Could I Make a No Witness Accident Claim?

If you have been injured and it wasn’t your fault you might be entitled to claim compensation. Injuries can be very disruptive, affecting your mobility and, in some cases, requiring time away from work or causing significant financial pressure. You may be worried that if there was nobody around to witness your accident you might not be able to claim. Fortunately, this is not the case, and you can still bring forward a no witness accident claim.

In this guide, we will discuss what is a witness in a personal injury claim, how they can help you prove your claim and why you can still potentially pursue a claim without any witnesses. We will cover how to prove your case without a witness and whether your case will go to court.

Finally, we will offer some further resources about personal injury claims. If you would like to speak to one of our advisors completely free of charge and with no obligation, you can:

A pedestrian has been hit by a car.

Jump To A Section

  1. What Is A Witness In A Personal Injury Claim?
  2. What Is An Independent Witness?
  3. There Was No Witness To My Accident, Can I Claim?
  4. Will My Personal Injury Claim Go To Court?
  5. What Is The Balance of Probabilities?
  6. See If You Can Make A No Witness Accident Claim
  7. Learn More About Personal Injury Claims

What Is A Witness In A Personal Injury Claim?

A witness is usually somebody who saw your accident take place. If you have been involved in a road traffic accident, this could be a pedestrian or another driver. If you have had an accident at work, it could be a co-worker. If you slip and fall in a restaurant, it could be another customer. Anyone who has witnessed your accident could provide a statement that contains information such as:

  • How the accident took place.
  • Who appeared to be at fault.
  • What happened in the aftermath of the accident, e.g. was an ambulance or police called?

To help prove your case, sometimes you will use a witness who did not see your accident but can give evidence of something important that they have seen. For example, if there is a defective machine at work that causes you to cut your hand, someone you work with might not have seen your accident, but they could be a witness to the poor condition of the machinery in question (if they have seen it). This would help you prove the circumstances surrounding your case. 

You should note down the contact details of any potential witnesses so that a statement can be collected from them by a legal professional later in the claims process.

To learn more about claiming for a personal injury, you can contact our advisors. Additionally, you can also continue reading this guide to learn more about making a no witness accident claim.

An accident occurred at a work place and a man has cut his hand.

What Is An Independent Witness?

An independent witness simply means that the witness does not closely know the parties involved in an accident. They provide testimony for the court. So, returning to the example of a car crash, if your best friend saw the accident, they would still be a witness, but they would not be an independent witness as they are more likely to be favourable to you as they have a prior relationship with you. However, if a random pedestrian on the street saw your accident take place, they would be classed as an independent witness.

The court will likely give more weight to what an independent witness has to say, but all relevant information will be considered, and witness statements are only part of the overall evidence that can be considered by a court when they decide a case.

Continue reading to see whether you could still claim if there were no witnesses to your accident. You can also contact our advisors to discuss your case and receive free advice.

There Was No Witness To My Accident, Can I Claim?

Witness evidence is only one part of the evidence used by a court, and you can still make a personal injury compensation claim, even if there are no witnesses at all. Other evidence that could be used to prove your case could include:

  • Medical evidence such as medical records – these could detail the injuries you suffered, their severity and the treatments they needed.
  • Police report – if the police were called to the scene of the accident, their report could contain details about the accident scene and statements from both you and the defendant about how the accident took place.
  • Video footage of the accident taking place, such as CCTV footage.
  • Photographs of the accident site.
  • A copy of the report in the accident book (if applicable). This could contain details about when and how the accident occurred.

You will also be able to provide your own witness statement to the court, and your own account of what happened, in combination with some of the things above, could be enough to prove your claim.

If you would like to discuss the circumstances of your no witness accident claim we can let you know if you have a strong case or not. Get in touch with us today.

Will My Personal Injury Claim Go To Court?

In general, the parties to a dispute are encouraged to try to settle the case when they can. Going to court is viewed as a last option, and given the time and cost involved, it is likely that your case will not end up in court, even if there are no independent witnesses.

This is not a guarantee, and of course, some cases do go to a final court hearing at a venue such as a county court.

The solicitors on our panel work closely with their clients and use their years of experience to help settle your claim without it needing to go to court. If it does need to, they will continue to guide you through the claiming process.

Contact one of our advisors today to see how a solicitor from our panel could helo you with claiming.

A court hearing a successful claim.

What Is The Balance of Probabilities?

One reason many personal injury cases do not need to be heard by a court is that the person bringing the claim (the claimant) only has to prove their case on the balance of probabilities, which means that something is more likely than not to have happened.

When making a claim, it only has to be slightly more likely than not. So, if the court thinks that your version of events has a probability of 51% of being correct then you would win your case on the balance of probabilities.

As discussed above, you will be able to provide your version of events in a witness statement and use some forms of other evidence to help you reach this 51% threshold. Having some supporting evidence of any type can be crucial, but it is by no means essential.

Contact our advisors today to discuss your case and ask any questions you may have about the claiming process.

See If You Can Make A No Witness Accident Claim

One of the personal injury solicitors on our panel could help you with making a no witness accident claim. Some of the services they can provide to you include:

  • Collecting supporting evidence.
  • Advising you on relevant laws to your claim against the other party.
  • Dealing with court papers and court deadlines.
  • Negotiating with the other parties.
  • Making sure you claim the maximum amount of damages that you are entitled to.

If you have a good case, one of the solicitors on our panel might offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement, which is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. This means that you do not have to pay your solicitor upfront for their services. You also do not have to pay them for ongoing service fees. If your case fails, then there is nothing to pay for their work.

If your case is successful, then a success fee is due to your solicitor and is deducted from your compensation at the end of the case. This success fee is a percentage that has a legal cap, and as such, you keep the majority of your compensation.

If you would like to work with one of the No Win No Fee solicitors on our panel, you can contact our advisors today to discuss your case:

A solicitor advising a client about a no witness accident claim.

Learn More About Personal Injury Claims

Hopefully, you feel more confident about making a claim for personal injury, even if you have no supporting witnesses. Here are some further personal injury claim guides of ours you may like to read:

External resources:

Thank you for reading our guide about making a no witness accident claim. Contact our advisors today to discuss your case.