Personal injury compensation claims are increasingly popular around the UK as victims of negligence become aware of their rights to claim financial compensation for their suffering. Claims cover both physical and psychological injuries and can be applied to any level of suffering from short-term injuries to death. Due to this vast array of possible accidents, the term can be applied to almost any personal injury claim, including:
- a work injury such as work-related illnesses, trips and falls
- a psychological illness caused by stress at work
- an injury or suffering caused by a traffic accident
- an injury or suffering caused by faulty goods or services
- an injury caused by a trip or fall on a paving stone
- an injury or illness caused by errors in hospital treatment or or vaccinations
- a physical or psychological injury sustained by a victim during a crime
Can I Make a Compensation Claim?
No matter which of the above injuries you may have sustained, it is possible that you may be entitled to receive compensation. In order to make a compensation claim you will need to work with a personal injury solicitor to establish whether those in question had a duty of care over you at the time of the accident, and whether they breached this duty of care at the point in which you sustained an injury.
Once you have established that you are entitled to make a claim, you will then need to work with a personal injury solicitor to establish if you are still within your legal rights to pursue this claim. This time limit will be imposed based on the nature of your compensation claim, and many people suffering medical problems will have different time limits to those without.
What Types of Personal Injury Compensation Claim Are There?
There are two main types of personal injury compensation claim that can be pursued by those who have suffered injuries as a result of the negligence of another person. The main type of claim is general damages, which can be claimed as compensation for any pain suffered by victims following an accident that was not their fault. This can be used to cover any pain and suffering including psychological and physical pain. General damages can also be used to cover any loss of future earnings that may be experienced by those injured as a direct result of their injuries.
On the other hand, special damages are use to cover any financial loss that is incurred as a result of the injuries. This commonly includes any additional medical costs, any travel costs to and from medical facilities, any loss of property and any care costs that have been brought about by the injuries. If the legal system judges that those making a claim are partly to blame for the accident then it is still possible that they will receive part of the compensation they seek. However, it is likely that this total will be reduced when any blame is taken by those pursuing a claim.
