This information applies to England.

 

What is a personal injury?

A personal injury can be:

• A physical injury, disease or illness, or
• A psychological injury or illness.

A personal injury could result in death.

 

Examples of personal injuries are:

• An injury at work. This includes work-related illnesses such as a disease caused by working with asbestos
  
• A psychological illness caused by stress at work
  
• An injury caused in a traffic accident
  
• An injury received as a result of faulty goods or services
  
• An injury caused if you trip over paving stones
  
• A psychological illness suffered as a result of abuse as a child
  
• An injury caused by errors in hospital treatment or by vaccinations
  
• An physical or psychological injury sustained by a victim in the course of a crime
  
• A psychological illness caused by discrimination or harassment in your work-place.

If you have suffered a personal injury, or if you are acting on behalf of someone who has died because of a personal injury, you may want to consider the following:

• Do you want to make a complaint to the person or organisation you believe was responsible for the injuries (see under heading Making a complaint)
  
• Do you want to make a claim for compensation to cover losses you have suffered as a result of the injury (see under heading Compensation)
  
• Are there any immediate financial problems arising because of the injury, for example, you are unable to work

 

Action to be taken

Whatever you are intending to do about your personal injury, actions you could take include:-

• Inform the police if, for example, the injury resulted from a road accident

• If the injury was caused by the police, you will need to consult an experienced adviser.

• If the injury resulted from a road accident, report it to your insurance company. The insurance policy may be invalid if an accident is not reported

• If the injury resulted from an accident at work, you should notify your employer and the accident must be recorded in the accident book. Your employer has a legal responsibility to report the accident to the Health and Safety Executive or the local authority environmental department and can be prosecuted if they fail to do so

• Report the injury to your doctor because it could become more serious. You should do this even if the injury seems minor. If you subsequently go to court to get compensation for the injury, the doctor will be asked to provide a medical report

• Gather evidence about the accident and injuries. For example, it may be useful to take photographs of the scene of an accident and of what caused the injury. You should also, if possible, write an account of the incident while details are still fresh in your mind. If there are witnesses, you should make a note of their names and addresses.

Making a complaint

If you have had an accident or suffered an injury you might be able to get an explanation of what went wrong and to receive an apology. In some cases, there may be an official complaints procedure you can use.

One disadvantage of using complaints procedures is that they are often time consuming and the final result will be no more than an apology. If you have suffered a personal injury and you also want compensation, you should be aware that there are time limits for taking legal action (see under heading Taking legal action) and going through a complaints procedure may delay matters.

If you decide that making a complaint will provide a sufficient remedy, here are some examples of the organisations you can complain to:

• A government department

• A local authority

• Your employer

• The police

• Your school or other educational institution

• Your hospital or other National Health Service institution.

Compensation

 

There are several ways of getting compensation for a personal injury:

• Using a claims assessor (see under heading Claims assessors)

• Taking legal action in a civil court (see under heading Taking legal action)

• Making a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

• Through a criminal compensation

• Special Government compensation schemes for some injuries and losses such as vaccine damage or asbestos-related disease

 

Amount of compensation

 

If you have sustained a personal injury you may be able to claim two types of compensation, general damages and special damages.

General damages are paid as compensation for an injury, for example, a payment for pain and suffering or loss of future earnings. The court will decide on the amount to be paid.

Special damages are paid as compensation for actual financial loss caused by the accident up to the date of the hearing. These can include damage to clothing or other belongings, the costs of care, travel costs to hospital, medical expenses (including the cost of private treatment) and the cost of hiring and/or repairing a car if it has been damaged in the accident.

If a court decides that you were partly to blame for the accident, it may reduce the amount of damages you receive. An example of this would be if you were not wearing a seat belt when you were involved in a traffic accident.

 

 

Deduction of social security benefits from compensation

 

If you have been receiving certain social security benefits because of an accident in which you sustained a personal injury, you may have to pay these back out of any compensation you get.

Claims assessors

If you have sustained a personal injury you may be considering using the services of a claims assessor (sometimes known as a claims manager). Claims assessors offer to take up cases on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis but there may be some disadvantages, including:-

• A claims assessor will not usually be a solicitor and may not have a solicitor taking responsibility for the case. If this is so, the assessor will not be able to claim compensation through the courts and if you have suffered the injury you may receive less compensation
• The claims assessor may ask you to pay a percentage of whatever compensation you receive to the assessor. You should be aware that while paying 50% of £1,000 damages may be acceptable to you, paying 50% of £10,000 may not.

All claims assessors must be authorised by the government to carry out business. They must stick to a strict set of rules which cover how they advertise, take on business, deal with and represent clients.

Taking legal action

If you want to take legal action to claim compensation for a personal injury you will need to get advice from a solicitor specialising in these types of cases. This must be done as soon as possible as there are strict time limits on taking legal action (see below).

 

 

Time limits

 

There are different time limits within which you must begin legal action in a personal injury claim. You should therefore get legal advice urgently if you wish to claim compensation.

The most common claim in a personal injury case is negligence and the time limit for this is three years. This means that court proceedings must be issued within three years of you first being aware that you have suffered an injury.

In some cases, a court may decide to extend a time limit, depending on the circumstances of the case.

If you are considering taking legal action and have not yet been to a solicitor you will need to be aware of the time limits for taking action and should seek help from an experienced adviser.

 

 

Paying for legal action

 

Legal action for compensation for a personal injury can be expensive. You may be able to get help with legal costs from, for example:-

• A solicitor or organisation providing legal aid

• A conditional fee agreement (see below)

• A trade union or other membership organisation such as the AA or RAC

• An insurance policy. Many house contents policies, car insurance or travel insurance policies have legal expenses cover attached.

 

Conditional fee agreement

 

A conditional fee agreement means that your solicitor will receive no fees if you lose your case. You may, however, have to pay the legal fees and expenses of the other side. Your solicitor will normally ask you to take out insurance to cover this situation. If you win your case, your solicitor's fees and expenses will normally be paid by the other side.