It’s unfortunate if you find yourself in an accident and get injured in the process. It can mean long days away from work, regular treatments, and a certain level of physical and emotional pain and suffering. If the personal injury (as it is commonly known in legal cases) is severe, you may no longer be able to work anymore and your quality of life may significantly decrease.
So far, there’s no time machine that can take you back to that fateful moment so that you can avoid the accident. However, if the accident and the injury are caused by another person’s or party’s lack of care, or in other words negligence, you will probably be due some form of compensation and to start that process you’ll need to file a personal injury claim.
What Are Personal Injury Claims For?
A personal injury claim is a way of getting compensation for different factors related to your accident such as any costs you may have had, income you may have lost, pain or suffering you may have endured. Often, when you are injured while at work or when traveling, for example, it’s the insurance company that pays. However, what normally happens is that the award is never enough for what you realistically need. Worse still, some defendants don’t want to take any responsibility whatsoever.
With a claim for compensation, you’re not only trying to tell the person or party responsible for your injury that you should be given the compensation what’s due to you, but you are also hinting you are ready to take legal action if necessary.
Usually, when we speak of personal injury, the word “solicitor” is never far behind. A specialist personal injury solicitor typically works in a firm that specialises in almost all types of personal injuries.
The Expertise Of Personal Injury Solicitors?
The law in the United Kingdom, nevertheless, doesn’t consider having a personal injury solicitor mandatory. In other words, you can represent yourself in and out of court if you so wish. Doing so, though, is considered a bad idea for a lot of reasons:
- Laws are very complex. With so many laws that can affect your claim, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed and be led to the wrong arguments and ideas. This can already make your claim begin in a losing situation.
A personal injury solicitor has the technical know-how, skill, and expertise to help you navigate through all the legal jargon. Moreover, they are able to give you a better idea about how the claims process works and even prepare you mentally, especially when the claim has to be brought to court.
- Your personal struggles can get in the way. Having any accident and experiencing its sad consequences can already be very stressful both physically and emotionally. It may even be worse when you’re forced to regularly meet the defendant or recount the experience. It’s like beating yourself over and over with the same source of trauma.
A solicitor, on the other hand, can represent you in court, and you don’t even have to be present at all times. This way, you can focus more on your treatment and recovery.
- Not all cases are worth a claim. This is a fact. Just because you’re injured doesn’t necessarily mean you can already make a compensation claim out of it. The solicitor is going to evaluate your story and determine whether there’s cause for compensation, or not. Otherwise, pushing for it can mean unnecessary expenses and stress on your part.
Do you need a solicitor for personal injury claims? When you consider the reasons, the answer is almost definitely yes.