Personal Injury Claims – FAQ

How much is my personal injury claim worth? 

During the early stages of making a personal injury claim, it can be difficult to answer the worth of the presented claim. We don’t deal with personal injury claims on a Conditional Fee Agreement (a “No Win, No Fee Agreement”) unless they are worth over £1,500 due to the small claims limit being £1,500. In Road Traffic whiplash injury claims, the amount is £5000. Anything under this limit means that parties usually each pay their own legal costs for bringing personal injury claims. We are only able to advise you on the value of your claim once a medical report has been obtained from an independent medical professional at later stages of the claim.  

How long will my personal injury claim take? 

We are unfortunately unable to provide a set time for finalising personal injury claims, it can vary up to several years.  Some aspects of the claim, for example giving the defendant time to respond, cannot be sped up. The duration of the claim will often depend on the duration of your injury recovery. We recommend you wait until your injuries have resolved before settling the claim so that we can ensure you get the correct level of compensation. We always say that claims take at least 6-12 months, but it could be longer if we need to issue court proceedings and take the claim to court. 

How long do I have to make a personal injury claim? 

Most personal injury claims have a three-year time limit to present a claim. This is usually from the date of the accident but can sometimes be from the ‘date of knowledge’, particularly in cases of industrial disease, such as COPD and deafness. For personal injury claims for children, the three-year time period does not start to run until the child reaches the age of 18. Claims to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority have a two-year time limit to present a claim. This works the same for personal injury claims where the accident occurred over international sea’s or air. Please give us a call if you are unsure about the time limit for presenting your personal injury claim. 

What happens if I’ve already instructed a solicitor? 

If you’ve already instructed a solicitor to deal with your claim and you’re not happy with them, we may be able to assist. We would need to obtain your file of papers from your existing firm to see what the position is. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this further. 

We can help you with any of the following personal injury Claims: