We handle all types of compensation claims including loss caused by road traffic accidents, work and slip/trip accidents, medical matters, and accidents to children. Serious injuries can change your life forever and can be devastating to all involved. We understand this is hard to deal with, especially if the accident was not your fault.
Most claims have a time limit so it is important you talk to us as soon as you can and whilst the events are still clear in your mind. If you cannot get to our office, we can visit you in hospital or at home. Evening visits can be arranged.
Those who have suffered injury due no fault of their own that are often unsure whether to pursue a personal injury claim. Obtaining compensation from a personal injury claim will not turn back time and undo the accident or injury but it may ensure that you are financially supported.
A serious injury may dramatically affect your life, your lifestyle may change and assistance may be required. Such changes include not being able to return to work or having to seek alternative employment. Physiotherapy or surgery may be required along with adjustments to your car or home. You may also require someone to provide you with personal care. All of these changes can be extremely expensive and a successful personal injury claim can provide you with money to cover any losses and any future expenses.
CAN YOU MAKE A CLAIM FOR PERSONAL INJURY?
Talk to us, we will confirm to you whether we think you have a valid claim, if the claim appears to be valid the next step will be to confirm another person or organisation was at fault for the accident that caused your serious injury.
If there is a dispute over who is to blame, we spend time gathering evidence from witnesses and from the site of the accident. If required, we will instruct specialists to verify the cause of the accident.
There are various different circumstances in which an injury can occur that would give rise to a claim for personal injury, these include, but are not limited to:
- Work related accidents
- Slip and trip accidents
- Industrial disease claims
- Accidents at school
- Criminal injury
- Leisure injuries
- Claims for dependants
- Personal injury claims for children
- Sports related injuries
Employers have a legal duty to protect the health and safety of their staff. They have to take all reasonable steps to ensure employees do not suffer injury.
They must for example, adhere to regulations and provide their employees with suitable training and provide any protective equipment if necessary.
Many injuries occur in a workplace, these can be due to ‘dangerous’ working environments or even due to inadequate safety precautions being taken in an office environment.
If you are injured at work due to your employer’s negligence, you are legally entitled to make a compensation claim.
Many people are seriously injured due to a slip and trip accident, at work, on a street, in a public or private buildings, supermarkets and so forth.
The main causes of these slip and trip accidents are:
- Cables and wires laying on the floor
- Potholes or damaged roads or pavements
- Faulty utility grids
- Bad lighting
- Uneven floors
- Wet floors
If you were injured as a result of a negligent road user, you should seek compensation for your injuries.
There are various type of claims that result from road traffic accidents and can include, bicycle accidents, car crashes, pedestrian accidents, bus accidents and also uninsured accidents or hit and run accidents. We can assist you in relation all types of road traffic accident claims.
We also take on all areas of sports related personal injury claims; Matthew Douglas is a solicitor and Olympic 400m hurdles athlete experienced in dealing with all personal injury claims including sports injuries and loss of income arising from them.
There are strict time limits in bringing a claim for personal injury in England and Wales, this is three years from the date of the accident. There are certain circumstances when this can be extended beyond the three years, including where the accident involved a minor under the age of 18. You should therefore not delay in bringing your claim as this may affect your ability to claim damages. A quick phone call or email to our office will enable us to determine whether you are still within the time limits for bringing the claim.
The time it will take from our initial instruction through to conclusion of your claim will largely depend on how serious your injuries are and whether or not the other party admits responsibility for them.
If, for example the other party immediately admits liability and your injuries are relatively minor then the whole claim could be settled in just a few months.
If, however, you have experienced more serious injury, your claim will take longer as more medical evidence will be required in order for your compensation amount to be agreed. It is also important to let your injuries stabilise before completing a claim, so the full extent of their impact can be established.
More time will be required if the other party does not admit liability for the accident. In these cases, it can take years for a claim to reach a conclusion.
At Jennings Solicitors, we are aware that for most people the worry about the costs of instructing a solicitor is a prohibitive factor. The reality is that it should not be. If we think that you have a claim that is worth pursuing, we will offer you a “No Win, No Fee” agreement where we will guarantee that you keep 100% of your damages with no upfront or hidden costs to pay. We can also advise you clearly and impartially on whether there are any other options to fund your claim without any costs to you.
A “No Win, No Fee” agreement, also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement, is an agreement between you and us as your solicitor that you will not have to pay our fee unless we are successful in winning your claim. In the event that we are successful, in winning your claim the other party will be responsible for your fee and we shall claim back those fees on your behalf. This is to give you the security and peace of mind when making a personal injury claim that you will not be responsible for any of our costs.
We will discuss this funding option with you in detail at the initial meeting and provide you with all of the relevant documentation in order that you can make an informed decision prior to signing or agreeing to anything.
The whiplash reforms contained in the Civil Liability Act 2018, announced by the Government as long ago as November 2015, will at last be implemented with effect from 31 May 2021.
The effect that these reforms had was to increase the small claims limit for these claims from £1,000 to £5,000 in relation to whiplash injuries.
A whiplash injury is defined as:
"an injury of soft tissue in the neck, back or shoulder that is… a sprain, strain, tear, rupture or lesser damage of a muscle, tendon or ligament in the neck, back or shoulder, or an injury of soft tissue associated with a muscle, tendon or ligament in the neck, back or shoulder."
What this means for people pursuing a claim for a whiplash injury due to a road traffic accident is that if the value of your claim will not exceed £5,000 for the injury itself you cannot claim your legal costs. We are, therefore unable to assist with these claims unless there are alternative-funding options, other than a conditional fee agreement is agreed upon. There is, however, a new claims portal for anyone suffering from minor whiplash injury to be able to pursue a claim themselves without incurring legal fees. More information can be found at:
https://www.officialinjuryclaim.org.uk
There are some other exceptions to the new £5,000 limit; these are all categories of cases excluded from the new OIC Portal:
- Whiplash claims for children and others who lack legal capacity.
- Claims involving “vulnerable road users” which are motor cyclists and pillion/sidecar passengers, cyclists, pedestrians, horse riders and those in mobility scooters.
- Claims where the claimant is an undischarged bankrupt or personal representative of a deceased person;
- Claims against the personal representatives of deceased persons or drivers of foreign registered vehicles.
The reality is that if you are suffering from a whiplash injury you will be unsure as to the value of your claim and will not, therefore, be able to establish if you should instruct a solicitor or pursue a claim on the OIC Portal. If you contact us we are happy to have an initial no obligation telephone meeting, we can discuss the circumstances surrounding your accident and discuss your injuries and then advise whether we are able to take on your claim, if we are not able to then you can pursue the claim via the OIC Portal.
