Friday

14-02-2025 Vol 19

How Do you Make a Personal Injury Compensation Claim?

This is a question asked by many Australians who have suffered a personal injury as a result of a negligent third party, which might be the result of a car accident or using faulty machinery, and in this article, we will outline the various steps in making a personal injury compensation claim.

Initial Legal Consultation

If a person feels that the injury they suffered was influenced by a negligent third party, the first thing to do is make contact with a reputable personal injury compensation lawyer, who would be happy to listen to your account and assess the chances of making a successful claim. This consultation would be free and you are under no obligation to proceed with the claim, and if the lawyer thinks the case is weak, they would not recommend proceeding. Simply put, there must be evidence of negligence from a third party, who might be the driver of a vehicle, or the owner of faulty equipment you used, and if the lawyer feels there is evidence of negligence, they will offer to take on your claim in a ‘no win-no fee’ arrangement.

Gathering Evidence

Once the lawyer agrees to take on the claim, he or she would request specific things from you, which might include:

  • CCTV footage
  • Video clips
  • Photographs
  • Witness statements
  • Employee comments
  • Doctor’s report
  • Recorded telephone conversations

Of course, in a court of law, evidence must be produced when making a personal injury compensation claim, which is the role of your lawyer to bring everything together and present the facts to the court.

Out of Court Settlements

In many cases, negligence is not disputed by the third party and rather than waste the court’s valuable time, your lawyer and the third party’s insurer sit down and come to a settlement agreement. If you would like an idea of how much you can receive, a personal injury compensation calculator will make it easy. Injuries are listed, along with compensation amounts, and, of course, the more severe the injury, the higher the payment. The loss of a limb, for example, would run into tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, while breaking a leg would be a smaller amount, depending on whether you made a full recovery.

No Win-No Fee

We all know how costly legal services can be, and the thought of racking up a huge legal bill, only to lose your claim makes many people reluctant to even try. We’ve all read the horror stories of individuals that have staked everything on a legal issue, only to lose and have a massive legal bill, which they are unable to pay. In order to eliminate the risk of this happening, the law firm would represent you in a ‘no win-no fee’ basis, which means there is nothing to pay if your claim is unsuccessful.

If you have recently suffered a personal injury and you would like a lawyer to review the circumstances, an online search will take you to the website of a personal injury compensation law firm and you can book a free consultation.

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