Serious Injury Claims

Our team of experienced personal injury lawyers are specialists in serious injury claims and over the past twenty years have helped hundreds of clients to recover millions of pounds which has been used to aid their recovery and to fund their future lives.  We have particular expertise in claims involving serious head and brain injuries, limb loss and amputations, full and partial paralysis and severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

We provide a free initial assessment to determine whether a claim may be possible, and where it is we can usually offer no win, no fee funding to enable you to proceed with no upfront costs and with no financial risk in the event that your claim does not succeed.  We may even be able to act for you where other solicitors have said that a claim is not possible, given our experience in handling unusually complex cases. Please call us now on 0800 1956412 to find out more and to arrange a free, no obligation appointment.

How we can help

We can assist where you have suffered a serious and traumatic injury as a result of:

• a road traffic accident, including a cycling accident, a motorbike accident or a pedestrian accident;
• an accident at work, including where you have sustained an industrial injury such as the onset of mesothelioma;
• an accident while in a public place, such as a slip, trip or fall accident in a supermarket;
• an accident at a public venue or in a private property;
• an accident involving a dog bite or animal attack;
• an accident while travelling by air, rail or sea;
• an accident while abroad; or
• an accident arising from a criminal act in which you were an innocent bystander.

We can also help where a serious injury ultimately results in death, by supporting the family of the deceased person to bring a fatal accident claim.

For injuries sustained while under the care of a private or NHS hospital, GP or other medical professional, please visit our medical negligence webpage.

How is personal injury compensation calculated?

Personal injury compensation is split into two distinct categories, described in legal terms as ‘general damages’ and ‘special damages’.

General damages are designed to compensate you for the hurt that your injuries have caused, as well as the impact they have had on your life and ability to do the things that have previously brought you joy.  Under this category of compensation you can claim for:

• your physical pain and suffering;
• mental anguish and psychological harm;
• permanent disability or disfigurement;
• loss of pleasure in everyday life;
• inability to pursue your interests and hobbies; and
• loss of companionship where your injuries have impacted on your ability to form or maintain personal relationships.

Special damages are designed to compensate you for the financial losses that you have, or will, incur as a result of the injuries you have suffered, as well as any additional costs that you may have to bear.  In most cases, this category of compensation will allow you to claim for:

• past and future loss of earnings, including any benefits package offered as part of your job;
• loss or reduction in pension entitlement, due to decreased contributions by you and your employer;
• private medical treatment and rehabilitation therapies;
• mobility aids and state of the art prosthetics;
• home, garden and vehicle adaptions;
• purchase or rental of a new home where adaptions are not feesible;
• employment of a home help;
• provision of a full or part time ‘at home’ carer; and
• residential care home fees where it is necessary for you to now live in an institutional facility.

For further information, please read our blog titled ‘How is personal injury compensation calculated?’

How much compensation am I likely to receive?

The amount of compensation you receive will depend on the severity of the injuries you have sustained, the extent to which you can be expected to recover and the impact that your injuries will have on your life going forward.  We work with a network of highly experienced and accredited medical and financial experts who can help us to accurately assess the full amount of compensation that you rightfully deserve.

In recent years, the solicitors in our serious injury claims team have been successful in recovering:

• £1.5 million for a client who suffered a severe spinal injury in an accident at work;
• £800,000 for a client who suffered severe lower limb injuries in a road traffic collision;
• £700,000 for a client who suffered a severe spinal injury and crippling psychological trauma in a sporting accident;
• £250,000 for a client who suffered a moderate spinal injury in an accident at work;
• £125,000 for a client who suffered a moderate brain injury and psychological trauma in an accident at work;
• £122,000 for a client who suffered a severe injury to their hand and wrist in an accident at work;
• £100,000 for a client who suffered head, neck and shoulder injuries following a road accident; and
• £100,000 for a client who developed mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos while working for a telecommunications company.

To find out more, please view our catalogue of success stories and see the individual profiles for our expert personal injury lawyers Abid Hussain, Anna Rushton and Dominic Jones.

When will a serious injury claim be possible?

Compensation claims for serious personal injuries can only be pursued where an accident has occurred which was not wholly your fault.  They must also generally be begun within three years of the injuries being sustained, although there are exceptions to this rule which are outlined below in the section titled ‘time limits for bringing a claim.’  We will assess the circumstances in which your accident occurred and tell you whether we think a claim is possible and, if so, how likely it is that any claim you make will succeed.

What does the claims process involve? 

The process for making a claim can be broken down into five stages:

Most serious personal accident claims will go through all five stages, although it is rare for a case to have to be pursued all the way to a formal hearing before a judge (known as a trial) because a mutually acceptable settlement is nearly always agreed at some point before this becomes necessary.

How long does the claims process take?

Serious injury cases can take a number of years to resolve, primarily because of the need to wait for a certain period of time in order to see how your recovery goes and so that we can accurately assess what your future needs are likely to be, based on your final prognosis.

Hearing this can be off-putting for a lot of people, but it is important to say that by being patient about the speed with which your claim is progressed you can ensure that you receive the full amount of compensation to which you are properly entitled.  You can also spend the time that it takes to resolve your case focusing on getting better, and usually with the benefit of specialist rehabilitation services that we can help you to access and with the support of one or more interim payments provided by your opponent.

Time limit 

While it is important not to rush in getting your claim finalised, it is important to act quickly when it comes to seeking initial advice and determining whether or not a catastrophic injury claim may be possible.  This is because all claims for serious injury compensation are subject to time limits which must be abided by.  If they are not, your right to claim compensation may be lost.

The time limit applicable to your claim will depend on your circumstances, but by way of broad overview most claims must be brought within three years from the date on which your injuries occurred.  This is unless the person on whose behalf the claim is being made is:

• a child – in which case the claim must be brought before their 21^st birthday;
• an adult who lacks mental capacity – in which case no time limit applies; or
• someone who has died – in which case the claim must be brought within three years of death occurring.

There is also a two year time limit for claims being made for injuries sustained as a result of a criminal act, where compensation will be sought under the terms of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, and a variety of different time limits for claims being made in respect of an injury which occurred in an accident abroad.

Why choose Step Legal to handle your claim?

Our personal injury specialists understand the devastating impact that a serious injury can have and the extensive support that you and your family will need as you try to make sense of what has happened and find a way to move forward.

We know that in the weeks and months after your accident, your focus will need to be on getting well and on securing access to whatever treatments and rehabilitation therapies are available to aid your recovery and improve your eventual prognosis.  We also understand that concerns about money may start to weigh heavily on your mind and that if these are not addressed quickly then your mental health could begin to suffer.

Our role is to help you deal with the challenges that you face and to secure you the financial, physical and emotional support that you need to overcome them.  We will liaise with medical experts to ensure that you receive appropriate care and arrange for you to be treated privately where needed. We will help you to obtain state of the art prosthetics and mobility aids and ensure that you and your family are housed in accommodation that meets your needs.  We will assess your financial position and seek compensation that is designed to ensure that you are not left out of pocket.  And finally, we will look to the future and do everything we can to put in place measures to ensure that your life going forward is as happy and fulfilling as it can possibly be and that you have as much freedom and independence as can realistically be achieved.

Need more information?

For more information, please contact us on 0800 1956412.  We offer a free claims assessment service and can usually take cases on under an insurance backed

no win, no fee arrangement so that you can proceed with no initial outlay and no financial risk in the event that your claim does not succeed.  Our lawyers represent clients all over the country – not just in Crewe and the surrounding Cheshire and Staffordshire area – and are prepared to travel in appropriate cases in order to meet clients and their families face to face, to attend meetings with experts and to provide representation for you in court.