Our specialist personal injury lawyers are here to make things easier for you and your family. Every year we help thousands of people claim for personal injury, and over the past two years we’ve helped our clients recover more than £1.5 billion in compensation.
Compensation is only part of the story though, and our solicitors could also help you access the rehabilitation, medical care and support you need to make the best recovery possible.
What Is A Personal Injury Claim?
“Personal injury” is the legal term for an injury or illness that has been caused (or made worse) by someone else’s negligence. If you’ve suffered in these circumstances you may be able to make a personal injury claim to recover compensation from those responsible.
How Long Do You Have To Make A Claim?
You normally have three years to start your personal injury claim.
This time limit is usually from the date of your accident. However, in some cases it can be from the date you became aware your injury was due to negligence (in the case of a workplace illness for instance).
There are exceptions to the three year rule – and sometimes the time limit is shorter. If you think you might have a claim, it’s important to contact us as soon as possible.
What Types Of Personal Injury Can You Claim For?
Some of the common types of personal injury we help people claim for include:
How Much Personal Injury Compensation Could You Receive?
The consequences of the same injury or illness will vary between individuals. So the amount of compensation you could receive will be personal to you.
Our personal injury solicitors are experienced in accurately valuing claims based on your particular circumstances, to ensure you get the compensation you deserve.
Why Choose Us?
We are one of the leading firms of personal injury solicitors in the UK. Every year we successfully make thousands of claims on behalf of our clients. Over the past two years we have recovered more than £1.5 billion in compensation.
We have a nationwide network of offices – meaning that we’re never too far away. In many circumstances we can travel to you.
Our lawyers are friendly and will keep you updated using plain English. They are backed by our Support and Rehabilitation Coordinators, who can help you access the care and support services you need to make the best recovery possible.
Contact Us
For a free consultation about your case, call us free on 0800 056 4110 or contact us online and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Your personal injury solicitor will need several things to help make your claim. These generally fall into three categories:
Evidence that helps prove someone else was responsible for your injuries
Evidence of your injuries (such as medical records)
Evidence of any expenses you have incurred as a result of your injuries.
We'll need your permission to access your medical records. And it's likely that you'll have to attend an independent medical examination too.
Don’t worry if you don’t have certain documents or items – but in general, the more you have the better. The golden rules are to:
Keep everything – receipts, letters, emails – that might be useful to your claim
Take photos of the scene of your accident as soon after the event as possible
Make a note of any witnesses to your accident, and take down their contact details.
Even if you can’t provide evidence of your injuries, don’t be put off making a claim. We will investigate the circumstances fully.
Free Initial Consultation
When you contact us, you’ll speak to one of our friendly team members, who will talk to you about your injuries or illness. This initial consultation is free, confidential and from there, we’ll advise you on the best way to take your claim forward and if there are any steps we can take straight away to help with your immediate needs.
Contacting Those Responsible For Your Injuries
We’ll contact those responsible for your accident or illness to see if they accept responsibility for what happened. If they accept responsibility, we’ll try to secure interim payments, which can fund any immediate medical care, rehabilitation and expenses while your claim is ongoing. These interim payments will be taken out of your final compensation award.
Gathering The Evidence
Our experts will look into your case in detail, gathering evidence from various sources such as witnesses and independent medical professionals.
We’ll employ medical professionals to find out how your accident or illness impacted your health and recommend the care, rehabilitation and support you’ll need in the future in order to make the best recovery possible.
Final Settlement & Compensation Awarded
We’ll always try and negotiate claims out of court. However, if your opponent doesn’t accept responsibility or doesn’t agree with the amount of compensation we feel you need, we’ll start court proceedings.
Even when trial dates have been set, claims are still often settled before reaching court. If your claim needs to be decided at court, we’ll be there to help you every step of the way, talking you through what will happen so you feel as comfortable as possible.
Every personal injury case is different, so there’s no set amount of compensation you’ll receive. The amount of compensation you’ll get will depend on your circumstances, the severity of your injuries and the long term impact.
To work out how much compensation you’re entitled to, we’ll take into account factors such as:
Expenses – including travel expenses to medical appointments, medical equipment and things that help with practical day-to-day living.
