Road Traffic Accidents

Road Traffic Accidents

What type of accident can I claim for?

If you or a loved one has been involved in a road traffic accident that wasn’t your fault, you may be entitled to compensation. It is important that you contact our road traffic accident solicitors as soon as possible to ensure you get the correct compensation you deserve. There are a number of different types of road traffic accident claims you can make, including:

• Pedestrian Claims
• Cyclist Claims
• Motorcyclist Claims
• Children’s Claims
• Accidents before 31^st May 2021
• Claims for accidents on or after 31^st May 2021 made via the Official Injury Claims Service (OIC Service)

Free Initial Discussion

For a no-obligation discussion, call our specialist Personal Injury Solicitors on 01642 247656, email us at info@watsonwoodhouse.co.uk or use our contact form, and we will call you back.

What is an Official Injury Claim?

You may notice that there is a different category referred to above for accidents before 31^st May 2021 and accidents on or after 31^st May 2021. This is because there was a change in the law for road traffic accidents, which occur on or after 31^st May 2021. If you were involved in a road traffic accident on or after 31^st May 2021 and you suffered a whiplash injury, then your claim will be dealt with by the Official Claims Injury Service (often referred to as the OIC).

However, it is worth noting that the Official Claims Injury Scheme does not apply to the following ‘vulnerable road users’:

• Motorcyclist
• Cyclist
• Pedestrian
• A child under the age of 18
• Other injuries not including ‘whiplash’ injuries (for example, broken bones and lacerations)

We understand that changes in the law can appear confusing. Rest assured, our experienced and skilled personal injury team are on hand to talk you through your next steps. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation.

What type of injury can I claim for?

Here are just some examples of the types of injuries you can claim for:

• Soft tissue injuries
• Broken bones
• Damaged ligaments
• Dislocations
• Lacerations/ cuts and bruises
• Scarring
• Psychological injuries/ PTSD/ Anxiety and Depression etc.
• Head and facial injuries
• Dental and jaw injuries
• Eye injuries/ full or partial loss of sight
• Injuries requiring surgical intervention
• Burn and scald injuries
• Spinal injuries
• Brain injuries

How much compensation will I receive?

The aim of personal injury compensation is to provide financial support in an attempt to return you to the same situation you were in before the accident took place (as far as possible). Our skilled personal injury team can assist you by calculating how your accident has affected your life and valuing your claim. The amount of personal injury compensation you will receive is made up of two types of compensation; General Damages and Special Damages.

General Damages

An award for general damages is made to compensate you for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity you have suffered as a result of the accident or incident. You can be compensated for both any physical and psychological injury caused as a result of the accident or incident. The amount of compensation you can claim is dependent on a number of different factors:

• The nature and number of injuries or illnesses
• The severity of your injuries or illness
• Effects on your day-to-day life
• The length of your expected recovery
• If you have suffered a permanent injury
• Whether you have been recommended to undertake treatment to aid your recovery

If you are bringing a personal injury claim, you are known as a ‘Claimant’. As the Claimant, you must prove that you have suffered a personal injury claim. We can assist you in doing this by instructing a medical expert to provide a report on the injuries or illnesses you are suffering from. The expert will confirm whether the injuries are related to the accident or incident and will comment upon your expected recovery time and any recommendations for treatment.

Our skilled personal injury lawyers will assess the value of your claim for General Damages using their wealth of knowledge and experience and the ‘Judicial College Guidelines’ which reflect recent cases that have already been assessed by Judges through the Court process. The guidelines provide an extensive list of injuries with differing monetary values for differing severity of injuries. Your personal injury lawyer will refer to the appropriate guidelines, along with established case law when calculating the value of your general damages to ensure that we seek recovery of the appropriate level of compensation you deserve.

Can I claim for financial losses?

You may be able to claim for financial losses you have suffered as a result of a road traffic accident. Financial losses are often referred to as ‘Special Damages’.

