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- Contact Goodmans Law
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. How do I know if I can bring a claim?
Q. How long do I have to bring a claim?
Q. What can I claim for?
Q. What about my no claims bonus?
Q. How much will I get?
Q. Who pays my legal fees?
Q. Is it wrong to claim compensation?
Q. Will my benefits be affected?
Q. Will I have to go to Court?
How do I know if I can bring a Claim?
If you have been involved in any type of accident and you believe that its somebody elses fault, it is worth finding out from an expert solicitor whether you have a claim.
How long do I have to Claim?
Generally for accident claims you have three years from the date of the accident to commence court proceedings. If you are under 18 you have until you are 21, if you are a under a mental disability, special rules apply which you can discuss with an expert solicitor. It is always preferable to bring a claim as quickly as possible to ensure that witnesses can be traced.
What can I claim for?
The purpose of compensation is to put you back in the position you would have been in had the accident not happened, within reason. There are different types of compensation. General Damages to compensate you for your physical and psychological injuries and being unable to pursue your normal hobbies and activities. Special damages to compensate you for past and future loss of earnings, travelling expenses, private health costs, cost of care or other needs in the home and any other financial loss.
What about my no claims bonus?
If you are involved in a crash that is not your fault, your claim will be pursued against the other drivers Insurance company. Your no claims bonus will not be affected if your solicitor deals with any repair and hire that you need to pursue.
How much will I get?
The amount of compensation you receive depends on the injuries you have sustained, how long it takes you to recover from those injuries and how much financial loss you have sustained.
Every case is different and until we receive medical evidence confirming your injuries and evidence of any financial loss we can only give a rough guideline as to the likely amount of damages.
Look out for the APIL logo, your guarantee that you have a specialist personal injury lawyer who will always act in your best interests.
Who will pay my legal fees?
This is often the biggest worry for clients, and indeed stops many clients from bringing a case.
If you instruct an APIL approved solicitor you can be sure that you will be properly advised about legal costs.
Often many people have legal expenses insurance attached to one of their insurance policies that will cover legal fees in the event of an accident. This is called
legal expenses Insurance
Your solicitor will check this out for you and advise whether you are covered.
If you don’t not have legal expenses insurance or any other insurance or cover for legal fees, we will advise you whether or not your case can be taken on a no win no fee basis. Put simply, this means that if you win your case, the other side should pay your legal costs for you. If you lose, you will not pay your solicitors fees, and insurance that your solicitor can sort out for you will ensure that you don’t have any other fees to pay either.
At Goodmans, we understand clients concerns about legal costs, and pride ourselves on ensuring that this worry can be forgotten when you instruct us as Carol Hopwood, Director and Head of Serious Personal Injury Claims explains -
Is it wrong to claim compensation?
We understand that for many people, making a compensation claim presents a moral dilemma?
Remember this, we all pay insurance premiums so that if we are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident we can ask the insurance companies to put us back in the position we would have been in if the accident had not happened. If you don’t make a claim when you are entitled to, it simply adds to the profits of the Insurance Companies. If you are injured, it is your right to make a compensation claim.
Will my benefits be affected?
If you are receiving means tested benefits and receive a compensation award that brings the amount in your bank to over £6000, your entitlement to benefits could be affected. Ususally, your benefits will reduce by £1 for every £250 that you have over the £6000 limit. If your compensation award takes you over £16,000, then you will no longer be entitled to receive means tested benefits.
But don’t worry
There are ways around this problem. You can set up a special trust and pay some of compensation into this trust. The DSS will ignore the money in the trust when calculating whether you are entitled to benefits. We can advise you and help set the trust us if its needed. This will enable you to carry on receiving benefits despite having a lump sum in a trust.
Will I have to go to Court?
This too is often a major worry for clients. The vast majority of cases will settle before getting to Court. Often, once all of the evidence is gathered, we will be able to negotiate a settlement on your behalf. If we are unable to settle your case either because the offer being made by the other side is not acceptable or they do not accept that their insured was to blame it will be necessary to go to a Court hearing and let a Judge decide. Court proceedings in England and Wales are heard.
without a jury
Generally, the only people in the Court room will be the judge, his clerk, your Solicitor and Barrister and the other sides legal team. Our job is to make the experience as painless as possible and to be beside you all the way.
