In nearly every claim, there has to be a recognised injury and medical treatment has to have been sought and received by the claimant. Most injured clients get medical treatment in A&E or from their GP. This provides medical evidence to quantify their injury. If it’s noted on your medical records, it can be proven what injury you had. Some clients will seek private chiropractic or osteopathic treatment or visit a masseur or physio. That’s fine too, as they will keep records and provide receipts about the level of treatment given.
But alas, it’s not enough to just be injured, the injury has to be severe enough to provide a sufficient level of quantum to enable the claim to be placed with a specialist personal injury solicitor. Quantum is the posh legal (latin!) term for value of the claim used in the legal world. To ensure that the injury value is sufficient, it is usually the case that an injured client will need to have suffered from their injury for a period of 4 weeks or more.
Taking ankle injuries as an example, if you sprained your ankle mildly and recovered within a fortnight, you would struggle to bring a claim. But if you tore ligaments, spent 6 weeks on crutches and had physio sessions, your claim would easily pass the quantum test.
For the sake of a claim, its always best to ensure that your GP is made aware of any ongoing problems with an injury. To put it bluntly, if you suffer in silence and don’t return to your GP, you won’t be able to claim compensation for the ongoing injury. You could miss out on a substantial sum of what you are actually entitled to receive.
If your injuries don’t settle and you notice discomfort a few weeks or months later, or if you’re not sleeping or feeling depressed because of your injuries, make sure it’s on your medical records.
The basic claim rules are this:
- Your accident must be someone else’s fault
- You must report your accident to the correct 3rd party (accident book)
- You must seek medical attention for your injuries
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