Everyone is at risk of bodily harm now and again. However, when an injury is due to someone else’s negligence, it takes a different turn. In the UK, people must protect others from harm in specific cases or pay damages for refusing to do so. A personal injury claim is a process an injury victim follows to receive monetary compensation.

The main aim of getting compensation is to give the hurt person adequate resources to recover from their injuries. Generally, the victim claims against the reckless party’s insurance company and agrees on the settlement sum. Unfortunately, this can be challenging, and injured persons may require help from experienced solicitors.

While many personal injury claims end at the insurance company stage, others go to court. This article will discuss how many personal injury claims reach trial. We’ll also let you in all you need to know about personal injury claims and calculating compensation sums.

Types of Personal Injury Claims

There are many ways someone’s negligence can cause your injuries. As such, there are different types of personal injury claims that you can file. The most common ones are:

Motor Vehicle Accidents Claims

Traffic collisions happen now and again in the United Kingdom. These accidents typically cause severe injuries like traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, broken bones, fractures, etc. Many times, these crashes are due to reckless driving.

According to Statista , 40% of road collisions in the UK are due to a driver’s inability to look properly. This is because they were drowsy or operating their smartphones. You can file a personal injury claim to get damages from the negligent motorist in such cases.

Workplace Injury Claims

No one goes to work expecting to sustain injuries. However, on-the-job injuries are pretty common in the United Kingdom. Health and safety statistics show that 441,000 employees sustained work-related injuries in 2020/2021.

Also, 142 workers died at work within the same time frame. As an injured worker, you can contact your solicitor to assist you in pursuing compensation.

Product Liability Claims

This type of personal injury claim arises when a manufacturer produces defective goods. If such product malfunctions and causes your injuries, you can file a faulty product injury claim against the negligent manufacturer.

Medical Negligence

When you visit the hospital, you’re entrusting your life to your doctor or other medical personnel. You trust that they have the required experience to improve your health. But, unfortunately, sometimes, your injuries may be due to their carelessness.

The law allows you to file a personal injury claim against the erring health care professionals in such cases.

Slip, Trip, or Fall Claims

Slips, trips, and falls describe when you hit the ground suddenly because you stumbled or slipped on something. These accidents can cause severe injuries and may even be fatal.

If your slip, trip, and fall happened on someone else’s property, it’s likely because of their carelessness. For example, they may have failed to clean spilled liquid or didn’t provide adequate lighting for you to see your way. Such cases can qualify you for a personal injury claim.

Sports Injury Claims

It’s easy to assume that only professional sportspersons may file sports injury claims. This isn’t true. As a spectator, UK laws allow you to seek compensation for your injuries if someone else’s carelessness caused them.

Note that you can only file a personal injury claim and get compensation if:

• The accident happened less than three years ago
• You sustained significant injuries
• There’s enough evidence to prove that the defendant’s negligence caused the injuries

How Often Will a Personal Injury Claim Reach Trial?

Only a few personal injury claims to go court. Civil justice statistics quarterly: January to March 2021 show 24,589 personal injury claims in England and Wales. Of that number, 14,000 civil cases went to court. However, this figure includes debt recovery, mortgage, land matters, etc.

This is because many solicitors only take up injury cases with high success chances. Those types of cases are typically straightforward and non-contentious. This means that the responsible party wouldn’t deny responsibility and would prefer to settle the case out of court.

In some other cases, the other party will deny liability for your injuries until you decide to go to court. This might be a strategy to delay your settlement or frustrate you into forfeiting damages. Usually, these persons will accept responsibility when they learn you’ve filed a court case. In such situations, the court case will not proceed to trial.

Again, many parties to a personal injury claim try to avoid the financial implications of litigation. So, they’ll try to settle their injury cases without court intervention. Generally, the only suits that make it to court are complex ones invoicing huge sums, typically £25,000 and above.

What To Expect at Trial

If your personal injury cases go to court for any reason, here’s what to expect at trial:

A Civil Hearing

Personal injury court cases are civil hearings without a jury. Only the judge, court officials, litigants, witnesses, and solicitors will be present.

Legal Representation

You and the defendant will come to court with solicitors. The barrister’s job is to convince the court to rule in your favour. They’ll argue your position convincingly and provide evidence to support their claims.

Witness Testimonies

There’ll be witnesses for both sides giving accounts of what they saw as it relates to the case. First, the barristers will cross-examine opposing witnesses to show loopholes in their testimonies. After that, the solicitors will re-examine their witnesses to clarify some unclear facts.

Sometimes, the witnesses in a personal injury claim weren’t present at the accident scene. However, they’ll give their expert opinion on the matter. So, for example, your solicitor can call an accident reconstruction expert to show how a car crash was entirely the defendant’s fault.

Closing Submissions

After the trial, both barristers will give closing statements to summarize the case. It’s also the last attempt to sway the court’s decision in your favour.
Judgment

After listening to both sides, the judge will decide based on the evidence and facts of the case. The judge will accept your claims for compensation if your evidence outweighs the defendant’s.

Types of Compensation in a Personal Injury Claim

There are different types of damages to request in a personal injury claim. It all depends on the type of claim, the severity of the injury, and other factors.

We’ve divided the compensation you may receive into two broad sub-heads:

General Damages

This refers to compensation for intangible losses or injuries with uncertain financial value. General damages compensate for the emotional and psychological injuries you feel in an accident.

For example, medical negligence can cause debilitating, catastrophic, or life-threatening conditions. In such cases, your quality of life will be significantly reduced. You may suffer PTSD, lose your self-esteem, feel physical pain and make significant lifestyle changes.
General damages compensate you for such immense pain, suffering, and discomfort. The court will assess your situation and determine what monetary amount suits you.

Special Damages

Special damages are the opposite of general damages. Under this type of compensation, you’ll get monetary benefits for the financial losses the accident caused you. For example, if you sustain severe injuries, you will need medical attention.

This means that you’ll have to pay for medicine, physical therapy, and other hospital costs. Personal injury may also prevent you from working and earning a salary for a period. You may have also repaired your damaged items in the accident. Specific damages cover these losses.

Unlike general damages, the court has little discretion in deciding what amounts to specific damages. However, the judge will award you the stipulated sum as compensation once you prove the financial losses.

How Much Will I Receive as Compensation in My Injury Claim?

There are no fixed sums for damages, and your compensation amount depends on your case’s specifics. However, using this Judicial College guideline , you can determine your damages according to the severity of your injuries. Note that this is just a rough estimate and isn’t 100% accurate in all cases:

What’s the Next Step to Take?

Did someone cause your injuries through medical negligence, reckless driving, mismanagement of property, defective products, etc.? Then you may be eligible for financial compensation. First, however, it’s essential to know how much damages you can expect.

Every claim is unique so it’s impossible to say how much your claim is worth. You can find out more about typical payouts on our Personal Injuries page and discover more by reading our personal injury blog articles.

For a personal estimation on how much your claim is worth please complete our enquiry form and one of our specialist legal partners will contact you.