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Road Traffic Accident Claims
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Road Traffic Accidents
Regrettably, most of us will have the misfortune to have at least
one road traffic accident in our lives. According to the Dept of
Transport, every year there are over 200,000 injuries as a result
of road traffic accidents, mostly car crashes, including over 3,000 fatalities and
approximately 40,000 serious injuries. These awful statistics have improved very little in recent times. Speed camera's, moreover, have had absolutely no impact whatsoever other than to swell the coffers of the Treasury (£10,000 per hour according to a recent Daily Mail Online article - a nearly 4 fold increase in 10 years - a total of £840 million between 1997 and 2007). Hence, if the number of injuries is to fall, then the focus needs to be upon real road safety measures and the speed camera's need to go.
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If you have been involved in a road traffic accident which was
caused by somebody else and the road traffic accident happened within the last
three years, then you are legally entitled to claim compensation.
However, road traffic accident claims can give rise to difficult and protracted
legal liability disputes, especially when both parties involved
blame each other for the road traffic accident. To ensure that you establish liability against
the other driver, it is essential therefore that you are
represented by an expert and this is where we can help.
By law all drivers must have at least third party insurance cover.
This means that their insurers will pick up the bill if the driver
causes a road traffic accident and injury to any other party (including any
passengers, whether related to the driver or not). If you are
unfortunate enough to be involved in a road traffic accident with an uninsured
driver, or with a driver who doesn't stop after the road traffic accident, then
your claim is likely to be covered by a special agreement covered
by the Motor Insurers' Bureau (the MIB) which is an organisation
set up specifically to cover such road traffic accidents.
What to do if you are involved in a road traffic accident
If you are involved in a road traffic accident, you should try to obtain the
following:-
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Write
down the name, address and telephone number of others involved in
the road traffic accident.
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Make a
careful note of the date and time of the road traffic accident, the street and
city, and weather and road conditions.
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Make a
note of the registration number, make, model, & colour, of all the
vehicles involved in the road traffic accident.
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Obtain
details of the insurance company and policy number of all the
parties involved in the road traffic accident.
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Obtain
the name, address and telephone numbers of any witnesses to the road traffic accident.
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If the
police attended the road traffic accident, obtain the officers name and badge number.
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Draw a
diagram showing the positions of the vehicles, people and property
immediately before and after the road traffic accident, and take
photographs of the damage to your vehicle, and the road layout.
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Visit a
Doctor to document any injuries arising out of the road traffic accident and take photographs of any
visible injury.
If you
did not manage to get all of above, don't worry. It will not
prejudice your road traffic accident claim.
The value of your road traffic accident claim
The value of your road traffic accident claim will depend upon the severity
of the injuries, the length of time taken to recover, and whether
or not there are any residual long term symptoms. For road traffic accident compensation claims, it is important that injuries arising out of the road traffic accident are documented
by medical professionals. If you are injured in a road traffic accident, then you should
ensure that you attend your doctor or hospital as soon as the
symptoms caused by the road traffic accident become obvious. The record of the injuries you sustained in the road traffic accident will be used as
the basis in assessing the value of your claim.
Apart from your injury claim, your claim for damages may include
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Loss of
past and future income
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Damage
to your vehicle and property
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Vehicle
hire
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Medical
expenses for the past and for the future
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Assistance for the future
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Prescriptions
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Insurance excess
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Reduced
employment prospects in the future
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Expenses in relation to the claim
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Whiplash injuries
The
most common type of injury caused by a road traffic accident is a
whiplash injury. This is usually characterised by a collection of
symptoms that occur following damage to the neck, back, and
shoulders, usually as a result of a sudden strain affecting the
discs, muscles, nerves, or tendons, in those areas caused by a
sudden acceleration or deceleration of the head, neck and back.
The head is violently thrown backwards, forwards, or sideways, in the road traffic accident,
followed by reflex contraction in the opposite direction. Swelling
and inflammation occur due to damage caused by the rapid movement
which leads to pressure being placed on the nerves. Symptoms
following a road traffic accident may be present immediately or may develop
gradually over a number of hours, days, or weeks after the
road traffic accident. They may include:-
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Pain or
stiffness of the neck, back, jaw, shoulders, or arms
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Headache and dizziness
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Loss of
feeling, or burning or prickling in an arm or hand
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Nausea
or vomiting
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Blurred
vision
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Balance
problems
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Psychological symptoms arising out of road traffic accidents can include memory loss, concentration
impairment, nervousness, irritability, sleep disturbances, fatigue
and depression
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The Accident
Solicitors, the brand, is part of Antrobus
Solicitors, a firm regulated by the Solicitors
Regulation Authority. Details of the
professional rules which regulate solicitors can
be found at the following website address:
http://www.rules.sra.org.uk |
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Areas Where We Have A Centre
Local To You
Carlisle,
Worcester (road traffic accident solicitors here), Durham, Lincoln
(road traffic accident solicitors here), Hereford (road traffic accident solicitors here), Canterbury, Litchfield, Ripon, Bangor, Wells, St. David's, Luton, Bedford, Bedfordshire (road traffic accident solicitors here), Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire,
Cumbria, Derbyshire, Dorset, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Kent, Leicestershire,
Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Norfolk (road traffic accident solicitors here), Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire,
Shropshire, Somerset, Suffolk (road traffic accident solicitors here), Sussex, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Reading, Newbury, Anglesey, Gwent, Clwyd, Gwynedd,
Dyfed, Powys, Bath (road traffic accident solicitors here), Brighton (road traffic accident solicitors here), Cambridge (road traffic accident solicitors here), Oxford, Plymouth,
Southampton (RTA claims specialist solicitor here), Stratford, York, Glamorgan, Cheltenham, Bradford,
Wakefield, Coventry, Leicester,
Sunderland, Hull, Wolverhampton, Swansea,
Salford, Ipswich, Portsmouth, Peterborough, Lancaster, Newport, Preston, St. Albans, Norwich, Chester, Salisbury
(road traffic accident solicitors here), Exeter,
Gloucester, Chichester,
Winchester, Cleveland, Tyne and Wear, Northumbria, Wrexham, Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Birmingham, Derby,
Bradford, Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Newcastle, Birmingham, Devon, Cornwall, Sheffield,
Staffordshire, Leeds, Nottingham, Bristol, Stoke.
We can also do home visits. Please see a list of areas in which we
conduct home visits on our local
contact points page
Local Centres Where We Can Offer Appointments Out Of Hours
At the following Local Centres, we can also offer appointments outside
the normal office hours of 9am - 5pm:-
- Manchester Business Park, Manchester
- Exchange Quay, Manchester
- King Street, Manchester
- Exchange Flags, Liverpool
- Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle, Cheshire
- Chester Business Park, Chester, Cheshire
- Crab Lane, Warrington, Cheshire
- City West, Bradford
- Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent
- The Pavillions, Preston, Lancashire
- Thopre Park Business Park, Colton, Yorkshire
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- Newcastle Quayside, Newcastle
- Victoria Square, Birmingham
- Exeter Business Park, Exeter, Devon
- Cambourne, Cornwall
- Hammersmith Road, London
- Eccleshall Road, Sheffield
- Princes Exchange, Leeds
- Dumfries Place, Cardiff
- Aztec West, Temple Quay, Bristol
- Pegasus Business Park, Nottingham
- Watling Court, Cannock, Staffordshire
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