How Does Personal Injury Compensation Work?
A legal term for an illness or an injury that was caused by someone else’s negligence is “personal injury”. Personal injuries can arise in different kinds of situations. Some of the examples are workplace injuries, medical negligence, traffic accidents, holiday injuries, or injuries while abroad. Some of the more serious personal injuries can be from military accidents and abuse, or they can be any sort of criminal injuries. Without further ado, here are some of the most important aspects of personal injury compensation protocols.
Time Limits
Once a personal injury has happened, there is a certain amount of time during which a personal injury claim can be made. The general time limit for claiming personal injury compensation is three years. This time limit is applied from the date when the injury that caused someone illness or injury occurred, or it can apply from the date a person became aware of an illness which was a result of an unsafe workplace for example. The three-year limit also applies from the date a client found out about the cause of their loved one’s death.
There are of course some exceptions to this time limit. There isn’t a limit for people who lack mental capacity. Any claims concerning children can be made until the child’s 21st birthday, and for accidents that occurred abroad, the standard time limit can be shorter.
How Much Will Your Award Be?
As mentioned above, there is no general amount that is awarded after compensation has been settled because the cases greatly vary and because there are many factors that can influence the final award. Two parts amount to the final sum, general damages, and special damages. General damages compensate for your injury and special damages compensate for all the expenses and future care. Based on all of this it’s very difficult to set a basic amount without knowing all the details of the case, which are many.
How Does It Work?
There are a few simple steps in which a personal injury claim process happens. The first step is to consult a lawyer. As the experts from Zervos & Calta Personal Injury Lawyers, PLLC suggest, this initial consultation is important for the details of the case to be discussed and to create a good strategy. The second step is usually based on finding a person or a company who is responsible for your illness or injury. Once it’s determined who is at fault, their lawyers are usually contacted.
Next, after a careful assessment of the nature and consequences of the injury by medical experts, the amount of compensation is calculated. If the compensation claim is for serious injuries, the aim is to secure specific compensation payments called interim compensations. They are used to cover your immediate needs and are a part of your final settlement.
Some of the claims don’t get settled, because the person or the company responsible for the injuries doesn’t accept the blame or they don’t agree with the amount of compensation needed. In these situations, a court trial is necessary, though this is rarely the case.
Funding the Personal Injury Claim
A very important aspect to consider is how you will fund your injury claim. More often than not, people who have been injured are unable to work and therefore have a lower income. And it often happens that their family takes some time off to take care of them which leaves the household with significantly lower income to cover the costs of personal injury compensation. Luckily, there are a few ways this can be resolved. One of them is an agreement with your lawyers where you won’t have to fund your injury compensation claim unless a settlement has been reached or a court trial has been won (no win no fee). Only after you got your compensation do you pay for your legal fees. Another option is to use your legal expenses insurance if one is part of your insurance policy. As this is often not the case, there are some legal aid clinics you can turn to for help, that take on cases pro bono.
How Long Does the Process Last?
There is no general rule as to how long the personal injury compensation claim will be settled because every case is different. However, there are some of the factors that can help to better determine the time needed. One of the important ones is the time it takes to gather all the evidence, while others concern the severity and complexity of your illness and injury. The final one that can influence the time it takes to settle the claim is whether or not the person or company that caused your injury admits that they are the ones responsible for it.
No matter how you get injured, there are always options to get justice, and resources to help you get your injury compensation claimed. Be sure to explore all the options possible, and to hire lawyers who specialize in injury compensation to get the maximum out of your compensation claim.
