A serious or catastrophic injury can leave you facing long-term pain, suffering and significant financial losses. You may lose earnings when you take time off work to recover, or need to pay for private treatment, physiotherapy or counselling. People who experience life-changing injuries often need to make expensive adaptations to their homes or vehicles to accommodate a newly acquired disability, and to restore their quality of life. The personal injury claims process is designed to enable you to recover compensation that will take all of this into account, and help you to move forward following complex and life-changing injuries sustained in an accident that wasn't your fault.

Here, the team at Switalskis presents a serious injury guide that explains how the claims process works, when you can claim compensation and how much compensation you can claim for serious injuries. Speak to our serious injury solicitors to learn more about the process of a personal injury case and how we can help you at all stages of the process by calling 0800 138 0458 or using the form on our site.

What counts as a serious injury?

There is no legal definition of a serious injury, but the term generally refers to injuries that have significant, long-term or life-changing effects. This may include severe physical injuries such as traumatic brain injuries, life-changing spinal cord damage, paralysis, amputations or multiple fractures, and those resulting in serious psychological harm like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe depression or anxiety linked to the incident.

Injuries that affect your ability to work, live independently or carry out daily activities will usually be considered serious, even where early rehabilitation or medical treatment means that these effects are not permanent. With this said, any injury that leads to a permanent disability or a need for ongoing care or major rehabilitation will fall into this category.

What are the stages of a serious injury claim?

While every claim is different, there are key steps that must always be taken. The time it takes for the process to unfold, the possible outcomes and the potential value of a claim will differ every time, but the important developments will always unfold as follows.

Before you claim

Your eligibility to claim compensation is based on a number of factors, and speaking to a solicitor is the easiest way to determine whether or not you can move forward with a claim. However, there are early actions you can take to make a claim stronger and make sure you receive the full amount of compensation you're entitled to.

Immediately after an accident, you should seek proper medical attention. Your medical records are central evidence, so make sure to seek treatment as soon as possible and attend all follow-ups. Gaps in treatment or failure to follow medical advice may be used to challenge the severity of your injuries. On the other hand, thorough medical records can be used to chart the development of any injuries and predict how they may worsen or how your needs could change over time.

If you're in a position to do so, document everything from the scene of the accident to the ongoing impact of your injuries. Write down what happened and include details like the time, place and weather conditions, if you believe that they could have been a part of how the accident occurred. Note your pain levels, mobility issues, sleep disruption and how your daily life is affected, both after the accident and during your recovery.

If you are in a position to do so, you should also try to collect:

• Photos and videos of the scene, your injuries, any hazards and damage to your property, where relevant
• Names and contact details of witnesses
• Accident reports (e.g. from a workplace incident book, police reference)

To secure the latter, you must officially report the accident and have it recorded. If the incident happened at a workplace - whether your work or simply premises that are open to the public - a manager should note the incident in an accident book. For a road traffic accident case, the incident should be reported to the police, while incidents in public places can be reported to the local authority.

Keep records of financial losses or any money you spend, and any communication between yourself and any other parties involved. Avoid signing anything from insurers without advice from an experienced serious injury lawyer. Major insurers will often step in early to make a low settlement offer, particularly for road traffic accidents and related injuries. You should not accept this type of offer without speaking to a solicitor, as this is often much lower than the compensation you are owed.

Even if you cannot take all of the steps above, you should not wait to get in touch with a solicitor. There’s a three-year time limit for most personal injury claims, and failing to meet the relevant deadlines will mean that you miss your chance to claim. Acting early makes evidence stronger and easier to gather, which will improve your chances of a successful claim. If you have further questions, learn more in our guide on what you can do before a claim .

Initial consultation

The case formally begins when you contact our solicitors. We offer a free initial consultation during which we can discuss the circumstances of your accident and the nature of your injury. This allows us to determine whether you're able to claim, and gives the first indication of how much compensation you may be owed. We always tailor our approach to the specific needs of the person involved, and if a serious injury means that you can't visit our office or that you need support with communication, we're happy to accommodate this.

Gathering evidence

We need to gather evidence to prove both that you're eligible to claim compensation because someone else was at fault for your injuries, and how much compensation you're owed. The fundamental eligibility requirements for a serious injury claim are that another party owed you a duty of care, that they breached it, and that this caused the accident.

Many people owe you a duty of care, including your employer when you're at work, or business owners when you're on their premises and other drivers when you're on the road. While it's sometimes easy to establish that the other party breached their duty of care, we must also link it directly to the injuries you experienced.

