Your physical and/or psychological injuries are likely to form the main part of your claim. The amount of compensation for injuries is based on two main aspects:

• The pain and suffering you have experienced, or may permanently experience.
• How your symptoms have affected your life.

Both of these aspects combined will be assessed when valuing your injuries.

Besides your injuries, you may incur other losses. If you have incurred a loss as a result of the injuries, or the accident directly, then it is likely you can include them in your claim. Some examples may be:

• Travel expenses
• Medical expenses and treatment costs
• Lost earnings
• Care and assistance

If you have not incurred a particular loss, but you are likely to incur it in future, you may be able to claim for this as well. This might include the costs of treatment which you will need in future.

Claiming compensation for someone else’s negligence involves establishing several key points. You have to prove:

1. The party you are claiming from had a duty of care towards you and they failed in their duty. All road-users have these duties of care to one another. Failing in their duty, in legal terms, means that the other party did not meet the standards of a reasonably competent driver – in either what they did or did not do.
2. Their ‘failure’ caused your injuries and other losses.
3. The injuries and losses for which you are claiming are reasonable.

In passenger claims, Point 1 will rarely cause a problem. Passengers are not responsible for controlling any vehicle so it would only be in very rare circumstances a passenger could be at fault. However, it does not necessarily mean that the driver of another vehicle is liable for the accident.

If the driver of the vehicle you were in is at fault for the accident, you can still make a claim. Your claim would instead be directed against their insurance company rather than that of any other driver. You may be unwilling to claim against a friend or family member who was driving. However, bear in mind that this is one of the main reasons why drivers must have insurance. Also, in most cases, the compensation for your injuries and losses is likely to outweigh the costs of any increased premiums your friend/family member may have to pay.

Point 2 will often have to be established with medical evidence. However, if you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, your compensation claim could be affected. Often it will result in a reduction of your compensation. If the party you are claiming from can prove your injuries wouldn’t have happened had you been wearing the seatbelt, the reduction is likely to be 25%.

All of the above points may sound daunting, but Truth Legal can help you every step of the way. With our specialist experience, we will ensure you recover the right level of compensation.

If a child under the age of 18 was injured as a passenger, they will need someone to act on their behalf to bring a claim. If you act for them, you will be known as their ‘Litigation Friend’.

Parents, or guardians, in daily contact with the child will often make the best Litigation Friends. Ideally, the driver of the vehicle in which the child was a passenger should not act as their Litigation Friend. This is because a ‘conflict of interest’ can arise if it becomes necessary to claim any or all compensation from the driver’s insurance company.

Please make us aware of any young children involved in the accident when you discuss the case with us. We can also explain further what acting as a Litigation Friend will entail.

There are legal time limits placed on personal injury claims. In general, you have 3 years from the date of the accident in which to settle your claim or begin court proceedings. If you are outside this time limit, you will no longer be able to claim compensation for the accident.

There are some exceptions to this, however, and in some situations extra time may be granted by a court.

If you have suffered an injury as a passenger, seek legal advice right away to make sure you don’t miss your chance to claim. Contact us now if you are worried about these time limits or you would like to discuss your situation.

You are entitled to choose your legal representatives and this includes being able to change solicitors if you wish to. Switching solicitors is actually a straightforward process.

When you inform them of an accident, insurance companies will often pass your details to a claims management company. All the claims management company will do is shunt your case to one of the law firms they have agreements with. This means that your case will often be assigned to legal representatives which you have not chosen. Making your claim with the right firm of specialists, whom you trust, is vitally important in a personal injury claim.

If you find yourself in this situation, consider switching your solicitors to Truth Legal. Firms chosen by claims management companies are often set up to deal with high volumes of cases instead of giving their clients a quality bespoke service.

Similarly, if your solicitors or the unqualified people running your case do not understand passenger accident claims, then you should also consider changing solicitors. It is imperative that your representatives obtain the correct medical evidence to support your injury claim.