If you are ever involved in an accident whether it be a road accident, an accident at work or a slip or trip in a public place, you will be able to claim for personal injuries and associated financial loss provided of course the incident was not your fault and was caused by the negligent actions or omissions of someone else.
However, you will only be able to claim such loss with supporting evidence. If you have sustained an injury, it is always a good idea to seek medical advice or treatment as soon as possible so that there is evidence in your records of the injury sustained and of course to ensure that you receive timely treatment. Furthermore, your acting solicitor will also arrange a medical examination for you so that your injuries can be assessed further and a prognosis given. Depending on the severity of your injuries, it may be necessary to obtain your full medical history and this is evidence that can be obtained by your solicitor.
In terms of any financial losses, there are a number of expenses for which you can claim and examples are as follows:
Care and assistance
Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may be reliant upon family and friends to assist with your recovery. This may be in the form of helping you with domestic chores, preparing meals and shopping. It may also be to assist with personal care such as showering, dressing and toileting. This is recoverable to a degree, provided that medical evidence supports the fact that care was required. It is a good idea to keep a diary of the times when care was required as you will need to indicate how many hours per day/week such care has been given and also with what tasks.
Vehicle damage/policy excess
If you are involved in a road accident, your vehicle is likely to have sustained some damage. If you are insured third party only, your insurance policy will not cover you in the event of accident damage. Therefore you will need to take your vehicle to a garage and obtain an estimate for the repairs. It is also advisable to take photographs of the damage.
If you are insured fully comprehensive, your insurers will deal with the vehicle repairs but you will be required to pay a policy excess. It is important to retain the receipt for the excess payment as this will be used to evidence your loss.
Loss of earnings
In any incident you may have sustained loss of income. Your acting solicitor can write to your employers for details of any earnings lost. It is normal practice to request evidence of your earnings for the 26 weeks before the incident and also evidence of any payments made to you during your period of absence.
If you are self employed, you would need to provide your profit and loss accounts and tax returns for the three years before the accident along with proof of any post-accident earnings where relevant.
Damaged items
You may have a claim for damaged items such as clothing, spectacles, jewellery etc. If your vehicle was damaged in an accident, there may be items in the vehicle that were damaged as a result of the impact. It is a good idea to retain the items in the event that they are required for inspection. At the very least you would need to take photographs of the damaged items and original purchase receipts are always helpful. If you do not have these then you would need to obtain estimates for the cost of replacement items.
Medical expenses
To assist with your recovery, you may have undergone a course of private treatment. Evidence of the cost of the treatment would be required to prove your loss and it may also be necessary to contact your treatment provider for sight of your notes. If you have incurred any prescription charges or medication costs, you would need to provide receipts to indicate the payments made.
Travel expenses
If you have incurred any travel costs as a result of your accident such as attending treatment sessions, you will need to keep a record of the mileage incurred and also any parking charges.
The above is not exhaustive and there will be other losses that will be relevant to your claim. The most important thing to remember is that your losses are unlikely to be considered without supporting evidence so remember to obtain receipts for every item for which you intend to claim.
If you have suffered a personal injury and would like to speak to a member of our expert team please call us on 01616 966 229.
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