Personal injury is a fascinating, complex and controversial area of law. Below are some of the most important and interesting things worth knowing about personal injury :-
1. the vast majority of personal injury claims are dealt with by lawyers on a no win no fee basis
2. with no win no fee claims, the solicitors not only take the risk of not being paid without success, but they will also typically pay out expenses such as medical report fees, court fees and after the event insurance costs
3. there is a vast difference between claims for example for whiplash or a tripping accident, which can be relatively straightforward and for more complicated and severe injuries or relating to accidents at work, which can involve a variety of different areas of law, such as, for example, manual handling or health & safety.
4. an after the event insurance policy is a specific form of insurance against the defendants legal fees in the event that a case proceeds all the way to trial and the claimant loses the case and the claimant is ordered to pay the claimants legal fees
5. In English law, damages which are compensatory are in fact very modest with compared to other countries. What can make injury claims much higher value is where the claimant is unable to work for a significant or long term basis due to the injury. Loss of earnings claims are what can make personal injury claims high value cases.
6. Cases are controversial where the claim is fairly modest, such as a whiplash claim which might typically result in a settlement of £2,000.00, but legal fees can be much higher, often double or more.
7. the controversy is not assisted by the fact that there appears to have been a significant amount of fraudulent whiplash claims made over the last decade. The position is also not assisted by the cut throat nature of competition between law firms in the personal injury sector, with may firm willing to pay referral fees of £500.00 or more or to offer referrers or even claimants inducements such as free ipods or cashback.
8. If you suffer an accident abroad or for example suffer food poisoning, there is a big difference between your rights if you book via a package holiday or not. If you did book under a package holiday arrangement you will be able to sue the UK company you booked through and to use under English law. But if you didn’t book via a package holiday method, your case will be far more complex and risky.