Evidence that we might use to establish these facts includes:

• Accident/incident reports (workplace log, police report)
• CCTV or dashcam footage showing the accident taking place
• Photos of the scene of the accident, the progression of your injury and its impact on your lifestyle
• Witness statements
• Maintenance or inspection records (or a lack of them)
• Training records (especially for workplace claims)
• Medical records and notes
• An expert opinion from an independent medical professional, which will be arranged by your solicitor
• Payslips, P60s, and other financial documents that show lost earnings
• Receipts or invoices for treatment, travel, medication and other costs you can claim back
• A personal diary of symptoms and limitations

Your solicitor will help you to gather evidence and advise you on building a strong claim. In complex cases involving serious injuries and many types of evidence, we'll act quickly to file your claim and meet the relevant deadlines, but we'll still have time to collect evidence after this stage.

Notifying the defendant

After we've gathered enough evidence, we'll send a formal letter to notify the person we believe was responsible for your injuries, or their insurance provider. In almost all cases the responsible party will have car insurance, public liability insurance or another type of cover that means you will receive the compensation you need following a successful claim.

This involves drafting a letter of claim that outlines all of the following details:

• Your details and those of the defendant, where they are known
• A summary of the facts with a clear, chronological account of when, where and how the incident happened
• Details of the evidence we have collected to establish these facts
• Our allegations of why the defendant was at fault
• A description of the injuries you suffered and how much compensation you're seeking
• A deadline to respond - the defendant's representatives must usually acknowledge receipt within 21 days, and provide a full response with an admission or denial of liability within three months
• A statement that court proceedings may be started if no satisfactory response is received

This begins the pre-action protocol for a personal injury claim and, if you have a strong case, it can be decisive. You can also ask for relevant documents to be disclosed as part of this notification letter, which may include accident reports, CCTV footage, and any maintenance records or risk assessments that were carried out before your accident.

The defendant's response

A defendant and their insurance providers will investigate the circumstances of the accident to determine whether or not they believe they are liable. If the claimant's solicitors have built a strong body of evidence and made a persuasive argument, the other party will accept liability and we can move directly to negotiations over how much compensation you're owed.

Most personal injury claims are settled out of court through negotiations between the claimant's and defendant's representatives. Only in cases where the other party does not accept their liability, or will not agree to a fair compensation amount during negotiations, will it be necessary to send matters to court. Even when the claim is listed for a court date, negotiations will continue and commonly we will reach a fair settlement before the court process begins.

Court proceedings

During court proceedings, your solicitor will present the evidence we've gathered to the court to seek an award of damages based on your pain, suffering and financial losses. If you need to attend court yourself, we'll take the time to prepare you for what to expect, but this isn't always necessary. When you claim with Switalskis under a no win, no fee agreement, there are no extra costs for taking your claim to court or the additional work involved in the litigation process.

Settlement and compensation

When your claim is successful, you'll receive your compensation. This may be in the form of a lump sum, or in ongoing payments, depending on your needs. Where claimants have urgent financial needs to take care of, we will sometimes be able to secure early interim payments, which means that you'll receive a portion of your compensation before the claims process fully concludes. This is possible in cases where the defendant has accepted liability, but where the full compensation amount has not yet been agreed.

How much compensation will I get?

Compensation varies in every case, particularly in serious injury claims where long-term needs must be considered. We assess how much you may be owed based on the nature and severity of your injuries, along with any financial impact the incident has had.

To reflect the full impact of the injury, compensation is split into general damages and special damages. General damages compensate for the pain, suffering and personal consequences of the injury. This includes not only physical injuries, but the psychological impact of an injury and any loss of amenity (quality of life), which refers to how your quality of life is affected. If you are no longer able to take part in hobbies that you used to enjoy, or manage day-to-day activities for yourself, this part of your compensation will be much higher than for an injury with no permanent impact on your life. General damages are assessed using medical evidence and the Judicial College Guidelines, which establish minimum and maximum compensation ranges for different types of injuries.

Special damages cover financial losses and expenses, both past and future, tied to the accident. You can often claim back:

• Lost earnings during your recovery, and future loss of earnings if your ability to work is affected
• Medical and rehabilitation costs for private treatment, physiotherapy
• Care and assistance, whether professional care or help from family and friends
• Travel expenses to and from appointments
• Adaptations like home modifications or mobility aids
• Equipment such as wheelchairs, prosthetics and specialist assistive technology

We will use evidence such as payslips, invoices, receipts, and expert reports to make sure you receive full compensation for any such losses.

Find out how Switalskis can help you

Every serious injury claim is different, and it's only possible to cover the basics without a full understanding of your experience. The best way to get expert advice and guidance on the legal process and the compensation you could be owed is to speak to an experienced solicitor.

The Switalskis serious injury team has extensive experience handling complex and high-value catastrophic injury claims and a strong track record of success in claims of this type. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help and what to expect from your claim. Call Switalskis on 0800 138 0458 or get in touch via the form on our site.