If a court action has to be raised, it is of course open to the other side at any stage in a court action to make a settlement offer and this frequently happens.

* The severity of your injury
* The extent to which your injury has resulted in long-term or permanent disability
* The extent to which your injury has disrupted your life
* Damages for pain and suffering are calculated by reference to previously decided court cases.

Loss of earnings: If you have to take time off work because of an accident, you will be able to recover any loss of earnings. Your claim is based upon the amount which you would have taken home rather than your gross earnings. You will not pay tax on your award of damages.

Normally your claim for loss of earnings is based upon your average take-home pay during the 3-month period before the accident. While we will obtain a schedule of earnings from your employer it can be helpful if you retain pay slips for the period before the accident and for the period of absence so that we can check these against the information provided by your employer.

Future loss of earnings: You are under a general duty if you have been injured to minimise your losses. This means that if you are unable to return to your old job you have to take all reasonable steps to find a job which you are capable of doing. If you have to give up work because of the accident this may affect your future pension entitlement. Again we can take this into account and include any loss of pension rights in your claim.

Special Damage: If you suffer damage to clothing or personal effects such as glasses, dentures or crash helmets you can claim for these. It is important that you retain the damaged items as the insurers may wish to inspect them. If you have the receipts for the damaged items or for replacement items you should retain these as well.

You can claim for expenses which you have incurred following an accident such as taxi fares or prescription charges provided that what you are claiming is reasonable. If you have to hire a car because your own is damaged it should be possible to claim the hire charges although you should discuss hiring a replacement vehicle with us before entering into a hire contract. Again you should keep receipts for any items of expenditure that you wish to claim.

In cases of serious injury you can claim the cost of items such as wheelchairs which you may need, as well as nursing and care costs.

If you have been looked after by a relative following an accident it may be possible to claim compensation for them for the services which have been provided to you. It is important that you should keep a diary or other written record of the services which have been provided as this will make it much easier to calculate the level of compensation.

If as a result of injuries which you have sustained you are unable to do any jobs around the house, or for your family, you may be able to claim compensation. Examples would be housework, gardening, car maintenance, DIY. If you have had to pay tradesmen to do jobs that you would previously have been able to do yourself, it is again very important that you keep receipts.

*If possible take a photograph of the scene of the accident, and the plant or machinery involved.

*Make your own note of what has happened to you, with details of the time, date, place and witnesses, as soon as you can. If possible, make a sketch plan or take photos to help record and explain the circumstances of your accident at work.

*If machinery or equipment was involved in your work accident, make a note of the manufacturer, model, any known defects, and any maintenance regime.

*Make sure that your work accident is recorded in the Accident Report Book which the law requires your employer to keep.

*Find out whether other people have experienced a similar accident at work in the past, and get as much detail as you can of who was involved, what happened and when, whether your employer was told about it and if so whether they took any action.

*Ensure if you can that any serious work accident (causing an absence from your job for more than 3 days) has been reported to the Health and Safety Executive or the local authority’s Environmental Health Service.

*Get medical attention promptly and tell the hospital and/or your GP about your job and how you think it has caused your personal injury.

*Keep every invoice, receipt or other record of your expenses and losses. This is not being “money-grabbing”! It is preserving evidence which we need to get the right level of personal injury compensation for you.

*Keep a diary of your symptoms and medical treatment.

Please complete our Personal Injury Compensation Contact form for no obligation legal advice today.