The exact route personal injury claims take – from the outset to final settlement – vary depending on the specific circumstances of the claim and the type of injury and losses sustained.  There are, however, some basic points to understand about making road traffic accident claims.

Choosing the right solicitor

Following your accident, you will normally be directed to a solicitor by your insurance company.  Did you know that you are not obliged to use them and are free to choose any solicitor without penalty?

It is important to research the solicitor you instruct to ensure:

• you are using the most experienced lawyers, with the ability to bring your claim to a successful conclusion
• you achieve the best level road traffic accident compensation to provide for your immediate and future needs
• their level of service meets your particular requirements

Liability

Once funding for your claim has been arranged, we investigate how your injuries happened, and who can be held liable for road traffic accident compensation.  In some cases this may be a very quick and simple task, but in others can take some time.  There may be a lot of information required, investigations to be made and evidence to obtain before a final assessment can be made, and even then the opponent may still dispute the case.  In some instances it may be necessary to proceed to a court hearing to get a judge's ruling on the question of liability.

In cases where liability is disputed you may be asked to provide detailed evidence on how the accident occurred, where it occurred, who/what else was involved, and whether there were any witnesses.  You should forward all of the information you have to your lawyer as quickly as possible, and the more information you can retain about this the better.

Financial losses

Many people automatically think about the amount awarded for personal injury when discussing the value of a claim, but the financial losses can often be significant.  These include 'property damage' items such as the damage to a car or motorbike, personal clothing or accessories (helmet and leathers in a motorcycle claim, for example) and replacement vehicle costs.

There are also a number of different financial losses in road traffic accident claims which are linked to the injuries sustained, including:

• medical treatment and assessment fees, including consultants' fees, x-rays, MRI scans, as well as costs for treatment such as physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathic treatment.  This could include the cost of surgery in more severe cases
• travelling and parking expenses when attending appointments
• medication costs – these can include 'over the counter' medication and  prescription charges
• loss of earnings if there has been time off of work
• care and assistance – if you've paid for someone to carry out domestic chores, gardening or shopping because you've been unable to do these for yourself, you may be able to recover the cost.  If friends and family have done these things for free, a claim may still be possible.

The key in all of this is to ensure you are completely open with your solicitor about the way in which you have been affected by the injury sustained, so they can highlight areas of investigation and make appropriate enquiries.

In more serious cases it may be that you will continue to suffer financial loss on an ongoing basis. For example, if as a result of your injury you were only able to work part-time for the foreseeable future.  In these cases it is possible to project the claim forward to calculate future losses, and include those in your settlement.

Personal injury resulting from road traffic accidents

As well as financial losses you may be entitled to compensation for the injuries you've sustained.  The assessment of damages in a claim is based on a wide range of factors, including:

• type of injury
• whether multiple injuries have been sustained
• severity of the injury
• duration of the injury
• extent to which the injury has affected your day-to-day life
• extent to which the injury may have affected your leisure pursuits and  pastimes
• extent to which the injury may affect your long-term position in the labour market
• level of treatment required
• whether you have a relevant pre-existing medical history (i.e. whether you have suffered previous problems in the area affected by the accident)

When assessing the value of road traffic accident claims we consider medical experts' findings and clients' instructions on as many of the above factors that apply.  Each element of a claim can then be weighed up and a valuation produced.

One important factor is that our advice must reflect the level of road traffic accident compensation we feel you might be awarded if the matter were assessed by a judge in court.  We cannot advise you on what we feel you 'deserve', but instead we must give objective advice on what we feel you would receive if a judge were to decide your case.

Unfortunately, it is sometimes true that claimants do not feel the level of damages awarded under English law is particularly fair or reasonable, but this is beyond our control.  We must simply focus on recovering for you the maximum we can within the current legal framework.

How are damages assessed?

As we have already said, medical experts' evidence is carefully considered alongside your own.  We then look to compare your case with previously decided cases heard at court and then published or put online.  These are called precedents.  By comparing your case to similar cases we can provide you with a reasonably accurate assessment of what you could recover were your case to be heard by a judge.

And we may refer to the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines, which are guidelines used by the courts.  These give broad brackets for specific types of injury and can be useful as a starting point for valuing claims.

Once all of the issues have been considered we will normally provide you with a bracket of awards for your claim, and of course, seek to obtain a settlement for you at the highest figure possible.

Negotiation and settlement of road traffic accident claims

Once the issue of liability has been resolved, and the necessary evidence proving your claim has been obtained, we will look to negotiate settlement of your claim.  We will seek your instructions at every stage to make sure you are fully aware of what is happening, and we will advise you as early as possible about the likely value of your claim.

We try to do most of our negotiation with the other party over the telephone, and our experience and expertise in personal injury claims means we are very good adept at securing the best possible awards.  Where necessary we will make formal written offers and, if agreement cannot be reached, it may be necessary to issue court proceedings to try and force further increases in the offers being made.  In some cases it may be necessary to take the matter to a final hearing for a judge to assess the value of a claim. In those instances we will prepare the case so that you have the best possible chance of achieving the maximum award.

Once settlement is agreed, payment will normally be made by cheque.  This will be payable to you and forwarded to you as soon as we receive it.

General points to consider

Our goal at Access Legal from Shoosmiths is always to recover the maximum road traffic accident compensation for you, whether through negotiation or issuing court proceedings.  We will look at all aspects of your claim and do everything possible to ensure that every item and issue arising from your claim is considered and included in the settlement.

As you will have seen, it is essential that we have clear and detailed instructions from you on a number of issues, as this will help us identify the potential losses that need to be investigated.  The sooner we are able to start those investigations, the better.  So it is important that you notify us of any issues/losses you believe are linked to your incident/injury at an early stage.

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