How To Prove A Personal Injury Claim

By Cat Mulligan. Last Updated 11th October 2023. In this online guide, we are going to look at how to prove a personal injury claim. Depending on the circumstances of your claim, different types of evidence would be appropriate for showing how an accident happened and demonstrating how it affected you.

We will cover the evidence that you could use to support your claim in this guide. After reading, you should have a general understanding of how a No Win No Fee accident solicitor could help you pursue your personal injury claim.

If you do need more help or questions answered after reading this guide, please call and speak with one of our claim advisors. They will have the answers for you and can offer you more free legal advice on starting a claim. You can get in touch by:

How to prove personal injury claim

How to prove a personal injury claim guide

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How To Make A Personal Injury Claim

Are you wondering how to make a personal injury claim? In this section, we’ll discuss how to make a personal injury claim in the UK. It’s important to first establish if you have a valid claim for an injury.

You may be eligible to claim compensation if you can prove you suffered harm due to another party breaching the duty of care they owe you. For example, if you are at work, your employer owes a duty of care to keep you practically safe in the workplace. If you are on the road, road users owe a duty of care to behave in a way that reduces the risk of harm.

To successfully claim, you will need to provide evidence of your injuries and the negligence that caused them. This is discussed further in this guide.

Our advisors are available 24/7 to offer free legal advice and may also be able to connect you with our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors.

Is There A Time Limit To Make A Personal Injury Claim?

Personal injury claims in the UK are subject to a limitation period – this is a time limit in which the claim must be started. Limitation periods for claims are set out in the Limitation Act 1980 – and if you are making a claim for negligence, you must start your claim within:

  • Three years from the date of your accident

People under the age of 18 cannot represent themselves in an injury claim in the UK. If you, or a person you are claiming for, was under 18 at the time of the injury, the limitation period is suspended. The 3-year time limit will start on the date of the 18th birthday. An appointed litigation friend can start a claim on behalf of a minor during the suspended period.

People who are unable to mentally or physically begin their claim will generally also have their 3-year time limit frozen. It will start if or when they regain the ability to represent themselves. Similarly, a litigation friend can also be used to claim on their behalf.

Our team can offer you any more information you may need about UK injury claims.

How Can You Prove Causation In A Personal Injury Claim?

In this section, we’ll discuss how to prove a personal injury claim. Collecting evidence is a crucial step in the claims process, and can help you prove causation in personal injury claims, as well as showcase the severity of your injuries and the way they’ll affect your life going forward.

If you choose to work with a solicitor on your claim, they may arrange for you to take part in an independent medical assessment. This creates an official record of your injuries and can be used as evidence in your claim. An independent medical assessment can be especially helpful if you have a pre-existing condition, as it can help illustrate how your injuries exacerbated your condition.

Read on to learn more about evidence in personal injury claims. Or, contact our team of advisors today for a free evaluation, in which they can help you identify whether you have a valid case and answer any questions you may have about the claims process.

What Evidence Do I Need To Prove A Personal Injury Claim?

In addition to demonstrating the injuries you sustained, you may be wondering how to prove a personal injury claim is valid. You can do this by showing how the accident occurred.

In order to claim compensation, you need to show that the accident happened because of negligence. This means that someone with a duty of care towards you breached this duty, causing an accident in which you were injured.

Some of the physical evidence you could use to support your claim might include:

  • Photograph or video of the circumstances that led to the accident.
  • Witness statements from anybody who saw the accident could be submitted.
  • Financial records that prove your losses, costs or expenses associated with the injuries. This could support a part of your claim known as special damages.

This list of evidence that could be used to support your claim is not exhaustive. One of our advisors may be able to advise you of the evidence you could collect. Get in touch with our claims team today for free legal advice.

Here’s a useful breakdown of the evidence needed to prove a personal injury claim:

Type of ClaimNeeded Documentation
Fall, slip or trip.Evidence such as photographs that show the hazard causing the accident.
Industrial DiseaseMedical proof that the industrial illness was caused by a hazard in the workplace.
Road Traffic AccidentA drawing of the scene of the accident, showing the position of vehicles and other hazards.
Accident in the WorkplaceInformation about any machinery that caused the hazard resulting in a workplace accident.

How Are Personal Injury Claims Calculated?

In the UK, injury claims settlements may consist of two heads of claim. These are called general and special damages.

