Injured Through
Someone Else’s Mistake?
If another person or organisation’s carelessness left you hurt, out of pocket or out of work, the law in England and Wales lets you claim compensation, and it’s usually their insurer that pays. Most claims have a three-year deadline, and the evidence that backs them up is easiest to gather early. Speak to an independent injury solicitor who will look at what happened, tell you honestly whether you have a claim, and explain how it would be funded.
The Law, Plainly
A Three-Year Window
And A Simple Test.
To win a personal injury claim you generally need to show three things: that someone owed you a duty of care, that they fell short of a reasonable standard, and that the shortfall caused your injury and the losses that followed. Here is how that plays out in practice.
Court proceedings usually have to start within three years of the accident, or of when you first realised the injury was significant and someone else was to blame. Children have until their 21st birthday, and the clock stops for anyone who lacks mental capacity. Courts can allow late claims, but you shouldn’t count on it.
Compensation covers the injury itself (pain, suffering and loss of amenity) plus losses you can prove: earnings, treatment, travel, care and help at home. Medical evidence usually drives how the first part is valued.
Most solicitors act under a conditional fee agreement. If the claim doesn’t succeed you generally owe them nothing, and if it does, their success fee is capped by law at 25% of most of your damages.
“A claim isn’t about punishing anyone. It’s about putting a price on what somebody else’s mistake cost you.”
Not Just Car Crashes
Types Of Claim
Solicitors Handle.
Different accidents run on different rules, with different insurers and different evidence. These are the six areas injury solicitors in England and Wales deal with most.
Road Traffic Accidents
Drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. Smaller whiplash claims run through the Official Injury Claim portal on a fixed tariff, while uninsured or untraced drivers are dealt with through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.
Accidents at Work
Employers owe a duty to keep staff reasonably safe, and by law they must carry employers’ liability insurance. That means a claim doesn’t come out of your boss’s pocket, and it can often be pursued even after a firm has closed.
Slips, Trips & Falls in Public
Shops, car parks, pavements and public buildings. Occupiers owe visitors a duty under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, and councils must maintain the roads and pavements they are responsible for.
Medical & Dental Negligence
Care that fell below an accepted professional standard and caused harm that wouldn’t otherwise have happened. These claims need expert evidence and take longer, which is why a specialist solicitor matters.
Industrial Disease
Conditions that develop over years of exposure, such as asbestos-related illness, hearing loss and hand-arm vibration. The time limit generally runs from when you knew, or should have known, the condition was work-related.
Faulty Products
Under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 you can claim for injury caused by a defective product without proving the maker was negligent. There’s a ten-year long-stop from when the product was put into circulation.
Worth a Phone Call?
Signs You May
Have A Claim.
You don’t need to be certain before you ask. These are the situations that most often turn into a first conversation with a solicitor.
Another driver caused the crash
Even if you were partly at fault, you can usually still claim. Your compensation is reduced by your share of the blame, not wiped out.
You were hurt at work
Missing safety kit, a wet floor nobody cleaned, no training. If it’s in the accident book, that helps. If it isn’t, ask for it to be added now.
You’ve needed treatment or time off
Physio, prescriptions, lost shifts, a relative helping at home. Keep the receipts and payslips, because they become part of your losses.
It happened in the last three years
Or you’ve only just found out an illness was linked to something in your past. The clock may run from when you knew.
An insurer has already rung you
Early offers can undervalue symptoms that haven’t settled. It’s worth getting advice before you accept anything or sign anything.
Your child was injured
A parent can start a claim on their behalf, and any settlement has to be approved by a judge to make sure it’s fair to the child.
How a Claim Unfolds
Four Steps.
One Settled Claim.
Claims take as long as your recovery and the evidence need. The shape of the process is much the same whether the injury is minor or life-changing.
Free Case Review
A solicitor listens to what happened, checks your dates against the time limit, and tells you whether the claim is worth pursuing and how it would be funded.
