Compensation Advice: Car Accident Compensation Claims

By: Jessica Parker | Posted: 23rd June 2010

Road traffic accidents are one of the most common reasons for making compensation claims. Most often, the resulting claim will be for the neck injury whiplash, which occurs as a result of the head being jolted backwards and forwards at speed on impact. However, bruising, broken limbs and psychological injuries relating to the trauma of the accident are also often reasons for making a compensation claim following a car accident.

Can I claim compensation?

If you have suffered injuries as a result of a car accident, and the accident was someone else's fault, you may be entitled to claim compensation. The insurers of the person driving the car which caused the accident will eventually decide whether to pay compensation to you for your injury, and how much the payment will be.

While the other driver may have been influenced by contributing environmental factors such as problems with the road or surroundings, it is most likely that the incident will have been caused as a result of human error, as most car accidents are. The error could have occurred simply through lack of judgement, or it may have been the result of intoxication.

Proving liability

Following a road traffic accident you are required by law to stop and exchange insurance details with the other driver or drivers involved, and to call the police if necessary. If the party at fault does not stop then this is classed as a hit and run, a criminal offence.

Proving liability is likely to be quite straightforward if the police were alerted after the incident and the other driver was found to be intoxicated. But if the incident was simply a case of poor judgement, the necessary evidence can still give you the chance to win your case.

Collecting evidence

If you do experience a car accident which is the fault of someone else, it is advisable to get hold of as many contact details you can for those involved, including those of witnesses and emergence servicemen.

It is therefore sensible to keep a pen and paper in your car in case of an incident, with which you can also record other information such as the time of the incident, the weather conditions and any other issues surrounding the event such as whether someone was using a mobile phone while driving, whether the other driver had indicated, as well as any injuries sustained by other parties.

Collecting a solid set of details will make it easier for your personal injury solicitor to argue your case and win the compensation to which you are entitled. Even better, if you can keep a camera in your car so that you can take pictures of the accident scene from different angles, your solicitor will be able to show how the collision occurred, leading to a more simple compensation claim.

Claiming compensation

If the car accident was not your fault, you should not feel concerned about making a compensation claim. The other driver is legally obliged to have insurance and you are entitled to compensation for your losses if you have been injured.
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Tags: contact details, emergence, surroundings, environmental factors, pen and paper, car accidents, intoxication, human error, compensation claim, trauma, insurance details, car accident, road traffic accidents, whiplash, road traffic accident, criminal offence