If your claim is successful, general damages are awarded to compensate you for your physical pain and mental suffering caused by your injuries.

To help arrive at a value for your injuries, legal professionals could refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) as guidance. This is a document that provides listings of different types of injuries alongside guideline compensation amounts. As each claim is different, our table in the next section is only provided to help you understand how general damages could be calculated.

As part of your personal injury claim in the UK, your settlement may also consist of special damages. Under this second head of claim, you could be compensated for any expenses incurred as a result of the injury. We’ll look at examples of special damages and how to prove them later in the guide.

If you would like to know how to make a personal injury claim and how compensation could be awarded, get in touch with one of the advisors from our team.

Personal Injury Compensation Payout Examples

Having learned how to prove a personal injury claim, you may be wondering how much compensation you could be entitled to. Compensation can be made up of special and general damages.

General damages are the part of your claim that compensate you for the pain and suffering your injuries have caused you. This can be psychological or physical pain.

Below, we’ve included a table of some guideline compensation brackets for different injuries of varying severities. The Judicial College produces the guidelines that we based this table on.

InjurySeverityPossible Compensation Notes
Arm InjurySevere£96,160 to £130,930Where injury to the brachial plexus, for example, leaves the claimant little better off than if the arm had been altogether lost.
Back InjuryModerateUp to £38,780Where the muscles and ligaments in the back have been disturbed, leading to backache.
Elbow Injury Less Severe £15,650 to £32,010Where function is impaired but any disability is not significant and no major surgery is required.
Achilles Tendon Injury Serious £24,990 to £30,090Where the tendon has been completely divided and then repaired, leaving residual weakness and limited ankle movement.
Toe Injuries Serious £9,600 to £13,740Where a serious injury has caused some permanent discomfort, pain or sensitivity in scarring.
Foot InjuryModestUp to £13,740Injuries within this bracket will include simple metatarsal fractures and ruptured ligaments.
Wrist Injury£6,080 to £10,350Where a fracture or soft tissue injury has resulted in a complete recovery, despite healing taking longer.
Thumb Injury Severe Dislocation £6,340 to £7,780Where the thumb has been severely dislocated.

You may also be able to claim special damages. These are paid to compensate you for financial loss caused by your injuries. You will need to prove this loss in order to claim.

How To Prove Financial Losses In A Personal Injury Claim

This section focuses on how to prove a personal injury claim in terms of financial loss. This includes proving any expenses you experienced as a result of your injuries. However, in order to be reimbursed for these costs, you will need to gather and acquire evidence.

Here are some examples of special damages and some relevant evidence that could support your claim:

  • Loss of earnings – Your injury may affect your income if the ailment prevents you from working. By presenting payslips, you can prove how much you would have earned during your recovery period. This can include bonuses and pension contributions too.
  • Travel costs – You may have to pay for alternative travel arrangements such as taxis or trains if your ability to drive has been compromised. Make sure you keep hold of the tickets and receipts.
  • Other expenses – Purchases that you are prevented from enjoying due to your injury may also be included in a special damages payment. For example, you may have booked a holiday you can no longer go on. Keep the receipts or source copies if you have misplaced them.

Get in touch for more information, including tips on how to win your personal injury claim.

Talk To A Solicitor To Find Out How To Prove A Personal Injury Claim

Now that we’ve looked at how to prove a personal injury claim, we’ll discuss the role a solicitor could play in you receiving compensation. While you don’t have to engage the services of a solicitor, doing so could provide you with advice and guidance that strengthens your claim for compensation.

You may be able to engage a lawyer who is working under a No Win No Fee arrangement to process your claim for you. This is also referred to as a Conditional Fee Agreement. Fundamentally, under such an agreement you don’t pay your lawyer any upfront or ongoing fees. In fact, you don’t pay them anything at all if they aren’t successful in securing your compensation.

If your claim is successful, then a success fee will be deducted from your compensation. However, this is legally capped, meaning that you always get the majority of the compensation you’re awarded.

If you would like to know now about how a No Win No Fee lawyer works, or if you have other questions that this guide has not answered, please reach out to our claims team. They can help you and provide the answers that you need. They can also tell you how to move forward with your claim. You can contact us using the information below.

Learn More About How To Prove A Personal Injury Claim

Here are some links to some websites that have some useful info.

Also, you might like to read over some of the other claims guides we have punished, here are some links.

Thank you for reading our guide looking at how to prove a personal injury claim.