PERSONAL INJURY SOLICITORS IN BRADFORD

Meresbrook Pollard Solicitors can help you to make a personal injury claim:

Personal injury claims are subject to strict time limitations and you are able to bring a claim within 3 years of the accident occurring. It is therefore advisable that you make the claim as soon as possible so as to give your solicitor as much time as possible to build the best possible case for you.

Minors:

If a child has suffered personal injury, they will have 3 years from the date of their 18th birthday to make a claim. There are however some exceptions to the above limits in rare cases, for example some Marine and Aircraft Accidents, and Criminal Injuries Compensation claims have a 2 year limitation period. In some instances it may be possible to apply to the Courts to bring a claim outside of the relevant time period

Compensation

There are 2 types of compensation that can be claimed and these are:

General damages and Special damages.

General damages are based on medical evidence in relation to the injury suffered as a consequence of the accident for which you are claiming: in normal circumstances a medical expert’s report on the injuries suffered must to be obtained. The amount of compensation you are entitled to depends on the duration of the injuries and how such injuries affect you now and in the future.

Special damages are based on your financial losses and are used to put you back in the financial position you were in prior to the accident having occurred. Any receipts and invoices should be kept wherever possible to prove these losses. Typically special damages include any loss of earnings incurred as a result of the injury sustained in the accident and therefore a record of such losses needs to be kept.

Method of Funding – No win, no fee

At Meresbrook Pollard Solicitors we deal with your claim by way of a conditional fee agreement, also known as a ‘no win, no fee’ arrangement, and we will not ask you for any costs up-front to fund your claim.

If you are successful in you claim

Like most Solicitors we typically charge a contribution towards our fees from your compensation before you receive it. This is known as a success fee and stands at 25%.

If you lose your case

We do not charge you for any work done on your matter

An insurance policy is taken out at the start of your case to protect you from paying the other side’s legal fees and also to pay our disbursements, such as medical experts’ fees or court fees if these cannot be recovered from the other side.

Why choose Meresbrook Pollard Solicitors to deal with your personal injury claim?

Our friendly team of experienced Solicitors will:

• Deal as quickly as possible with your claim
• Fight for the best possible compensation for you
• Keep you in the loop with regular updates
• Explain each step clearly and be easily contactable and approachable, even at evenings and weekends in some instances

All Personal Injury claims are initially governed by the ‘pre-action protocol.’ This encourages exchange of information and is designed to help Claimants and Defendants settle cases fairly quickly and without the need to issue court proceedings. The pre-action protocol sets time limits with which both parties must acknowledge and respond to correspondence. If we feel it is appropriate we will issue court proceedings.

What to expect from Meresbrook Pollard Solicitors

When you contact Meresbrook Pollard Solicitors, we will ensure to call you back as soon as possible to discuss your matter.

We will arrange a mutually convenient appointment either face to face/via phone/skype and take your personal details and details of your accident.

Once this is done we will review these details with a partner who will decide if we are able to represent you in your claim and call you back to let you know if we can represent you, as soon as possible.

We will then, send the relevant documentation to you and appoint one of our experienced solicitors to deal with your claim.

Once we have your signed documentation returned to us, we will contact you to explain the process/next steps of your claim and gather any further information we require.

We will then obtain any further evidence we require to support your claim, including writing to any witnesses, obtaining more information from you and contacting your employer about any financial losses you have incurred as a result of the accident/injury sustained in the accident.

Once we have the relevant information we will notify the third party you believe are responsible for causing your accident and inform them that a claim is being made against them.

We shall then await a decision on liability. We will then await a response from the Defendant. When an insurer has to respond, can depend on the type of accident, or when or where your accident occurred.

Once we have a response from the Defendant we will notify you of the next steps and in the event liability is admitted we shall arrange to obtain copies of your medical records with the requisite signed authorities from you and arrange a medical appointment for you with an independent medical expert so they can prepare a medical report in respect to your injuries. We may also be able to arrange any treatment you require, such as physiotherapy, and/or CBT

Admission of Liability

If the Defendant admits liability the next step is for us to negotiate settlement on your behalf, if your medical evidence is finalised and it is appropriate to do so.

Denial of Liability

If the Defendant denies liability, they must give reasons and provide documentation to support this decision. At this point we will conduct any necessary investigation to dispute these reasons and to try and secure an admission of liability.