If you have been injured in an accident, then your mind may turn to what redress you can get. The good news is that you may be entitled to personal injury compensation. If you make a claim for money in compensation, this claim is particularly likely to succeed if you were injured due to the negligence of a third party, i.e. if your injuries were not your fault. For example, if a drunk driver crashes their car into yours when you are driving perfectly safely and you are injured as a result, then you have been injured by a third party through no fault of your own. As well as road traffic accidents, other common types of injury claim typically involve work accidents and general slips and trips. Making an accident claim in the UK is actually relatively easy when you know how to do it. So, below you will find a handy guide to how accident claims work.
How to make an accident claim
There are two key ways in which you can make accident claims. Firstly, you can use your insurance policy to make a claim. When it comes to road accidents that occur when you are driving in a car, this is simple: all drivers are required by law to have insurance and you can claim for compensation through your insurance company by filling out a simple form. If you have already taken out accident or injury insurance for yourself, or if you are insured by your employer in your workplace, then you can also make a claim via your insurance policy. Cyclists who are in a road accident can still make an accident claim, even if they were not insured – we will now take a look at such cases below.
If you are not insured, or if for some reason your insurance policy does not satisfactorily cover your accident, then you can make a claim yourself or via a solicitor. Such claims are usually settled out of court and simply involve gathering together the relevant evidence regarding the circumstances of the accident and the injuries you suffered. It is especially important to provide, or ensure that your solicitor provides, evidence that your injuries were caused due to the negligence of a third party. Moreover, if you were injured at work due to your employer’s negligence (for instance if they did not provide you with adequate safety equipment) and your employer did not provide you with correct insurance then that in itself could be cause for a further claim against them.
What factors do these claims depend on?
The amount of compensation that you are entitled to will depend on several different factors. There are two key factors to bear in mind here. Firstly, the severity of your injuries are important: the more severe your injuries are, the more compensation that you can typically claim for. In addition, if your injuries have caused you to take time off work and you have lost earnings as a result, you can also claim for loss of earnings. Secondly, the extent to which the third party was negligent is also a factor. If your employer was extremely negligent at work (for example if, despite repeated warnings, they failed to provide you with the proper safety equipment) then this will also stand in your favour when it comes to making a claim against them as their actions may be deemed to be more severe.