Loss of earnings – to cover any time you’ve had off work and time off you may need in the future. This figure can also cover matters such as not returning to the same role or not being able to return to work.
Pain and suffering – caused by your injury or illness.
Rehabilitation – to help provide the necessary rehabilitation for your recovery and well-being.
Adaptations – we can help you adapt your home and vehicle after an injury to help with living independently.
Care – to provide for any care and support you may need.
If you’d like to make a compensation claim, contact us to set up a free initial consultation on 0800 056 4110.
If you have a personal injury claim underway with another law firm and you’re concerned about the way it has been handled, you can ask for a second opinion. We’ve helped many people who’ve been dissatisfied with the advice or service they’ve received, and will make your transition between firms as smooth as possible.
If you’ve received poor quality service, we suggest that you present your concerns to your current lawyers first. After this, we’re happy to offer a second opinion and will give you free independent advice on your claim so you can make an informed choice about moving.
We’ll provide you with honest guidance about your claim and will quickly decide how we can best help proceed with your case.
If you decide to move your case to us, you won’t have to worry about a thing as we’ll take care of all the necessary arrangements.
By making a claim with us, you’ll deal with friendly and professional lawyers who’ll take time to get to know you and understand what happened to you. You’ll benefit from our expert knowledge of compensation claims and will be represented by a lawyer with a specialism in a particular area of personal injury law.
Our solicitors are based across the country and have the knowledge and experience to make a real difference to your life, securing you the compensation you need to move forward. We handle thousands of successful personal injury claims each year, and have secured more than £1.5 billion in compensation for our clients over the last two years.
Your lawyer will run your case as efficiently as possible and will start investigating your claim immediately. We’ll always provide you with clear advice that can help you with a variety of issues relating to your claim. We can offer advice on financial issues, state benefits and claiming against your employer, if the injury or illness you suffered was while you were at work.
Our Personal Injury team has been applauded by leading legal guides, Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500. In 2022, Chambers & Partners said: "Irwin Mitchell is truly standout in this area, with quality and depth right across the board". The Legal 500, in 2022, described us as “the only claimant firm with the infrastructure capable of taking on large, high risk and important cases”.
We’re also proud to have won the Claimant Solicitor of the Year prize at the Rehabilitation First Awards on seven different occasions. This award recognises our key focus on rehabilitation, making sure that our clients can access the care and support they need.
Most of the personal injury claims we handle do not go to court.
Even if we have to go through the court process, and a hearing date is set, it’s not unusual for your opponent to try and settle your claim before.
There are usually two reasons we might have to take your claim to court:
There is a dispute about responsibility for your injury
There is a dispute about the amount of compensation we’re claiming.
If your claim does go to court, rest assured that our personal injury solicitors are extremely experienced in this area. Our team have taken cases as high as the Supreme Court, and have helped shape the law through our work.
We understand that you may be worried about appearing in court. While it’s unlikely you will, if you have to we’ll make sure you’re fully prepared and will be there to support you throughout the process.
The compensation means that I can have the care that I really need rather than what’s provided as a bare minimum."
Rosie, client
Client Story ‐ Jaxx Cave
The Road To Recovery
Jacqueline ‘Jaxx’ Cave was left with a shattered skull after being hit by a bus outside her office in Croydon. Initially doctors said it was unlikely that Jaxx would survive after her accident, or have very little quality of life if she did. However, surpassing expectation, Jaxx learnt to walk, talk and feed herself again with the help of our support and rehabilitation coordinators.
Our personal injury solicitors helped Jaxx make a compensation claim so she could access the ongoing care and rehabilitation she’ll need for the rest of her life. As Jaxx will never be able to work again because of her injuries, her settlement will cover her lost earnings and will also allow her to live as independently as possible.
“My rehabilitation team have helped me feel that I can contribute to society and that I can perhaps now help others who find themselves on the same long road to recovery.”
