, you may have to settle on what is known as a ‘split liability agreement’.

Evidence

To build a strong case on your behalf, your lawyers needs to collect evidence to support your claim. Evidence might include witness statements, video footage, pictures, emergency service reports or indeed anything that could substantiate your claim. As part of the claims process, you will also be interviewed by your lawyer, and you will have to attend a medical examination to establish their true extent of your injuries.

Compensation

The amount of compensation you may be awarded depends on the extent of your injuries, how your injuries have and will affect your life, and your level of liability. The worse your injuries are and the bigger the impact they have had and will have on you, the generally speaking the more financial compensation you can expect to be awarded for your troubles – you can also claim special damages, which is the compensation awarded for financial losses related to your injuries. Ask your law firm or lawyer about this to find out more.