General Advice for Winning Accident Claims
Specialist tips
In virtually all claims the person who wants compensation must prove someone else
is to blame for the injury. If you cannot prove the accident was somebody's else
fault you will not get compensation. The insurance company from whom you want compensation
will scrutinize very carefully your claim to see if your allegation of blame is
valid. If the accident was partially your fault and partially somebody's else fault
you will get part of the compensation. One of the first questions a lawyer will
ask is why do you think the other person or organisation is to blame for your injury.
Without blame by another person no matter how seriously injured you are you will
not get compensation. Lawyers can help to improve a valid claim and help find witnesses
to support it, what they cannot do is successfully bring a claim where there is
no claim. So ask yourself the question "Do I think the accident was somebody's
else fault".
If the answer is "yes" you may well have a claim, if the answer is "no"
you probably do not. Do not worry about the legal terms for why the other person
is to blame, because that is the lawyer's job. Do not worry yet about proving the
claim that is for you and the solicitor to deal with later
If after answering the question you think you may have a claim carry out the immediate
self-help steps set out below:
- Write down for your own use the facts of what happened so you can refer to it later
when questioned
- To make a claim for personal injury you must be able to prove you have suffered
an injury so get checked over by a doctor (if not too serious) or hospital (if serious)
- Get the names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses
- If you suffered a road traffic accident, a tripping accident or a work accident
see our additional pages for extra advice
- Keep receipts
- Don't try to deal with the claim yourself and do not accept an offer without checking
with a solicitor first
- Expect to have to fight for your compensation
- Contact a solicitor (almost all do not charge you so why waste the offer of free
expert advice)
What most other sites do not tell you
- You will be almost certainly claiming against an insurance company who are looking
for an excuse not to pay out and if they do have to pay will pay out as little as
possible so be prepared for a fight.
- Unless the claim is a simple road traffic accident, be prepared to be questioned
in detail about what happened and for everything you say to be checked. If your
lawyer is any good he/she will ask most of the searching questions when you originally
give instructions.
- You will have to attend for a medical examination
- You may have to go to court to prove your case
- Lawyers will only take on the cases they think they probably will win
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