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Compensation You Can Claim After a Car Accident

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If you or one of your employees have been in a car accident you might be wondering about the compensation you can claim for any injuries. In this article, we address these questions.

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Surprisingly, personal-injury road traffic accidents increased significantly following the coronavirus outbreak. The lockdown should have reduced the number of casualties, but reckless driving is on the rise and this inevitably leads to injuries and fatal crashes. Even when everyone is lucky enough to survive, those who are involved in a road traffic accident are shaken up. The fact is, the human body isn’t designed to handle the considerable amount of force and physical impact that it absorbs during a motor vehicle accident.

Tragically, collisions often lead to injuries such as broken bones, head and neck trauma, brain injuries, and so on. And let’s not forget about the emotional trauma resulting from the stressful and dangerous event.

What Can You Do as a Victim?

If you’ve been the victim of a road traffic accident, you can bring your case to court by filing a personal injury lawsuit. In the United Kingdom, court proceedings must be issued within three years of your having noticed that you’ve suffered an injury. It might seem as if you have all the time in the world, but if you wish to recover compensation, you must be proactive. You have to prove that the person or people who were in the car crash were negligent and they’re legally responsible for your injuries.

The compensation you receive after the car accident depends on several factors. If you want to find out how much your claim is worth, it’s a good idea to speak with an attorney.

Nobody plans to be injured. Most people avoid experiencing pain. Even when they’re suffering, many refuse to seek support from the law. However, if you have injuries because of someone else’s failure to take proper care, you shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences without compensation. The negligent person should be punished so as to deter them from committing the same crime again.

But if you have doubts, you should know that seeking compensation isn’t necessarily a selfish act. The justice system exists so that people can rectify unfair situations. If someone caused you some sort of harm, they should not get away with it.

Even a minor injury can be painful and disrupt your life. For instance, if you’ve fractured your wrist, you won’t be able to drive or use the computer. Moreover, if the accident could have been avoided, you have the right to be compensated for the injuries you’ve sustained, whether those injuries are physical or non-physical.

What Kinds of Compensation Can You Claim?

In case you didn’t already know, personal injury compensation falls into two broad categories:

  • Damages for pain and suffering
  • Past and future losses and expenses

Therefore, it’s essential to specify that have pain and suffering as a result of the unfortunate incident. No quantitative or time limitations are imposed. Needless to say, it’s difficult to prove that you’ve gone through emotional pain and suffering. It’s necessary to work with medical experts to prove that your usual way of life has been disrupted. You should document all visits to healthcare professionals, provide a listing of the medications they provided, and, most importantly, include an expert testimony.

It’s possible to recover past losses and expenses, not to mention those that you will incur in the future, such as earnings, pension, accommodation, and so on.

Briefly, these are the different types of compensation you can claim after a car accident:

  • Property damage
  • Loss of income
  • Medical expenses
  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Loss of consortium
  • Punitive damages

What Proof Will You Need to Provide?

One of the least enjoyable conversations you’ll have with your lawyer is the one when they’ll explain the need to provide detailed evidence for all the sums you claim in the dispute. You have to make available invoices, payment records, and so forth.

How much you can claim depends largely on the circumstances of your particular case. You can obtain a lump sum payment, but it’s not impossible to obtain provisional damages that enable future awards.

It’s not a good idea to pursue compensation alone. More precisely, you should have legal representation. A professional can offer you guidance on what you can do during this difficult time.

How Do Courts Calculate Personal Injury Compensation?

The overall amount of compensation you can claim will be the total of the compensation you receive from the general and special damages. General damages are awarded for pain and suffering, while special damages are awarded for financial losses and expenses.

If you’ve suffered multiple injuries, then the court will award compensation for the main injury. Additionally, the court may award additional compensation for further injuries. As you can imagine, it’s quite difficult to put value on a personal injury claim as every case is unique. However, experts take into consideration a couple of factors when it comes to increasing or decreasing the amount of compensation.

Here are some examples of factors that guide the insurance adjuster toward a higher multiplier:

  • Serious injury
  • Long recovery period
  • Physical or emotional distress
  • Daily life disruptions

A road traffic accident case can turn out to be lengthy. Some cases can take more than a year to complete. However, you’ll have no financial risk when you make a claim. For this reason alone, you should try to seek justice. You can’t return to what you’ve been prior to the accident because that is virtually impossible. Nonetheless, you can improve your quality of life.

All in all, it’s worth mentioning that most personal injury cases settle before going to court. It’s not in your best interest, though, to accept the first offer the insurer makes. Take some time to think about it and determine whether or not they’re offering a fair settlement. Understand your options and proceed with caution. It might be useful to get a solicitor’s opinion.

Find out how much your claim is worth at https://www.compensationcalculatoruk.co.uk/

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