Building the Evidence
Photos, witness details, medical records, an independent medical report and proof of lost income are pulled together, then a letter of claim goes to the other side’s insurer.
Liability & Negotiation
The insurer has up to three months to investigate and respond on blame. The claim is then valued and negotiated, sometimes with interim payments or rehabilitation along the way.
Settlement or Court
Most claims settle without a trial. If they can’t, proceedings are issued, always before the time limit runs out, and a judge decides.
People Who’ve Been Through It
In Their Words
“I kept putting it off because I assumed it would be a hassle. The first call was just someone explaining where I stood.”
“Nobody pushed me. They were upfront that my claim was a small one and what that meant for costs, which is why I trusted the rest.”
“The time limit was news to me. Glad I rang when I did rather than in month thirty-four.”
Straight Answers
What People Ask First
In most cases, three years. Under section 11 of the Limitation Act 1980, a personal injury claim in England and Wales has to be started in court within three years of the accident or, if later, the date you first knew the injury was significant and was down to someone else’s act or omission (the “date of knowledge” in section 14). For a child, the three years only begins on their 18th birthday (section 28), and the clock is paused for anyone who lacks the mental capacity to run their own claim. A court can allow a late claim under section 33, but that is a discretion, not a right, so it is never safe to plan around it. Ask a solicitor to check your dates.
Usually, yes. A negligence claim needs a duty of care (the starting point is Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562), a breach of the standard a reasonable person or professional would have met, and a link between that breach and your injury. Defective product claims under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 are different, because they don’t require proof of negligence. If you were partly to blame, you can normally still claim, with your compensation reduced under the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945. A solicitor can tell you how fault looks on your facts.
It usually means a conditional fee agreement. If the claim fails, you generally don’t pay your own solicitor’s fees. If it succeeds, the solicitor can take a success fee out of your compensation, capped at 25% of the damages for pain, suffering and past losses (nothing can be taken from damages for future care or future loss). Qualified one-way costs shifting normally protects you from paying the other side’s costs if you lose, unless the claim is found to be fundamentally dishonest. Read the agreement closely and ask exactly what could come out of your damages. Ask how funding would work for you.
There is no standard figure. Compensation has two parts: general damages for the injury itself, which solicitors value by reference to the Judicial College Guidelines (17th edition, 2024) and past awards, and special damages for losses you can evidence, such as lost earnings, treatment, travel and care. For whiplash injuries lasting up to two years from road accidents in England and Wales, a fixed tariff applies instead, under the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 as amended in 2025, with figures roughly 15% higher for accidents on or after 31 May 2025. A solicitor can give you a realistic range.
It is the government-backed online service for most road traffic injury claims in England and Wales where the accident happened on or after 31 May 2021 and the award for pain, suffering and loss of amenity is worth £5,000 or less. You can use it without a solicitor, and legal costs are generally not recoverable on claims that small, so solicitors often only take them on where it makes sense. Claims by children and by vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are excluded and follow the standard route. Find out which route your claim would take.
You may still be able to claim. Driving without insurance is an offence under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau runs agreements for victims of uninsured and untraced drivers, although the rules are strict (including reporting to the police promptly). At work, employers must carry employers’ liability insurance under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, and even if the firm has since closed, its insurer can often still be traced. Ask a solicitor about tracing the insurer.
Probably not. Most personal injury claims settle without a trial. Under the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims, the other side’s insurer should acknowledge your letter of claim within 21 days and has up to three months from that acknowledgement to investigate and respond on liability. Court proceedings are normally issued only if liability or value can’t be agreed, or to protect a claim when the time limit is close. Where a child’s claim settles, the court has to approve the deal. Talk through what to expect.
The legal points on this page are about England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own legal systems. Both currently allow three years for most injury claims (under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 and the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989), but procedure, costs and funding rules differ, so you need a solicitor qualified in the right jurisdiction. Tell us where you live and we’ll point you the right way.
Don’t Let The
Clock Decide.
A private conversation about what happened to you. Free, and no pressure to go ahead.