What Are The Most Common Personal Injury Claims?

A personal injury case can be brought if you have suffered injury or illness due to the negligence of another. It involves making a claim against the negligent party to redeem financial compensation to aid the victims’ recovery, cover their loss and future earnings, along with contributing towards their future care needs. Common examples of personal injury cases include:

Road Traffic Accidents
Accidents at work
Accidents in public
Medical negligence

Personal injury cases tend to be handled on a no win, no fee basis. With claimants only having to pay legal fees if their case is successful. This is known as a success fee, which is typically around 25% of the compensation obtained.

1. Road traffic accidents

Road traffic accidents make up the vast majority of personal injury claims in the UK. Whether you are a driver involved in a collision, a pedestrian hit by a vehicle, a cyclist or motorcyclist injured in a crash, or a passenger injured in an accident, you could be entitled to compensation if it wasn’t your fault. Common examples of RTA’s include:

• Rear end collisions
• Concertina collisions
• Collisions at junctions or roundabouts
• Lane-changing collisions
• Collisions caused by overtaking
• Excessive speed
• Reversing
• Failing to indicate
• Collisions caused by uninsured drivers
• Drunk drivers
• Joy riders
• Hit and run accidents

Injuries sustained for the victims of an RTA drastic dramatically from minor bruising and sprains, to broken bones and organ damage, to even death in high impact collisions.

2. Accidents at work

Employers have a legal duty of care to protect the health and safety of their staff, whilst they are in the workplace. However no matter how stringently health and safety regulations are followed accidents can still happen, leading to employee injuries. Common causes of accident at work claims include:

• Slips, trips and falls – caused by wet or uneven floors, loose cables, or faulty equipment.
• Falls from height
• Insufficient training
• Defective equipment/machinery
• Manual handling injuries – caused by lifting heavy items without being given proper training or lifting aids.
• Occupational illnesses – caused through exposure to harmful substances in the workplace.
• Dangerous working practices and procedures
• Failure to provide appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Burns, scars and lacerations

3. Accidents in public

Public liability claims consist of accidents that take place on public or private property such as slips, trips and falls in places like shops and supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and pubs, car parks and leisure facilities. Businesses and property owners have a legal duty to keep their premises safe for visitors. When they fail to do so and this leads to an accident, the injured person can claim compensation from the business or its insurer. Common causes of accidents in public include:

• Wet floors due to spillages or rainwater
• Failure to display prominent hazard signage e.g. wet floor signs
• Poorly lit walkways leading to trips and falls
• Uneven flooring leading to trips and falls
• Unexpected obstacles
• Falling objects

4. Medical negligence

Medical negligence is the term used to describe mistakes, accidents and poor care administered by medical staff, in both the NHS and private health practices. Including the treatment administered in hospitals, GP surgeries, health centres or even in a patient’s home.

Common examples of negligent medical treatment include:

• Misdiagnosis – or delay in diagnosis of disease, illness or fracture. Commonly misdiagnosed illnesses include:
  • Cancer
  • Diabetes
  • Meningitis
  • Stroke
  • Parkinsons
  • Multiple Sclerosis
• Surgical error – leading to the patient suffering further health issues or injuries. Examples of surgical error can include:
  • Operations being performed on the wrong body part.
  • The incorrect operation being performed.
  • Injury or nerve damage to organs.
  • Leaving a foreign object, such as a surgical instrument, in the body.
• Birthing negligence – Mistakes made by medical practitioners before, during and after childbirth can be devastating to both the mother and baby. Examples of birthing negligence claims include:
  • Brachial plexus injuries.
  • Failure to spot and treat haemorrhages.
  • Mishandling of pregnancy and/or labour.
  • Failure to spot and manage birth defects.
  • Stillbirth
• Prescribing error or treatment errors – This can include errors made when prescribing and dispensing medication. The implications of being prescribed the incorrect treatment can be very serious, leading to further illness, injury and even death. Examples of errors include:
  • Prescribing medication to a patient who has known allergies.
  • Prescribing the wrong dose, or incorrect medication.
  • Prescribing medication that causes a patient to have an adverse reaction to an existing medication.
  • Mistakes when labelling medication.
  • Mixing up patient prescriptions.

How many personal injury claims go to court?

A lot of people effected by personal injury are put off from making a claim out of the fear that they may have to go to court. It is important to note that most cases are settled out of court, in fact less than 1% of claims end in a full court hearing.

If your case however does end up in court, this is nothing to be afraid of. Your solicitor or your appointed barrister will be by your side to represent you, and guide you through the process.

Read our guide on the myths and misconceptions about personal injury claims for more information.

Personal Injury Client Stories

True Solicitors have been helping the victims of personal injury with their claims for over 20 years. We are dedicated to helping our clients to get their lives as back to normal as possible following their accident, through access to financial compensation and rehabilitation.

Start my claim

Read some of our client stories below:

£110,000 obtained for finger amputation accident.
£38,000 obtained for client who fell at work.
Over £16,000 obtained for client hit by pallet truck at work.
£6500 settlement for client injured due to fall in supermarket car park.