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At UK Law we have substantial experience in assessing all types of claims and connecting clients to specialist solicitors. This page provides a general overview of various claim types including personal injury, medical negligence and data breach claims.
We’ll explain the legal obligations owed to you by a responsible party in each of these scenarios, as well as how you can prove that the action or inaction of a third party resulted in you sustaining injuries or harm. We have also provided information on the relevant laws for each area.
You also see a short overview of the No Win No Fee contract offered by panel of expert solicitors and you can benefit when starting your potential claim under these terms.
You can get in touch with us at any time using the following contact details:
- Call us on 020 3870 4868.
- Complete our “Contact Us” form.
- Open the live chat window on your screen
Browse This Page
- What Is The Law On Claiming Compensation?
- Can UK Law Help Me Claim Compensation?
- What Types Of Claims Can UK Law Help With?
- What Does Making A Compensation Claim Involve?
- Can I Make A Compensation Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Is There A Difference In Laws Between Countries Of The UK?
- Learn More About Compensation Claims
What Is The Law On Claiming Compensation?
The law surrounding making a compensation claim varies depending on the circumstances of that claim. Whether you’re making a personal injury or medical negligence claim, the relevant law will be different, but in general terms, you will need to demonstrate that a third party breached their duty of care and was therefore, responsible for the harm you sustained.
Evidence is also crucial to making a claim, proving not only the fault of the third party but also showing the extent of the harm you experienced and the impacts that harm has had on your life.
We’ll cover both of these key areas in subsequent sections. If you have any questions about making a claim or would like to learn more about how UK Law can help you get compensation, contact our advisory team today.
Can UK Law Help Me Claim Compensation?
At UK Law we have years of experience in advising potential claimants and connecting them with the right legal representatives. While using a solicitor for your claim is not mandatory, you will definitely benefit from their knowledge and experience.
Working with a solicitor from our panel means receiving comprehensive support throughout the claims process, including gathering evidence and notifying the defendant of your intentions to make a claim. A solicitor will also interview any witnesses to the accident, negligent medical treatment, the aftermath of a data breach or a violent crime.
Claims have to comply with certain deadlines and instructions imposed by the Court, something the solicitors from our expert panel are well versed in. We’ll go into the specific type of No Win No Fee agreement they can offer further down. To ask any questions you might have, or to find out if you are eligible to claim compensation, contact our advisors today via the information given below.
What Types Of Claims Can UK Law Help With?
UK Law assesses a broad array of claims and works with solicitors with various specialities. Read on for a brief overview of the types of claims we can help you with.
Personal Injury Law
There are 3 types of personal injury claims: accidents at work, on the roads, and in public places. While the general liability, a third party owed you a duty of care and caused you to be injured by breaching that duty, will remain the same, the laws governing each of these are different:
- Accidents at Work: employers are required to take reasonable steps to ensure worker safety under the Health and Safety At Work Etc Act 1974. So, for example, if you were working at a freight depot and had not been given the correct training to use the loading equipment, resulting in you suffering a broken leg due to overloading the crane, you could be eligible to begin a claim.
- Road Traffic Accidents: All road users, from pedestrians to HGV drivers, owe a collective duty of care to one another to navigate in safe manner to prevent injury and damage. They must obey both the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code. As an example, you were cycling along a residential street and a driver reversed out of their driveway without adequately observing around their vehicle. You collided with the car and suffered multiple broken bones.
- Accidents in Public Places: the parties in control of public places, legally referred to as “occupiers,” have a duty of care to all visitors to their premises. The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 requires that steps to ensure the reasonable safety of those visitors are taken. A possible scenario would be restaurant management had not replaced a broken light fitting in the restrooms. You went to use the restroom, and the light fitting fell, causing a serious head injury.
There are many other ways that employers, occupiers, and road users can fail to uphold their legal obligations and cause accidents to occur.
Medical Negligence Claims
Medical professionals are required to provide care that meets the correct standard. If they fail to meet this standard and you suffer avoidable harm, you may be able to make a medical negligence claim. While there isn’t a specific law governing all medical negligence, different medical professionals all have their own regulatory bodies that seek to uphold the correct standard of medical practice. So, for doctors, the regulator is the General Medical Council (GMC).
A possible scenario in which a medical negligence claim could be made is a case of GP misdiagnosis. You went to a GP, displaying clear symptoms of pneumonia. Despite this, the GP misdiagnosed you with a different condition and did not refer you for further testing. This resulted in a significant worsening of your condition.
Data Breach and GDPR Law
Two laws protect personal data: the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. A data controller, usually an organisation that decides when, why and how your personal data will be processed, is required to uphold the data protection laws. If a failure to do so results in a data breach where you suffer financial loss, psychological distress, or both, you could be eligible to claim compensation.
An example scenario could be: a letter regarding you and your child’s relocation following a court case was accidentally sent to the wrong address, where your abusive ex partner still lived. This resulted in that ex-partner coming back into your lives, causing considerable psychological distress and additional security and relocation costs.
Criminal Injury Law
Criminal injury claims are a type of claim you can make after being a victim of a violent crime. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) administer the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 to provide the victims of these crimes a means of claiming compensation.
In order to make a criminal injury claim, you will need to have been a victim of a violent crime in Great Britain that was reported to the police. Generally, there is an expectation that the crime be reported straight away, although in cases where exceptional circumstances apply, this is down to CICA discretion.
