Understanding Personal Injuries

Personal injury is among the widely practised varieties of law. Every day, people around the country are suffering avoidable injuries, and seeking remedies from those responsible for those injuries. This might mean an individual, or even an entire organisation.

What is a personal injury?

In legal terms, a personal injury is an injury suffered by an individual’s person, as opposed to their property. So, if you’ve slipped on a wet floor and broken your leg, you’ve suffered a personal injury. If you’ve merely broken your phone, then you haven’t.

It’s worth emphasising that personal injury doesn’t just apply to your physical, tangible self, but to your mental state, too. If you’re suffering from trauma as a result of a particular event, then this might also qualify as a personal injury.

The Importance of Understanding a Personal Injury

Only by understanding personal injury law, at the basic level, can we know when to seek to put the wrong right. In most cases, this means securing the services of a qualified, specialised solicitor.

While it’s possible to fight a personal injury case yourself, it’s almost always better to involve a professional. This way, you’ll be spared the stress and time commitment associated with actually fighting the case. In all but the most marginal personal injury cases, the claimant isn’t expected to actually be personally involved in proceedings.

To give your claim the best chance of success, it’s a good idea to gather evidence from the scene of the accidents. This might mean taking photographs of the scene, and collecting testimony from witnesses. If the injury was suffered in a workplace, then you might consult the accident book – which your workplace is legally obliged to keep.

One important thing to bear in mind is the time limit associated with claims of this sort. You’ll have three years from the point at which you became aware of the injury – or from your eighteenth birthday.

The damages you are awarded might be based on a range of factors, including loss of earnings, and subjective ‘pain and suffering’.

No win, no fee

In most cases of this sort, the solicitor will agree to work based on what’s called a Conditional Fee Agreement. This means that if the claim isn’t successful, they won’t get paid. If the claim is successful, then they’ll be paid using the money you’re awarded by the court.

This is a way of providing financial security to the claimant, who won’t be exposed to any risk. If the solicitor doesn’t think that they stand a reasonable chance of success, then they won’t take on the case. This is an area of law that’s extremely well-trodden. Solicitors can use precedent to determine the likelihood of success and the size of a potential payout.