”I might have always survived, but they have helped me to thrive and for that I truly cannot thank them enough.” - Jaxx, client
If you’ve suffered an injury because of an accident that was someone else’s fault, you could be entitled to make a personal injury claim. Our personal injury solicitors are aware that you could be making a claim for a number of reasons including to access compensation and to make sure that the person or organisation responsible for your injuries is held to account.
You are able to make a claim on behalf of someone else, including:
On behalf of a child who was involved in an accident before their 18th birthday
For someone who doesn’t have the mental capacity to handle their own case
On behalf of a loved one who has unfortunately passed away
If you’ve lost your loved one in an accident or due to illness where someone else was to blame, we could help you with:
Getting compensation for your loved one’s pain and suffering, to account for financial losses caused by the death and to cover funeral expenses
Representing you at inquest
Dependency claims – helping you access inheritance that wasn’t left in your loved one’s Will
Understanding what happened to your loved one
Our lawyers could also help you access a statutory bereavement award, a flat rate of £15,120 which is provided when a wrongful death has occurred. This is available if you’re the spouse, civil partner or parent (if under 18) of the person who died.
To find out more about making a personal injury claim, contact us free on 0800 056 4110.
How Long Do I Have To Make A Claim?
You normally have to make a personal injury claim within three years of the date of accident or the date of diagnosis for your illness, so you should contact us as soon as possible. By getting in touch with us earlier, it can help with the preparation of your claim as there are often fewer problems finding witnesses whose statements we need to support your case.
There are some exceptions to the three year time limit, including:
Claims on behalf of children – these can be made at any point before their 18th birthday. When the child reaches 18, they can make their own claim at any stage up until they turn 21.
Criminal injury claims – if you’ve been hurt in a violent crime, your case will be handled by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) who set a time limit of two years to make a claim after an incident.
Mental capacity – there are no time limits to make a claim on behalf of someone who doesn’t have the ability to handle their own case.
Fatal claims – to make a claim on behalf of your loved one, you’ll have three years from the date they died to make a claim. If a post-mortem found that the death was caused by an accident or illness, you have three years from the date you were informed.
Accidents on board ships – after an accident on a cruise liner or ferry, you’ll usually have two years to make a claim from the date when you left the ship. The same time limit applies on board cargo ships but will count from the date of your injury.
International flights – if you had an accident after you went through passport control, you’re technically classed as being on board an international flight. After an accident on an international flight, you’ll have two years to make a claim from your arrival at your final destination.
Domestic flights – claims have to be made within two years of the time when you landed.
Accidents/illnesses abroad – different time limits apply overseas depending on the country’s laws. We suggest you contact us as soon as possible to find out more.
If you would like to make a personal injury claim, we urge you to contact us as soon as possible so you do not exceed the time limit applied in your case. The courts do have the option to allow a case to progress after the stipulated time limit but these occurrences don’t very happen very often. Call us today on 0800 056 4110 for a free initial consultation to discuss your situation.
Can You Help Me Access Rehabilitation And Medical Care?
By making a personal injury claim with us, our lawyers will work hard to ensure that you get compensation which allows you to access the rehabilitation and support you need. Specialist medical care can be invaluable, helping you make the best recovery possible from your injuries.
Because of our years of experience in handling personal injury claims, we’ve seen how rehabilitation can make a huge difference to your recovery and long term well-being. If you need rehabilitation, our solicitors will work with our in-house support and rehabilitation coordinators, support groups and care providers to set up a plan for your care in the future.
We’ll always take the time to understand your needs and what you’d like to get out of your rehabilitation programme. If you already have rehabilitation treatment on the NHS, we can work alongside them and help you access any other support that you may need.
We’ve helped thousands of people access life-changing rehabilitation and support and our commitment has been awarded by Rehabilitation First, who have presented us with the Claimant Solicitor of the Year prize for our work seven times.
All Scottish cases will be handled by the Scottish law firm with which we are associated, Irwin Mitchell Scotland LLP. The law relating to funding is different in Scotland and you will receive separate advice about what that means as well as a separate funding agreement.
*To make a No Win No Fee claim, you need to enter into an agreement that's linked to a suitable insurance policy. We'll explain this in more detail before we start your claim.
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All Scottish cases will be handled by the Scottish law firm with which we are associated,