Personal Injury
Advice & Tips to be aware of when making a personal injury claim
If you have sustained a personal injury you may be able to claim compensation
Here are some tips and advice we have compiled for you to be aware of if you are thinking of or commencing the process of making a personal injury claim.
If you are bringing a claim for personal injury remember the Defendant's insurers may well put you under surveillance and are very adept at accessing your Facebook and twitter accounts and using your photos and comments to prove their case in Court.
Keep a note of all the work you undertake in preparing your case. If your case is successful you will be able to claim costs back at the rate of £18.00 per hour.
Remember to keep your receipts/notes of costs involved in respect of your personal injury claim as these are recoverable, if they can be justified.
You must serve the original claim form with accompanying documentation when serving proceedings. Remember to keep a copy for yourself.
Do attempt to settle your case if at all possible. You will save yourself a lot of hard work, anxiety and cost.
Try and settle the case with your opponent first. If you are unable to do so, consider mediation or alternative dispute resolution.
If you want to contact the Civil Mediation Council to locate a Mediator go to http://www.civilmediation.org/
You will find the mediation process is flexible and can be conducted in a number of different ways. You and your opponent can choose what suits you both best with the assistance of the mediator.
If the mediation fails you continue with (or start) your legal proceedings, often with the benefit of being better informed as to your opponent's position on the issues and how he views the claim as a whole than you were before.
A litigant who refuses to engage constructively in mediation may find himself penalised in costs at the end of the trial.
Remember, if you are offered the opportunity to enter into mediation or alternative dispute resolution discussions and you refuse you could be liable for costs, even if you win your case. To read up on the leading case go to Every Loser Wins: Costs Sanctions Following An Unreasonable Failure To Mediate
When writing to Defendants or Claimants your correspondence should not be abusive or accusatory other than your setting out the case clearly and succinctly. In a recent case a Judge who sought access to party and party correspondence made it perfectly clear that he expected proceedings to be conducted in a civil manner.