If you have suffered an accident (i.e. Road Traffic Accident, Accident at Work or have a head or spinal injury) we will ensure that win or lose, you will not have to make any payment from your own pocket. If you win, your legal costs will be paid by your opponent. If you lose, your opponent's costs will be paid by insurance which we will take out at no cost to you and we will not charge you for our fees.
If you have suffered any other type of injury, workplace injury or criminal injury, other types of funding are available. These include Conditional Fee Agreements, Private Funding, Legal Aid Funding, Trade Union Funding, and Legal Expenses Insurance.
We will provide free initial advice in relation to your claim and the range of funding options can be explained to you fully.

Do I have to visit you at the office?
No, if you wish, everything can be done by letter, telephone or via e-mail which eliminates the need for you to take time out to visit us at our offices. However, if you would like to have a meeting with us this is fine. Should you require a home visit, we will be happy to see you at home.

Do I have to make a visit to my GP?
If you have suffered injuries, no matter how small, it is sensible to visit your GP. Your injuries and visit will be recorded on your medical records, which will be used as evidence.

How much is my case worth?
Compensation awards depend on how serious your injuries are and what other losses you have, for example, lost earnings. An individual valuation will be carried out when the medical evidence is obtained.

Am I able to claim out-of-pocket expenses?
In most cases yes. It makes it easier if you keep all your receipts. For example, taxi to hospital for an appointment - obtain a receipt from the taxi driver. A list of the money you spend and the reason why.

How long will my claim take?
In a straightforward case where the other side's Insurers do not contest "liability" (fault), the claim can be settled within a matter of a few months. It is important to note, however, that a settlement is on a once and for all basis and therefore you must have either recovered from your injuries fully or else they must have reached a stable state before you should consider settling your claim. In other words, if your case is settled on the basis that you have either recovered fully from your injury or that your injury will continue to trouble you in the future as described in a medical report, it is not possible to re-open your case at a later stage (in all but the rarest circumstances) if your injury deteriorates after the case is settled.
The average time span for a claim is in the region of 12 months, depending on the extent of injuries sustained. Obviously, if it takes any longer for the injuries to reach a plateau or if there is a dispute about liability necessitating Court Proceedings, the claim will take longer.
We will do our best to ensure that the claim proceeds as quickly as possible and that the claim is not delayed by Insurers dragging their feet.


What is the procedure?
We will first need to investigate your claim by obtaining evidence from yourself and other witnesses as appropriate. This may take a few weeks and we may need to either visit you to obtain a statement or discuss the matter fully over the telephone so that we have all of the details relating to the accident and the injuries and losses sustained.
We will then need to write a letter of claim to the other driver's Insurers in accordance with the "Pre-Action Protocol". This is the set of Rules laid down by the Courts, which govern the way in which claims proceed before a legal action is begun. The Insurers then have 3 months to investigate the claim, after which time they must confirm whether or not liability for the accident is contested.
If liability is disputed, we need to consider taking the matter further through Court Proceedings, which have their own comprehensive guidelines as to how a claim is brought. The decision as to whether a legal action is begun will depend upon whether your claim has reasonable prospects of succeeding if it were to go before the Court, and we will advise you fully about this throughout your claim.
If liability is not in dispute, then we will be in a position to begin negotiations to settle your claim (subject to the injuries having recovered or stabilized - see above). Before we can settle the claim, however, we need to have obtained a full medical report setting out the complete picture with regard to the extent of the injuries and the long-term prognosis.
It is important to make sure that the doctor who examines you in order to prepare a medical report is made aware of the full extent of your symptoms so that the proper value of the claim can be determined, particularly since under the Court Rules introduced in April 1999 his/her evidence is binding on both parties if they have agreed the use of that particular doctor

I am frightened of making a claim against my employers in case I lose my job.
We are used to dealing with client's anxieties, and understand that this is a serious concern for many people who have had accidents at work. An employer is not allowed to sack you if you are injured in an accident at work. By law, your employer has to have insurance to cover their employees for accidents at work. In reality, the insurance company will deal with the claim. We will deal sympathetically with the case.
Guide to costs

There are a number of different ways to fund your claim. Which funding option you choose will depend upon your individual circumstances and the facts of your potential claim. Alternative forms of funding include:-
Legal Aid is generally not available to fund personal injury cases.
The basic rule in a Personal Injury claim in England and Wales is that "costs follow the event!" In other words, assuming that you succeed with your claim, your opponents will have to pay both your compensation and legal costs. There are some exceptions but these are quite rare.
We will be pleased to give you free initial advice in relation to your case.General & Special Damages - Overview

There are a lot of misconceptions about what you can and can't claim for when you have suffered an injury, and just how much you should expect to receive in compensation for your accident. We'll try and cover the basics here, so you will know what your solicitor is talking about, and try and give you some examples of the range of damages that certain injuries attract.