A very brief example would be if you suffered broken bones during a mugging.
To find out more about claiming compensation in your particular circumstances, or to ask any questions that may crop up when reading through any of the guides on our website, contact UK Law today using the contact information below.
What Does Making A Compensation Claim Involve?
While we touched on this briefly above, this section goes into more detail about the evidence you can gather to prove fault in your claim. The evidence available to you will be different depending on the circumstances of your accident, but we’ve given a few general examples here:
- Medical records.
- CCTV footage.
- Witness contact information so they can give a statement later on.
- Photographs of your injuries, the scene of the accident or what caused it.
- Report from the accident book.
- Any correspondence between yourself and the defendant. This can include letters, emails and text messages.
The solicitors on UK Law’s expert panel can assist you with collecting evidence for your claim. They can also ensure any relevant court instructions or deadlines are complied with. A solicitor can guide you through these steps, maintaining communication between you and the defendant’s solicitors.
Contact our dedicated advisory team today to learn more about how UK Law can help you claim compensation or for a free eligibility check.
Can I Make A Compensation Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
UK Law can put you in touch with our panel of highly experienced and dedicated No Win No Fee solicitors. If your potential claim is deemed valid, your solicitor may offer a Conditional Fee Agreement to start work on your claim.
The CFA is a type of No Win No Fee contract that features some notable benefits for claimants. Such as:
- No fee to pay for the solicitor to commence work on your case.
- There is likewise no fee to pay for that work during the actual claim.
- Should the claim lose, you will not pay the solicitor a fee.
A fee will, however be paid if you win the claim. A percentage of your awarded compensation will be taken as the solicitor’s success fee. Since this percentage is legally capped by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, you will keep most of any compensation awarded to you.
We appreciate this a lot of information covering a broad range of claim types. You can browse any of the guides on our website for more detailed information. Our advisors are available 24 hours a day to handle any questions or concerns you may have, as well assess your eligibility to claim free of charge.
You can get in touch with us at any time using the following contact details:
- Call us on 020 3870 4868.
- Complete our “Contact Us” form.
- Open the live chat window on your screen
Is There A Difference In Laws Between Countries Of The UK?
The devolved powers within the UK mean claiming compensation can differ slightly depending on where you are. This section aims to give general information only, for detailed information on claiming within England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, you should speak to one of our advisors.
We have summarised a few key points in each legal system below:
The Law In England and Wales
- England and Wales share a legal system referred to as “English Law” and the majority of guides on the UK Law website are centred around this.
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for health and safety and has jurisdiction in England, Scotland and Wales.
- The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) is a document published by the Judicial College that contains guideline award brackets for various injuries. These guidelines are averages taken from court cases in England and Wales.
Scottish Law
- Scotland has a devolved government and, subsequently, legislative independence in many areas.
- In Scotland, they have their compensation guidelines practitioners of Scottish Law can refer when valuing their client’s injuries.
- While the HSE does have jurisdiction in Scotland, they report matters to the Health and Safety Investigation Unit of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Services (COPFS), along with their recommendations for disciplinary action. The HSE also coordinate with various Scottish organisations that have varying degrees of independence from their English and Welsh Equivalents.
The Law In Northern Ireland
- Like in Scotland, Northern Ireland has a devolved government, meaning many matters come under the Jurisdiction of Stormont and not Westminster.
- The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) fulfils the same role as its Great British counterpart, while the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 fulfils a similar function to the 1974 Act in the English legal system.
- Compensation guidelines come from the Guidelines for the Assessment of General Damages in Personal Injury Cases in Northern Ireland. This is often referred to as the Green Book.
There are many other differences and similarities we could discuss regarding the ins and outs of claiming compensation in different devolved jurisdictions. Before deciding to make a compensation claim, you should be advised on how laws in different parts of the UK could impact you.
The team at UK Law is available 24 hours a day to provide answers and further guidance and assess your eligibility to claim for free. Use the contact information given above to talk to us today.
Learn More About Compensation Claims
You can read some more detailed compensation claims guides by clicking these links:
- Learn more about claiming for a broken hip at work with this guide.
- Find out if you can get compensation for a data breach here.
- This guide provides examples of CICA payouts following a successful criminal injury claim.
We have also included these additional materials from external sources that you may find useful:
- Following an accident, you may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). You can learn more on the Government Website.
- Visit CyberAware from the National Cyber Security Centre for top tips on staying safe online.
- Find out when to call 999 with this guidance from the NHS.
From everyone at UK Law, we want to thank you for taking the time to read this page. We appreciate that we have covered several topics and given you a lot of information. Get in touch with our dedicated and highly experienced advisors to get your eligibility to claim assessed. They can also provide answers to any questions you may have. Our team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, using the contact details provided above.
We've helped many people claim compensation all across the UK
These are some of the people we helped with personal injury claims.
Jenny’s Story
Jenny suffered an accident in the street when she stepped upon a manhole cover. Little did she know that the manhole was defective, and her right leg fell right through.
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Ben’s story
Ben’s injury was caused by an accident at work. It stopped him being able to get out of bed and left him unable to go to work. It meant he didn’t know where the money for his bills was going to come from.
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Larissa’s story
While out shopping with her son, Larissa suffered a head injury caused by a shop sign falling and hitting her on the head. Left lying on the floor with a nasty wound, Larissa’s accident was witnessed by her young son, who thankfully was not injured.
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