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[C124]Car Accident Injury Compensation

by Ankit, Ank

Legal Claim UK is a national network of specialist personal injury solicitors operating nationwide throughout the United Kingdom who offer free car accident compensation advice. If you have been injured in an accident within the last three years that wasn't your fault you should contact us. You will receive a complete professional service from lawyers who specialise in claiming damages for personal injury.
Obtaining damages for personal injury can be a daunting task especially if you're not familiar with the procedures. If you have suffered a personal injury in an accident within the last three years that was not your fault you can usually make a claim from against the other driver involved. Most drivers are insured and a claim is effectively made against the insurers however a significant percentage of drivers are uninsured and in these cases a claim must be made to the 'Motor Insurers Bureau' (MIB) which is a fund set up to compensate the victims of uninsured or untraced drivers. The MIB has complex technical rules and these cases should always be supervised by a solicitor to ensure that the opportunity to claim is not lost due to an inadvertent breach of the MIB rules.
To claim damages you need to be able to prove that the collision was not your fault and that someone else was responsible. That means that it is necessary to prove negligence. In simple terms negligence is a failure to take reasonable care for the safety of others. Even if a driver is partly to blame it is still possible to claim against the other party using the doctrine of 'contributory negligence'. This means that if the accident was 30% your fault, then any damages that would otherwise have been paid by the other driver's insurers on a full liability basis are reduced by 30%. This type of arrangement does of course open the door for the other driver to claim 30% of his full liability damages against your insurers.
Certain classes of claimant can never be held to contribute including passengers who will always recover damages in full not withstanding that it may have been their own driver who was at fault. One spouse will often be able to claim car accident compensation against their husband or wife if they are injured in an accident caused by their driver's negligence. Degrees of family relationship are irrelevant when considering compensation for negligence.
Notwithstanding that car accident compensation claims are commonplace there are large numbers of solicitors who deal with them as only part of their workload and could not by any stretch of the imagination be said to be experts. Our solicitors deal exclusively in accident claims involving personal injury and many of them deal only in road traffic claims. Whilst almost any firm of solicitors will take on one of these claims it might no be your best bet to use someone who is not engaged in this work full time. We can guarantee you that your case will be handled by a specialist who is a member of the Law Society panel of personal injury experts and is also a member of The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. Our solicitors all have a track record of many years' successful claims settlements and your case will be in safe experienced hands.
Compensation that can be claimed is divided into two categories;
Special Damages represents compensation for items that can be calculated accurately and includes lost wages, medical expenses, damaged property and general expenses.
General Damages represents compensation for items that in the main must be assessed by a Judge and include pain and suffering for the injury, damages for loss of a desirable life style and loss of opportunity on the open labour market in the future.
The assessment of damages for pain and suffering is a matter of great difficulty. Money can never adequately compensate for physical injury however Judges use the wisdom of previously decided cases and are guided by a publication from 'The Judicial Studies Board' which sets of the basic figures applicable for various types of injury. Awards made by Judges may also be subject to appeal to a higher court if one party finds the award unsatisfactory.

If you have been involved in such an accident you may wish to make a claim against the other driver. If you decided to pursue a claim it is advisable to check that you have enough evidence to bring about a viable case. Some of the things taken into account by the insurers or solicitors are the following:

* Firstly in the event of a car accident it is essential that the following criteria have been met at the scene. This helps both with insurance claims and any resulting personal injury claims, for example, if someone wishes to file a whiplash claim at a later date.
* The protocol at the scene of an accident on the road is firstly to stop. All vehicles should be accountable for any accident no matter how small. Consider whether the emergency services need to be called or whether medical attention should be sought.
* Check whether there were any witnesses, this is important for insurance claims and police reports. Each of the drivers involved should exchange details. Once again this means everyone involved is accountable later and makes life easier in the event of any type of claim made against the accident.
* If details are not exchanged at the scene, you must report the accident at a police station within 24 hours and be able to produce your certificate of insurance to the duty constable. If a car without insurance hits you, there is a government body called the Motors Insurers Bureau who have been set up by insurers and the Government to help compensate you should you be in an accident with an uninsured car.

If these procedures have been followed at the time of the accident and you feel you have a case to bring against the other driver you will be better placed to get compensation.

You can then go about finding a solicitor or specialist claims company to see whether you have a viable personal injury claim (such as a whiplash claim).

There are many companies available on the Internet and most offer a no-win-no-fee basis for each case - often such a specialist will have a great deal of experience with the legal requirements of such a case and offer specialist advice as to the evidence required and likelihood of success. Because of their experience, a specialist claims company will very often stand a higher chance of success than pursuing a claim yourself. 1stclaims have specialist solicitors across the country ready to help you.

For a no obligation free enquiry please visit our website at http://www.1stclaims.co.uk/accident-at-work/claim.php or ring us on 0800 2888 693.

Article Source : Accident Compensation Claim

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Both Ankit & Nick Jervis are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Ankit has sinced written about articles on various topics from Legal Matters, Accident Compensation and Car Rental. Ankit is a well know author who writes for www.legal-claim.co.uk. Ankit's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.

Nick Jervis has sinced written about articles on various topics from Legal Matters, Auto Insurance and Motorola Cell Phone. If you have any queries relating to a please visit our wesbite.. Nick Jervis's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.