General & Special Damages
You are entitled to be compensated for all the losses that you have suffered as a result of the accident, which may include damage to your clothing and property, loss of earnings and any insurance excess you may have. If you have been injured in a car accident and your car is now off the road you can also probably claim for a hire car
In addition you should be compensated for the pain and suffering that you have gone through as a result of the accident and the consequent injury. Finally you can also claim for any future losses you may suffer, of example an inability to work, loss of promotion prospects, and perhaps an inability to take part in certain sports or hobbies.

Lawyers like to split the amount of compensation you should receive (damages) into two separate categories called General and Special Damages. Basically Special Damages are all those which are easily quantifiable - loss of earnings, medical expenses, taxi fares, ruined clothes etc. Try and make sure you keep a record of any additional expenses that you incur (including receipts if you can), as this will ensure you do not forget any and that your solicitor can claim them back on your behalf.
General Damages are the more difficult as these have to be "assessed" i.e. some monetary value has to be placed on the pain and suffering that you have gone through, your possible future loss of earnings and how the injury may affect your general lifestyle in the future. It is an imprecise art, which depends a lot on you as an individual, your circumstances and how you recover the injuries you have. In order to get some guidance lawyers (including judges) look at past cases (precedents) which are similar (no two cases are ever the same!), and the level of general damages awarded and use these as a guideline (having increased the figures to allow for inflation). In addition the Judicial Studies Board, which provides training and instruction for all judges in England & Wales periodically issues guidelines for the assessment of General Damages in personal injury cases. Just to give you some idea of the figures that are considered appropriate here are some details from the latest 2002 Guidelines. Be warned they make garish reading.
Arm Injuries
Loss of both arms - From £125,000 to £155,000
Loss of one arm - Not less than £72,500 (below the shoulder); £57,500 - £67,500 (above elbow); £50,000 - £57,500 (below elbow).
Severe arm injury rendering it effectively useless - £50,000 - £67,500
Permanently disabled arm - £20,000 - £31,000
Less severe arm injury - £10,000 - £20,000
Fracture of the forearm - £3,500 - £10,000
Complete loss of function of the wrist - £24,750 - £31,000
Disabled wrist - £12,750 - £20,000
Less severe, but persistent pain/stiffness in the wrist - £6,500 - £12,750
Colles' fracture of the wrist - £4,000
Leg Injuries
Total loss of both legs - From £125,000 - £145,000
Below knee amputation of both legs - £82,960 - £103,710
Above knee amputation of one leg - £50,000 - £72,500
Below knee amputation of one leg - £47,500 - £67,500
Serious knee injury - £36,000 - £50,000
Torn cartilage or miniscus, dislocation, ligamentous damage in the knee - £7,750 - £14,000
Fractured ankle causing difficulty walking over uneven ground, awkwardness on stairs and residual scarring - £7,000 - £14,000
Remember these are only guidelines (and generally agreed to be quite conservative). If you do want to do some research yourself you will usually find a copy of Kemp & Kemp - Quantum of Damages in your local reference library (three large yellow tomes), which give cases and injury details in various sections.

Under a CFA, we do not charge you for the work undertaken on your behalf (basic costs) should your claim fail.
Should your claim be successful, we will recover the majority, if not all, our legal costs from your opponent(s) together with your compensation.
We recommend that at the outset, your claim is pursued with the benefit of insurance. In the event that your claim is unsuccessful the insurance policy will cover your opponent's costs, VAT and expenses (disbursments) and in most cases it will also cover the cost of the expenses which you incur in investigating your claim.
Trade Union
If you are a current member of a Trade Union you may be entitled to free legal assistance from them.
Your Union may meet any legal costs incurred on your behalf.
Please let us know, at our first meeting if you think that your Union may be prepared to cover you legal fees.
Private funding
This means that you are responsible for all legal costs incurred on your behalf. Unlike a CFA, if your claim is unsuccessful you will have to pay for the work undertaken on your behalf on the basis of the hourly rate agreed with us.
If court proceedings are started and your case is unsuccessful you will also be responsible for paying your opponents legal costs and expenses.
Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI)
If you have the benefit of LEI as part of an existing Insurance Policy, e.g. motor or household, or possibly Credit Card Insurance, your LEI Policy may cover all legal fees incurred on your behalf.
We will discuss with you at the outset the various options which are open to you before we recommended one of the alternatives and will explain in detail to you the nature of the method of funding your claim before your claim proceeds.

Disclaimer

MSB Solicitors only provides legal advice after having entering into a Solicitor / Client relationship which our website specifically does not create. Only after having entered into a written, signed agreement with MSB Solicitors will a Solicitor/ Client relationship have been created. It is imperative that any action taken be done on the advice of a Solicitor because every case is different. The descriptions of awards in cases previously handled are not meant to be a guarantee of success.