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Personal injury law has lots of myths and misconceptions about it. At www.ukclaimlawyers.co.uk they like to be as transparent as possible with the facts, so below, you will find five of the most common myths along with answers to help you understand them better:
- You can make a claim whenever
There is actually a strict time limit in place to which personal injury claims must be brought forward in the United Kingdom. Under the Limitation Act 1980, that time limit is three years and that three-year limit begins from the date your accident happened, or from the date your injuries were first diagnosed. After three years, personal injury claims become statute-barred thus preventing you or a lawyer from bringing them forward.
- You cannot make a claim for a minor
This is not true. The parent or the legal guardian of a minor can make a claim on the minor’s behalf as their ‘litigation friend’. A minor is anybody under the age of 18. There is no time limit to bringing forward a claim under the circumstances either. So if a minor suffers injuries at the age of 7, then the parent or legal guardian can bring a claim forward some 10 years later when the victim is aged 17.
- You can make a claim with 100 per cent liability
Unfortunately, you cannot bring a claim forward if you were 100 per cent responsible for the accident which caused your injuries. So if there is evidence indicating that you were to blame completely for your accident (such as emergency service reports), then it you cannot bring your claim forward. To have a claim, you have to have a level of diminished liability, otherwise, the other side will be under no obligation to pay you financial compensation.
- ‘No win, no fee’ means ‘no fees’
‘No win, no fee’ agreements stipulate that the claimant should have no fees to pay upfront nor during the claims process, or in the event that their claim is unsuccessful. However, they do not stop the claimant from racking up a bill of costs from the other side in the event that their claim is unsuccessful. The other side may still bill you for their costs. To eliminate this risk, a reputable law firm will build ‘after the event’ insurance into the agreement.
- Claims take months to process
While there are a portion of claims that 6-12 months to process, the reality is that many claims can actually be processed in 6-8 weeks by a reputable law firm. The length of time it will take to process yours depends on the complexity of your case. The higher the level of investigation required to build your case, the longer it will take. The efficiency of the other side also has to be factored in, when determining a timeframe for claim completion.