Advice On How To Claim If Blame Is Uncertain – No Win No Fee Claims

Advice On Claims Where Liability, Fault Or Blame Is Uncertain

When you are involved in an accident, it’s sometimes very clear about who is to blame. For example, if a driver crashes into the back of your car, they could be to blame. In those circumstances, claiming compensation for any injuries can be quite straightforward as it may be easy to prove liability for the accident. But can you claim if blame is uncertain? In short, the answer is yes, possibly. There are various ways that this could be the case.

claim if blame is uncertain

During the course of this guide, we’ll look at your options. For example, you may be able to claim compensation if you’re involved in a hit and run accident. Similarly, you could claim compensation if you’re assaulted, even if the assailant has never been prosecuted. As well as this, we’ll look at what solicitors and lawyers can do to try and help prove liability.

Advice.co.uk is here to support you if you are considering starting a claim. If the blame is unclear, our team can provide free legal advice about how to proceed. In cases where they believe you have some chance of success, they could pass your case to a personal injury lawyer on our panel. Using their legal expertise, the lawyer will decide whether it’s a case they would be able to help with. If they do take it on, they’ll provide their service on a No Win No Fee basis.

If you’d like to learn more about claiming where the blame is unclear, please read on. However, if you’re ready to start a claim right away, why not call our specialists on 0161 696 9685?

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A Guide On How To Claim If Blame Is Uncertain

When an accident occurs, if it was caused by somebody else’s negligence, you could be entitled to compensation for any harm you suffer. However, what happens if it’s not clear who caused the accident? Well, in this article, we’re going to examine your options. We’ll look at different types of accidents that occur and how you could prove liability. We’ll also look at ways that you could claim if the responsible party has not been identified.

Whatever type of accident you’re involved in, evidence will usually be required to prove your allegations. This can come in many forms. For criminal injuries, the evidence could include police reports and your own statement. For workplace injuries, an accident report log along with CCTV could be used to prove what happened.

Proving a claim if blame is uncertain can be a tricky task. For that reason, our advice is to take on specialist legal advice and representation. Having a lawyer on your side could make the process a lot easier and might improve your chances of being compensated. They will know what type of evidence you’ll need and could help you prove who was liable for your injuries.

In most cases, a 3-year personal injury claim time limit applies. Therefore, we’d advise you to start the claims process as soon as possible. That’s because there are many tasks that will need to be carried out before you claim. That includes gathering evidence such as witness statements as well as having your injuries assessed by a medical specialist.

Our advisors offer free legal advice about how to proceed with your claim. Therefore, once you’ve read this guide, please feel free to get in touch. If your claim is strong enough, we could refer you to a personal injury lawyer from our panel.

How Do You Calculate A Personal Injury Settlement?

If you go on to claim for a personal injury, you’ll usually start with a ‘general damages’ request. This is a payment aimed at compensating you for any pain, suffering or loss of amenity caused by your injuries. In this section, we will supply some example compensation figures taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Courts, insurers, and other legal professionals may refer to the JCG when deciding on compensation amounts for injuries.

Obviously, the figures in the table below are just example amounts. The amounts awarded for criminal injury claims may differ so please call for advice. For a more personalised estimate, please get in touch with one of our advisors. When you get in touch, your claim will be assessed so that you can see how much you could receive.

Type of InjurySeveritySettlement RangeFurther Information
Fractured JawSerious£16,860 to £28,610A fracture that is serious enough to cause permanent problems including with eating or opening the mouth.
NeckModerate (ii)£12,900 to £23,460Serious disc lesions, wrenching-type injuries and soft tissue damage that causes serious loss of movement, discomfort, stiffness and permanent or recurring pain.
BackMinor£7,410 to £11,730Cases of soft tissue injuries that are almost completely resolved within a 5-year period (without surgery).
ShoulderModerate£7,410 to £11,980An example covered by this category includes frozen shoulder with discomfort and limited movement for around 2 years.
ElbowSevere£36,770 to £51,460This category covers injuries that are severely disabling.
KneeModerate£13,920 to £24,580A torn meniscus, torn cartilage or dislocation of the knee are all examples of injuries covered by this category.
AnkleSevere£29,380 to £46,980Where injuries require an extensive period of treatment or where pins and plates used to fix the injury cause residual disability.

What you may notice is that the seriousness of your injury is a factor used to determine how much compensation is paid. Therefore, as part of your claim, you will need to attend a medical assessment.

An independent expert will review any medical records and ask you questions. They will also assess the current state of your injuries. Once they’ve completed the assessment, they will write their findings in a report which will be sent to your solicitor. As this report will be used as evidence, we recommend medical assessments for all cases.

