Most people have no experience with medical or personal injury claims. So, most of the time, they miss it or make some silly mistakes, and their claim is rejected. There are certain factors and conditions that you need to consider while claiming the personal injury that we have listed below:
Initial Contact
The first step is contacting the firm to summarise why you think you might have a claim. One of our specialists from their team will then check whether you are in time to bring a claim and are likely to be a good prospect of success and, if so, assess the claim’s potential value. You can contact personal injury Lawyers.
Funding
If the team believe the claim is worthy of further investigation, you will be advised of funding options. A very limited type of claim is eligible for legal funding. Other clients may have legal cover attached to insurance products already (like home insurance). However, the most common form of funding is a no-win, no-fee agreement.
Collecting Records
The first step for the claim is obtaining a complete medical record set. These will be reviewed by an in-house nurse and by a solicitor within the team. Following a review, if your claim looks not to be successful, they will notify the defendant about the situation.
Instructing Experts
It is necessary to prove two tests to be successful with a medical negligence claim; initially, the legal team need to show that the treatment, or lack of treatment, provided to you was unreasonable (breach of duty). The legal team then need to prove that, as a result, harm has been caused (causation). Independent medical experts will be nominated to prepare reports. Experts can only give remarks on areas within their specialities. For example, a GP can only have remarks on the actions of other GPs. may reports are required in many cases. In addition, you may need to be examined by an expert to help them comment on how you can recover. When valuing a claim, such information is very important.
Valuing a Claim
Once the legal team have obtained supportive expert evidence on breach of duty and causation issues, they can start looking at the value of your claim. To value your claim, you must consider your pain and suffering (general damages) and your out-of-pocket expenses (special damages).
General damages are calculated by considering relevant court guidelines and finding the settlements received by other clients in such cases.
In higher-value cases, it might be necessary for an independent specialist to provide some assistance to help in identifying and explaining various items that might assist you.
Presenting a Case to a Defendant
Once all necessary and supportive expert evidence has been collected, the legal team can present a claim to a defendant in a document. That document is called a letter of claim. This will summarise the allegations and gives some detail to value a claim. The defendant will then have four months’ time to investigate, obtain their reports, and confirm whether the claim will be denied or admitted within a letter of response.
Considering the Letter of Response
If the defendant makes admissions, the next step will be to explore a settlement. Offers are made in writing, or, in case of higher value claims, a meeting can be arranged between both parties to attempt to agree on an appropriate amount of compensation. If the defendant denies any wrongdoing, the independent medical experts will need to consider the response letter to confirm whether they still support your claim.
Starting Court Proceedings
If a settlement cannot be reached, it might be necessary to take the help of the court. It may be necessary to arrange a conference with the experts and barrister to test the evidence, which will require a second opinion from a barrister. In the event that the legal team remains confident that the evidence stands up to scrutiny, then court proceedings will be initiated.
Court Timetable
Starting a claim in court does not necessarily mean there will be a trial. Indeed, the vast majority of claims need to get that far. The court will set a timetable to help in speeding up the resolution. Among the directions on the timetable will be exchanging statements from people involved in your treatment and recovery (you and the relevant doctors/nurses), exchanging expert evidence, and even setting a date for your experts to meet with the defendant’s experts to narrow any differences. However, if the parties still cannot settle. A judge must determine the merits and value of a claim at a final trial. An average claim can take 18-24 months.
There is no doubt that claims can be lengthy – on average, they last several years. However, the process will inform you of the next steps and the projected timeframes. Your specialist solicitor will also be helping to solve your queries.
Also, read: Common Causes of Work-related Injuries on Construction Sites
