Seeking help after a personal injury

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by: Journalist
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Date: Sat, 8 May 2010 Time: 4:30 AM
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Personal injury refers to any mental, emotional, or bodily harm that a person sustains. In some situations, such an injury is inevitable -- an unfortunate "side effect" of day-to-day living. In most cases, however, circumstance is not the only culprit. More often than not, personal injuries to one person result from the action(s) of another. These types of injuries and the legal process concerning them - whether the incident in question is a car crash, slip and fall, or a case of medical malpractice - fall under the umbrella of personal injury law.

Under UK personal injury law, if certain requirements are met an injured person has a right to sue the party believed to be responsible for their injuries. This means that one of the following must be true: either the injury must have taken place as the result of foreseeable negligence (meaning there was a duty of care, breach of duty, and a foreseeable injury that resulted) or in the alternative, it must have been an intentional act. Assuming that one of these is true and that no other circumstances exist to mitigate the perpetrator's liability, the victim can file a complaint and proceed to court, hiring a personal injury solicitor to represent them.

Equipped with the help of a personal injury solicitor to prove their case, in court the victim can seek general damages and, if appropriate, may seek special damages as well. Damages are summation of all harm that has come as a result of the injury - including that of the injury itself. General damages, which apply in most cases, serve strictly as compensation for the injury. Frequently, for example, the injured party has had to experience undue pain or burden because of the injury, which often translates into a "pain and suffering" award. Where special damages come into play is when the injury has inflicted quantifiable financial harm on the victim, such as the loss of income, medical costs uncovered by insurance, and the loss or depreciation of personal effects.

A personal injury case from start to finish can range widely in length, anywhere from several months to several years. Whereas smaller cases usually settle out-of-court, larger cases often require high amounts of litigation and therefore may take considerably longer.

About the Author

Having an accident can change your life and having experienced it personally, it can be difficult to understand all the legal information involved. A good reference point as most of the times would be wikipedia.