Special And Other Types Of Damages

On top of general damages, a ‘special damages’ claim might also be made. This could be the case if you’ve lost money or incurred expenses due to your injuries. Every case is different, of course, but you could claim:

  • Medical Expenses. Even though NHS treatment is free, the cost of prescriptions can soon add up. Therefore, you could claim the cost back as well as the cost of treatments you’ve paid for if needed.
  • Care Costs. During your recovery, you might need help with daily tasks. If that’s the case, you could claim the cost of your carer. This could be fees charged by a professional carer or for the time that a friend spent looking after you.
  • Travelling Expenses. During your treatment, you might incur travel costs related to hospital or GP visits. These costs could also be included in your claim.
  • Lost Income. If your employer doesn’t pay full sick pay, you might lose income while you are off work recovering. Those losses could be added to your claim.
  • Home Adaptations. If an injury causes a disability, you might be able to claim for changes to your home that you’ve needed to help make things easier.
  • Future Lost Income. Should there be a long-term impact on your ability to work, you could claim for future lost earnings as well.

If you call Advice.co.uk, an advisor will review your case for free. At that point, they should be able to indicate what special damages you could include in your claim.

What Are Accident Claims If Blame Is Uncertain?

In some accidents, it is easy to apportion blame. For instance, if you’re abiding by The Highway Code and a distracted motorist crashes into the back of your stationary vehicle, they would be to blame. However, it’s not always that clear-cut. When that’s the case, you might find it difficult to claim the compensation you’re entitled to. That’s why we advise taking on specialist legal representation.

In the sections that follow, we’ll look at the pre-requisites for claiming, why blame might be unclear, and how you could still go on to make a claim. If after reading this guide, you’re still not sure if you could claim, please call for free legal advice.

How Liability, Blame Or Responsibility May Be Unclear

While it would be nice if responsibility for an accident was clear, that’s not always the case. You might struggle to prove who is to blame if you’re injured in:

  • Hit and run accidents.
  • Violent crimes against you.
  • Accidents where you might be partially to blame.

These are just a few of the scenarios we could help with. If you need advice on your case, please call our team today.

Could You Still Claim If There Is No Clear Responsible Party?

There are a number of scenarios where claims could be possible if it’s not clear who is responsible for your injuries. For example, if you’re involved in a hit and run accident, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau could compensate you. Similarly, if you are injured in an assault, but the criminal is never found, you could still be compensated. We delve into these in the sections below.

Even if you’re not sure if your claim is valid, it is still a good idea to call Advice.co.uk. You will receive free legal advice from a specialist advisor who will review your case without obligation. After your call, you should have a much better understanding of your options.

Prerequisites To Claim For An Accident Or Injury

Before we move on to look at the different types of claims you can make, we should explain the prerequisites for doing so. Essentially, the main criteria are:

  • That your injury was caused in an accident that somebody else was partly or fully responsible for.
  • That person (or employer, for example) had a responsibility to protect your health, safety and wellbeing.
  • They broke that responsibility by causing your injuries.

As we have explained, the above is easy to prove in some cases but harder in others. Please don’t give up on your claim if you’re not sure who’s liable though. Instead, why not get in touch today so that your eligibility to claim can be checked by a specialist?

Eligibility To Claim If Blame Is Uncertain

We’ll now look at your legal eligibility to claim compensation for an injury. It could be possible to start legal proceedings if you were injured or made ill:

  • In the last three years; and
  • Your injury or illness was caused by somebody else; and
  • You were owed a duty of care by that person.

Duty of care is determined by different legislation. For example, the Road Traffic Act 1988 means all road users have a duty to try and keep other road users safe. Don’t worry too much about the legal complexities of claiming though, our team will explain everything if you get in touch.

I Don’t Know Who Is At Fault—How Do I Make A Claim?

We are now going to look at some scenarios where you might be able to claim even if you can’t identify who was to blame for your injury or illness. We’ll look at criminal injuries, hit and run injuries, industrial illnesses and asbestos-related illnesses.

Criminal Injury Claims Where Blame Is Uncertain

You might think that if you’re injured during a violent crime, you wouldn’t be able to claim if you don’t know who hurt you. However, that’s not always the case and it’s one of the reasons the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) exists.

CICA allows victims of violent crimes to claim compensation even if the assailant is never identified or prosecuted. Although compensation is not made at the same level as personal injury claims, the awards could go a long way to helping you recover. Please be aware that crimes must have been reported to the police and, generally, the time limit for claiming is 2 years.

Hit And Run Claims Where Blame Is Uncertain

Similarly, you might not think it’d be possible to claim for injuries sustained in a car accident if the responsible party isn’t found. However, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) could help in such cases.

As well as claiming for the damage to your vehicle, you could also claim for injuries sustained in the accident. The MIB could decide to compensate you for these.

