Personal Injuries

We act for plaintiffs (persons claiming damages for injuries they have sustained) and defendants (persons alleged to have caused the injuries or, usually, their insurers).

Bringing a claim

The grounds for bringing a personal injury claim are varied. For example, you might have suffered injuries resulting from medical negligence, a car accident, an accident at work, or the nature of your employment may have resulted in your contracting a disease.

If you intend to bring a claim you must do so within a given period of time. Evidence should be collected as early as possible. For these reasons it is important that you seek advice promptly.

Pursuing personal injury claims can be stressful and we understand the importance of providing clear, objective advice.  We will examine your unique set of circumstances in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your claim and advise you on the best way to pursue it.

We aim to achieve out of court settlements where possible, quickly and with the least inconvenience to avoid the pressure of court proceedings. This cannot, however, always be achieved and, where a reasonable settlement cannot be negotiated on your behalf, we will pursue your claim vigorously through the courts.

When can you claim?

Essentially, in order for your claim to succeed you have to prove that you have suffered injuries resulting from someone else’s fault.

Medical evidence is usually required to establish the cause of the injuries and show the link between the injuries and the actions (more rarely the omissions) of the defendant.

The first step

At your first appointment, we will complete a personal injury form and collect all the essential information we require from you.  Alternatively you may submit this information on line here and this will enable us to deal with matters at the first appointment more quickly.

If, following the first meeting, we believe there are grounds to pursue the matter further, we will provide you with a letter setting out a list of documents that will be required to enable us to progress the claim.

Medical Evidence

We review all the medical evidence (typically GP’s notes and hospital notes) and advise on what further information should be obtained. In some cases it will be necessary to obtain a report from a medical expert specialising in the relevant area.

Progressing Your Claim

Once we are satisfied as to the strength of your claim we will write to the appropriate person/body inviting them to accept liability. At this point, if liability is accepted, we can commence negotiations as to the value of your claim in monetary terms, which is dependent on factors such as the severity of your injuries and the impact on your ability to work.

If liability is not accepted, then it is at this stage we will issue legal proceedings in the courts on your behalf. The proceedings can be adjourned at any stage if the other party is willing to negotiate a settlement.

Scope of the claim

You can obtain compensation for the following:

• Physical or psychological injury: the pain, suffering and impact the injury has had on your ability to lead a normal life.  There must be medical evidence to support this part of your claim;
• Ability to work in the future. You may be unable to work again or be restricted as to the nature of work you can undertake. Again, there must be medical evidence to support this part of your claim.
• Loss of earnings from the date the injury was suffered to date the claim is made.
• Other extraordinary expenses that you have had to make, for example, replacement of clothing that was damaged, medical expenses, cost of nursing care, transport costs etc.

Two important factors should be taken into consideration when bringing a claim.

• If you are partly responsible for what happened to you then there may be a reduction in how much compensation you receive to reflect this; and
• You are under a duty to mitigate your loss or keep whatever loss you suffer to a minimum

If you have suffered personal injuries and believe that you are entitled to compensation please contact us. You will not be charged for the time spent assessing you claim if we conclude that there is no merit in proceeding.

Contacts:

Advocate Rui Tremoceiro (rui@tremoceiro.com)

Annalisa Hounsome (annalisa@tremoceiro.com)