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It does not matter if you are the driver, passenger, or a pedestrian. If you were involved in a road accident, you should consult with a solicitor if you want to claim compensation for your injuries – from whiplash, broken limbs, back, neck injuries to the far more serious head injuries and other serious injuries.
At the onset, if you were in a hit and run situation, where the driver ran off after hitting you and breaking your bones, you need to make a claim first with the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) for an untraced driver claim. The MIB also has a compensation program for people who were injured by uninsured motorists. In the case of an uninsured driver, you need to file an uninsured driver claim.
In general, if you signed for the legal insurance option on your car's insurance coverage, then you would already have a solicitor when you want to file a claim. Legal insurance options generally cost from between GBP 40 to GBP 90. If you did not opt for legal insurance, do not fret however. Most law firms would be happy to represent you without asking for any legal fees upfront. Remember though to ask about the fees both in a “won” and “lost” situation. Although many law firms brandish "no-win, no-fee" slogans, they tend to forget to mention the fees they charge if you do win a claim. Remember also that there are some that guarantee 100% of your compensation, but do not like to represent the riskier claims.
If you meet a traffic accident, make sure to receive professional medical attention so that your injuries are documented and therefore can be proven. In the United Kingdom, claims for car accidents often fail because the claimant did not rush to a hospital to discuss any pain arising from his injury. Medical notes are the single most important documentation for an accident claim. Apart from proving that you indeed met an accident, the notes will also go to establishing what amount should be awarded to the claimant. Thankfully, in many cases, ambulances are always called on to the scene of accidents, especially when the police are already involved.
In recent years, the number of people claiming for injuries arising from road traffic accidents has increased dramatically. Many are led to believe that the increase in compensation payouts for accidents is causing the sharp rise in insurance premiums. However, this is not entirely correct since the average payouts by insurance companies to claimants are just between GBP 1,500 to GBP 2,000. The amounts cannot even pay for the total of actual damages to the cars involved in the car crashes.
Under the law, all types of vehicles must be insured. Anyone is entitled to make a claim provided they were proven to have been involved in a vehicular accident, and that someone else is responsible for it. You can make a personal injury claim even if the driver that caused the accident is not insured or if the driver conveniently ran away after the accident.