There is a whole range of financial losses that you may have suffered as a result of the accident or incident that you may wish to include as part of your personal injury claim. However, it is important that you make a record of all financial losses that you wish to claim such as:

• Loss of earnings
• Prescription charges
• Rehabilitation treatment
• Future medical treatment
• Damage to your vehicle (often referred to as the pre-accident valuation)
• Damages belongings or clothing (for example bike, helmet, mobile phone and child car seat)
• Travelling expenses
• Cancelled event, or holiday loss
• Nursing care and assistance
• Loss of enjoyment, such as a ruined holiday or trip

There is a whole range of financial losses that you may have suffered as a result of the accident or incident that you may wish to include as part of your personal injury claim. To enable you to make a successful claim for financial losses, it is vitally important that you keep as much evidence as you can, including but not limited to:

• Wage slips/ contract of employment/ contract of business
• Receipts
• Bank statements
• Quotes for treatment
• Cost of repairs
• Cost of a replacement (you will also need to show that your belonging was damaged beyond repair)
• Engineering evidence

As a claimant, you have a duty to ‘mitigate your losses’. This means you must take reasonable action to minimise or reduce the losses you have suffered. Therefore, if you have been recommended treatment by a medical expert, we may be able to ask the Defendant’s representatives to arrange any recommended treatment to aid your recovery. If you fail to mitigate your losses, you may not be able to recover all of the losses you are claiming.

Speak with a member of our personal injury team further to learn more about how we can help you claim your financial losses.

How are Road Traffic Accident Claims funded?

We understand that you may be concerned about the cost of making a personal injury claim. There are a number of different ways in which a personal injury claim can be funded including (except from Official Injury Claims – see below):

• No win, no fee agreements
• Legal Expenses Insurance
• Trade Union Membership

No Win, No Fee

No win, no fee agreements (also known as conditional fee agreements) provide our clients with the peace of mind that they do not have to pay our fees should their claim be unsuccessful. This means that you will only pay for your legal fees if your claim is successful. Our deduction from your compensation for our success fee cannot exceed 25% (inclusive of VAT).

At Watson Woodhouse Solicitors, we offer no win, no fee funding agreements for most types of personal injury claims. If you would like us to assess the prospects of successfully making a personal injury claim and whether we can offer you a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement, please feel free to contact us to speak to one of our skilled personal injury lawyers at an initial consultation.

Legal Expenses Insurance

As part of your home or car insurance, you may have existing legal expenses insurance (LEI) sometimes known as ‘Before the Event Insurance’ (BTE) or ‘After the Event Insurance’ (ATE). This type of insurance may cover your legal costs and disbursements when making a claim.

If you have existing LEI, we can make enquiries with your BTE provider to determine if they would provide funding to cover your legal costs. If you do not have any existing LEI, you can apply for ATE insurance. There are a number of different providers of ATE cover available to you on the open market. You may need to enter into a no win, no fee agreement that is linked to a suitable insurance policy. We can discuss this with you should you wish to pursue a claim.

How is an Official Injury Claim (OIC)funded?

For injuries caused by a road traffic accident after 31^st May 2021, we may be able to assist subject to a Contingency Fee Agreement. This type of agreement is another type of ‘no win, no fee’ agreement which means our clients do not have to pay our fees should their claim be unsuccessful. This means that you will only pay for your legal fees if your claim is successful.

The Official Injury Claims service does not apply for accidents before 31^st May 2021 or accidents after 31^st May 2021 to ‘vulnerable road users’.

This might be tricky to work out. If you would like some advice about the type of road traffic accident claim you can make, contact us today to speak to an experienced road traffic accident solicitor.

What should I do if I have been involved in a ‘Road Traffic Accident?

We understand that being injured in a road traffic accident can be confusing and distressing and you may not be sure what to do. However, it is important that you gather as much information as you can at this stage as it can help strengthen your case. Where possible, we would recommend you take the following steps:

• If you or your passengers have been seriously injured call 999 and ask for an ambulance and the police to attend the scene.
• Take photographs of where the accident took place. When it is safe to do so take photographs of the accident scene. And, where possible you should take photographs of where all vehicles are located after the accident happened.
• If there were any hazards on the road which caused the injury, make sure you take photographs of the hazard.
• Did anyone witness the accident or incident? If so, collect their personal details. as we may wish to contact them to discuss the accident circumstances.
• Take photographs of your injuries.
• If you were driving your employer’s vehicle at the time of the accident, report the accident or incident and your injuries to your employer. Ensure that the accident or incident is recorded in your employer’s accident book.
• If you need medical assistance, keep a record of any treatment you receive.

We pride ourselves on the service that we offer our clients. Our dedicated lawyers specialise in representing those who have suffered injuries at work and offer you a free, no-obligation consultation. Contact us today to discuss your accident at work so we can answer any further questions you have.

Contact Us

Our specialist personal injury lawyers at Watson Woodhouse Solicitors are available for a free, no-obligation consultation so we can answer any further questions you have.

For more information about how Watson Woodhouse Solicitors can help you start a personal injury claim,  call our specialist Personal Injury Solicitors on 01642 247656, email us at info@watsonwoodhouse.co.uk or use our contact form, and we will call you back.