When all of the relevant evidence has been gathered together, we’ll submit a letter of claim to the party we think was responsible for your accident. Depending on the type of claim, the letter may be sent to the liable party’s insurance provider instead. In most cases, insurers will pay the compensation you’re owed and take an active role in negotiations or - if they believe they aren’t liable - in defending the claim.

At Switalskis, we work to build the strongest possible bank of evidence that leaves no question as to the other party’s liability. Because we take on claims under a conditional fee agreement (also known as a no win, no fee personal injury claim), we only move forward with claims where we’re confident that another party is liable and that you’re owed compensation.

The other party will have a few months in which to investigate the claim, if they need to. In most cases, the other party admits their liability straight away and we can proceed to negotiations, but there are cases where they will deny liability based on the results of an investigation or for other reasons.

The investigation

When a defendant receives a letter of claim for a personal injury matter, they are subject to the pre-action protocol for personal injury claims. This sets out clear timescales and expectations for the investigation and response process.

The first requirement is that the defendant (or their insurer) must acknowledge receipt of the letter of claim within 21 calendar days. If the defendant does not acknowledge the letter of claim within the initial 21-day period, the claimant is entitled to assume the defendant is not engaging with the protocol and may proceed to issue court proceedings without further notice. However, in many cases, your solicitor will renew efforts to reach out to the defendant with the aim of resolving the matter informally, without resorting to court proceedings.

If they acknowledge receiving the letter of claim, the defendant then has a period of around three months to investigate the claim, determine whether or not they believe they are liable for your injuries and provide a full liability response. If the defendant is unable to meet this deadline, they are expected to notify the claimant’s solicitor promptly and explain the reasons for any delay. In such cases, it’s usually worthwhile to accommodate the delay rather than launching court proceedings immediately.

During the investigation period, the defendant and their insurer should carry out a thorough review of all the facts to decide whether to admit or deny liability. They will usually instruct their own legal counsel at this stage, and work to gather evidence that supports their version of events. This evidence will then be subject to analysis to examine the defendant’s legal position and compliance with any relevant laws (such as the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 or the Highway Code).

Responding to the letter of claim

At the end of the investigation window, the defendant must prepare a liability statement based on their findings from the investigation. They’ll either admit liability in full or in part (and state the basis for this), or deny liability, with a clear explanation and any supporting documents that are available.

A third option is to admit liability while alleging contributory negligence. This refers to a situation where the injured party was partly responsible for their injuries, or made the outcome worse than it would have been. In such cases, if both parties agree that contributory negligence was a factor, we must determine to what extent you were responsible for your injuries. For example, if another driver hit your car and you were injured, but your injuries were more severe because you were speeding, this could be factored into your claim.

Your liability is expressed as a percentage and your final compensation amount will be reduced by the same amount. So, if the negotiating parties (or the courts) agree that you’re 25% responsible for the accident, you’ll receive 75% of the compensation you’d otherwise get.

If the defendant admits liability, the claim can proceed to negotiations to reach a settlement. If denied, the claimant may issue court proceedings. If they fail to submit their response within the time allotted for their investigation, we will usually proceed to litigation to secure your compensation. The court may treat the failure to respond as an unreasonable delay, which can result in sanctions or penalties for the other party at the end of the claims process. It can also mean that some defences are no longer available, which can improve your chances of a successful claim.

Negotiations

When the liable party accepts responsibility, we’ll move to negotiations. Once a party has accepted liability, this is usually binding and they cannot withdraw this acceptance without the court’s permission. Even in cases where we have determined to proceed to court, your solicitor will try to negotiate and reach a settlement before the court date arrives Many claims are settled during this period. 

We’ll have outlined how much compensation we think you’re owed in the letter of claim, which means that the liable party will usually respond with a settlement offer at this point. Negotiations are about how much each party believes the claim is worth. Thanks to the evidence we’ve gathered, Switalskis will be able to show exactly how much you’re owed, and will work to secure the maximum amount of compensation possible. If we don’t believe that the other party will offer an appropriate settlement, we can still proceed to court proceedings and let the court decide how much you’re owed. This can be expensive for defendants, so they’re usually incentivised to settle.

What happens next?

If negotiations are unsuccessful at delivering a fair settlement, or the other party disputes their liability, the case will proceed to court .