By Danielle Nicholson. Last Updated 27th June 2023.
How To Claim Compensation For Personal Injury
You might be able to claim personal injury compensation if you can prove your injury was caused by a relevant third party breaching their duty of care. There are various day-to-day situations where you are owed a duty of care. These include:
- At work – Your employer’s duty of care is set out under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). It states that your employer must take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees while they are at work and working.
- In public places – Under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, any organisation in control of a public space must take steps to ensure your reasonable safety while you are using that space. This is their duty of care.
- On the roads – Under the Road Traffic Act 1988, road users must navigate the roads in a way that prevents injury and damage to themselves and others. This is their duty of care. As part of their duty, road users are also expected to follow the relevant rules and regulations found in the Highway Code.
In addition to meeting the eligibility criteria, all personal injury claims must be started within the time limit, as set out in the Limitation Act 1980. Typically, this is three years from the date of the incident. However, there are some exceptions to this limitation period.
Please call our advisors if you would like to know more about the time limit exceptions for personal injury claims or anything else about how to claim compensation.
How To Calculate Compensation In A Personal Injury Claim
Compensation settlements for successful personal injury claims may consist of two heads of claim: general and special damages.
General damages compensate you for the physical pain and mental suffering caused by your injuries. To help assign value to your claim, legal professionals can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) for guidance. This is a document that provides a list of guideline compensation brackets for different kinds of injuries.
In addition to general damages, your personal injury compensation may also consist of special damages. This head of claim compensates you for the financial losses and expenses incurred as a result of your injuries.
Examples of losses you could be compensated for include:
- Medical costs. For example, you could recover the costs of prescriptions and therapy.
- Loss of earnings if you required any time away from work to recover from your injuries.
- Travel expenses, such as taxi fares to and from medical appointments.
- Care costs if you’ve required a carer to help you cope with daily life.
To include special damages as part of your claim, you should provide evidence of your expenses, such as receipts and wage slips.
If you would like to know more about how to claim compensation or if you would like a free claim valuation, please get in touch with one of our advisors.
General
- If you’ve suffered an injury caused by a defective seat, this guide to broken chair accident claims may be of interest. It explains the criteria to make a claim, compensation payouts, and how we can help you.
- How to make a No Win No Fee personal injury claim
- Eye injury claims
- Child accident compensation claims
- Non-fault accident claims
- How to make a successful personal injury claim
- Work-related stress claims
- Broken tooth claims
- Making a claim with a pre-existing condition
- In-flight injuries from unexpected turbulence
- How to claim compensation for a broken jaw
- Jagged object injury claims
- Botox injury claims
- Advice on tenants rights to improvements
Accidents At Work
Road Traffic Accidents
- Claim compensation as a passenger in a car accident
- If you’ve been injured as a passenger while travelling in a taxi, you may want to learn more about your legal rights. If so, our guide to taxi passenger accident claims may help. You can find out about the eligibility criteria for making a personal injury claim, as well as see compensation payouts.
Medical Negligence
- Care home negligence claims
- Pharmacy prescription error claims
- Optician negligence claims
- Botched derma and lip filler claims
- Medical negligence compensation claims
- Wrongful death caused by medical negligence
- Dental negligence compensation claims
- Suing the NHS for medical negligence
- Surgical error negligence claims
- Claiming compensation for hospital-acquired infections
- Medication errors at nursing homes
- Frequently asked questions on medical negligence cases
- How much compensation for dental negligence?
- How to claim compensation for an operation gone wrong
- Reporting negligence in a nursing home
- How to make a claim against the NHS
- How to prove a medical negligence claim
- Death in a care home. How to claim compensation
- Time limit on medical negligence claims against the NHS
- Making a GP negligence claim
- Walk-in centre negligence claims
- Birth injury claims
- Making a blood transfusion claim
- Misdiagnosed stroke claims
- What circumstances are classed as medical negligence?
Criminal Injury
- Rape victims compensation claims
- How much compensation will I get for an assault claim?
- Sexual abuse compensation claim amounts
- Sexual abuse compensation
- Historical sexual abuse compensation
- Sexual abuse compensation FAQ
- How to report historical sexual abuse FAQ
- Negligent breast augmentation surgery claims
- Criminal injuries compensation
- Stab victim compensation claims
- How families of a murder victim could claim compensation
- Sexual abuse by a father compensation claims
- Sexual abuse at school claims
- Criminal injuries compensation
- How long does a CICA claim take?
- Sexual abuse by a family member claims
- Making a CICA claim with a criminal record
- Stepfather sexual abuse claims
- Sexual abuse claims guide
- Husband sexual abuse claims
- Family friend sexual abuse claims
- Grandparent sexual abuse claims
Public Liability
- Personal injury claims against Burger King
- Personal injury claims against Aldi
- Personal injury claims against Tesco
- Slipped in Tesco, can I claim?
- How to claim compensation against the council
- Slip, trip and fall claims
- How to make a claim after a manhole cover or drain accident
- Burns and scalds caused by hot drinks
- Slipping and falling on ice
- Claim compensation for a personal injury in a supermarket
- Personal injury claims involving a pub or bar
- Personal injury claims against gyms
- Personal injury claims against McDonald’s
- Claiming compensation for negligent beauty salon treatments
- Personal injury claims against Marks and Spencer
- Broken chair accident claims
- Doormat trip and fall claims