You will need to supply as much evidence about the other vehicle as possible to start your claim. Please call a member of our team if you’d like free legal advice on how to proceed.

Industrial Illness Or Disease Claims Where Blame Is Uncertain

If you’ve suffered an illness or disease such as Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) or noise-induced hearing loss while working, it may have developed over many years and possibly while working for different employers. In such cases, the liability for your injury could be apportioned to different employers.

Proving liability in these instances could be tricky. Therefore, why not get in touch with us today and we’ll review your options. If you have a strong enough case, we could pass it to one of the No Win No Fee lawyers on our panel.

Asbestos-Related Illness Claims Where Blame Is Uncertain

Asbestos-related illnesses are still a problem in the UK today. While regulations have been tightened to control it, many people are suffering for work carried out decades ago.

Legislation is in place to support you if you’ve been made ill while working with asbestos, even if you’re not sure which company was to blame.

We can help you start an asbestos illness claim if you call our advice line. Please call today and let us review your legal options.

Split Blame Or Split Liability Claims

If you’ve been injured in an accident which you were partly to blame for, you could still claim compensation. Split liability claims (also known as contributory negligence claims) are assessed similarly to full liability. However, the proportion of blame will have to be agreed upon.

Once that has been done, any compensation award will be adjusted accordingly. For example, if you were 50% to blame for an accident, then you’d receive 50% of the compensation you’d normally be entitled to.

For advice on how to make a split liability claim, please call Advice.co.uk.

No Win No Fee Claims If Blame Is Uncertain

If you are considering claiming for injuries sustained in an accident where liability isn’t clear, you might be worried about the cost of hiring a legal team to help you. However, you needn’t worry too much about this. That’s because the lawyers on our panel provide a No Win No Fee service for any claim that’s taken on. This means you get access to their legal skills with a lower financial risk. In turn, that could make the process of claiming less stressful.

Obviously, the lawyer will want to check there is a reasonable chance of conducting a successful claim first. If they agree to work with you, they will supply you with a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is the contract that explains what has to happen for the lawyer to be paid. It will clearly explain that:

  • You don’t have to pay lawyer fees upfront for a No Win No Fee case to begin.
  • There aren’t any lawyer’s fees to pay during the claims process.
  • Should your claim not work out, your lawyer won’t charge you for their work.

However, if your claim is won, the lawyer will keep hold of a percentage of your compensation to cover the cost of their work. This is called a success fee. The percentage you’ll pay for a successful claim is listed in the CFA. That means you’ll know the fee before agreeing to work with your lawyer. For peace of mind, the success fees are capped by law to prevent overcharging.

To check if your case could be eligible for a No Win No Fee service, call our team of specialists today.

How Our Advice Team Could Help You

If you would like to work with Advice.co.uk, we’ll do all we can to keep things as straightforward as possible. We won’t bamboozle you with complex questions and we won’t put any pressure on you to claim. The advice we offer, and the assessment of your claim, is free whether you start a claim or not.

When you get in touch, we’ll adopt the following approach:

You start the ball rolling by contacting us.A specialist advisor will consider the merits of your claim.If a lawyer from our panel accepts your case, then it will begin once you're ready to proceed.

Please don’t be afraid to ask any questions. We think it’s best to make sure you fully understand your claim options before proceeding.

Contact Us

We hope that you now know if you can claim if blame is uncertain. Advice.co.uk is here if you’d like to discuss your claim options. To get in touch with us, you can:

  • Call and speak to a specialist advisor on 0161 696 9685 for free legal advice.
  • Register your interest to claim using our online enquiry form. A specialist will call you at a convenient time.
  • Ask for free legal advice through our live chat channel.

When you choose to contact us, we will try to be clear about your chances of being compensated. Our advisors will consider your case, review any evidence and let you know your options. Remember, if a lawyer from our panel agrees to work on your claim, they’ll provide a No Win No Fee service for you.

If you have any questions about making a claim if blame is uncertain, please get in touch today.

Related Services

In this article about starting a claim if blame is uncertain, we have tried to supply advice on whether you could make a claim. In this section, we will supply links to resources that might be useful if you do go on to claim. Please let us know if there is any more information we could supply.

Mesothelioma Information – Details from the NHS on cancer that can result from asbestos exposure.

CICA Tariff Of Injuries – This PDF document shows how much compensation could be paid by the CICA scheme for different injuries.

Uninsured Drivers – Government information about what happens if you drive without insurance.

To show the different types of compensation claims Advice.co.uk could help you with, here are some more of our guides.

Unfair Dismissal – Advice on how a specialist lawyer could help with employment law claims such as unfair dismissal.

Supermarket Injury Claims – This article shows when you might be able to claim for injuries sustained in a supermarket.

Pedestrian Injury Claims – Advice on claiming if somebody causes you to be injured in an accident while out walking.

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