Know Your Rights

Did you know....?

• Two and a half million people in the UK suffer injuries from an accident that should (and could) have been avoided

• Only a third of these 2.5m people claim compensation. The remainder are living with their injuries and the consequences without receiving support

• Only 6 per cent of the British population are fully aware of their legal rights in a personal in jury claim

• Nineteen per cent of people would not know who to talk to about their rights to make a claim

• More than half of people who would make a claim would do so to highlight a situation where others would be at risk of a similar accident

• In 2009/10 there were 78,744 claims against employers’ liability so, if you have had a workplace accident, you are not alone*

Many people who suffer an injury that wasn’t their fault do not understand their legal rights and are intimidated by what seems like a complex process where they feel like the underdog.

Making injury claims can also be a step towards preventing the injury happening to anybody else. For example, an injury claim made following car accident on a dangerous blind corner may result in the Highways Agency erecting mirrors to make the corner safer for other drivers, thus reducing the chance of the accident happening in the future.

In fact, many people who make a personal injury claim do so for this reason alone, regardless of the amount of compensation they may receive.

Did you know that, if you make a claim, no win no fee arrangements are there to help you? These arrangements ensure that, if you do not win your accident claim, you do not have to pay your solicitor a fee. Insurance will cover you against the other side's costs and expenses. If you win your no win no fee claim, you should receive your compensation free of any deductions, as your solicitor's costs should be paid by the other side. There are very few exceptions to this.

No win no fee compensation claims were introduced to the UK in 1995, and replaced Legal Aid, a government enabled system for providing funding to help people get a fair hearing.

As part of our commitment to helping people understand their legal rights, we are currently working with a number of regional newspapers to provide insights into the different injuries people suffer as a result of others' negligence. Read the March, April, May, June and July columns for more on legal rights.

For further information about to the claims process please click here or, claim online.

*Data drawn from ‘The Scale of Injustice’ report, Department of Work and Pensions’ Compensation Recovery Unit and the Citizens Advice Bureau research ‘No Win No Fee No Chance’.