A personal injury refers to a physical or psychological injury that is caused by the negligence of another party.
Examples of circumstances that can give rise to a personal injury claim are:
- An accident at work.
- A road traffic accident.
- A slip/trip/fall in a public setting.
- Faulty goods or services.
- An accident whilst on holiday.
- An accident involving an animal such as a dog bite.
- An accident resulting from a criminal offence ie from an assault.
The law in the United Kingdom states a claim must be made within 3 years of the accident or date of knowledge, that is that court proceedings must be issued by that date. For example, if your accident took place on 10 January 2020, you would have until 10 January 2023 to issue court proceedings. This is known as the “limitation period”. Once a claim is issued, it must be served upon the Defendant within 4 months.
There are some exceptions to the three year limitation rule.
Common exceptions are where it is a child that has suffered a personal injury. In children cases, they have 3 years from their 18th birthday to make a claim. Should a claim be brought whilst a child, then the claim must be conducted by a Litigation Friend on behalf of the child. Typically this tends to be a parent/guardian.
A further variation to the 3 year rule is in criminal injury compensation claims where the claim has to be brought within 2 years of the criminal act complained of.
If you have unfortunately suffered an accident within the last 3 years and wish to establish whether you have a claim, feel free to contact a member of our team who will be happy to talk your options through with you.
You can speak to Associate Poonam Barnes by emailing poonam.barnes@mfgsolicitors.com
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