Provisional figures published by the Department for Transport reveal that as many as 1,900 road users were killed in Britain last year. In total, 24,430 people were killed or seriously injured, while reported casualties of all types reached 204,350. Though these figures represent a slight fall in road accidents compared to the previous year, such incidents remain a common cause of injury in the UK, which is why many people seek compensation.
How to Claim
Insurance companies often attempt to take control of accident claims. Legal departments and accident-management firms might encourage the parties involved in an accident to deal with them directly and settlement figures may be offered at the earliest opportunity. Although this may seem ideal to the client who wants to move on with life after a car accident, negotiating terms with insurers is not usually ideal when it comes to receiving the maximum amount of compensation.
A better way to claim compensation is to discuss the particulars of a case with a specially trained personal-injury solicitor, who will be able to offer expert legal counsel with the aim of achieving the maximum amount of compensation for his client.
The process of claiming compensation in this manner is relatively simple. Accident victims are initially advised to seek medical treatment for their injuries as a matter of urgency. Obtaining evidence in the form of medical reports, photographs, x-rays and so on can also prove beneficial, but details of this kind can be collected at a later date if necessary. The important point to note is that just about all accident claims must be made within three years of the injury occurring (or from whenever the claimant realised an injury had been caused). In any case, it is always sensible to contact a personal-injury solicitor without delay.
Why a Personal Injury Solicitor?
Insurers and accident-management firms often attempt to take control of personal-injury claims. The involvement of a personal-injury solicitor is rarely welcome because insurance companies tend to negotiate settlements within a fixed range, whereas the personal-injury solicitor will very often fight for the maximum amount of compensation available in law (although most accident claims are settled out of court if the offers are sufficiently generous).
Personal-injury solicitors are also capable of arguing legal issues to extremely good effect, so cases in which liability could be described as 50:50 can often be directed in favour of the claimant. In contrast, claims advisers tend to follow established scripts and formulae to reach default settlement figures. The finer points of law are largely ignored by those who do not know the law as intimately as personal-injury solicitors, many of whom work on a no win no fee basis.
Conditional Fee
Known as the conditional fee agreement, a no win no fee legal service ensures that the client is not required to pay anything towards the cost of a claim unless a settlement is reached. This greatly reduces the financial risk of claiming compensation for those who have been injured in car accidents, but it does mean – unless proposed changes to the law are implemented – that solicitors take a slice of the damages as payment. Of course, paying for professional legal representation in this manner is good for the client, who can still expect to enjoy a much larger compensation package than if he had accepted the insurer’s initial settlement offer.