If you receive a significant settlement, a PI Trust is a legitimate way of ensuring that this does not prevent you from recovering means-tested benefits in the future. There are pros and cons with PI Trusts but if we think they are suitable for you, we will advise you in relation to this and will put you in touch with a suitable organisation to help you arrange this.

Depending how far the claim progresses, we may need you to sign:

A List of Documents – this is a list which sets out details of any relevant documents in your possession;

A Witness Statement;

Court Documents:

Particulars of Claim – this sets out the nature and basis of the claim against the Defendants;

Schedule of Loss – this sets out details of your financial losses arising from the accident.

If, however, there is a genuine risk of you developing a further condition, which would make your financial needs significantly greater, we can apply for what are called provisional damages. This means that you settle your case at a certain sum but if the stated condition materialises in the future, you can return to Court for a further sum.

We work with a medical agency who have experts throughout the country and we will always try and arrange this with as little inconvenience to you as possible.

In addition, the Defendants will occasionally want you to be seen by their own medical experts.

In addition, we will never advise you to settle your claim until your injuries have either resolved or reached a plateau. To settle earlier than this would run the risk of you not receiving adequate compensation.

When someone has serious injuries, it can take a very long time before the medical evidence and the associated financial losses can be finalised. We will always try and keep you advised on what we believe are realistic timescales for your case.

We will discuss with you as the case progresses the various items which we can try and recover for you and how much you are likely to receive. It can and often does change throughout the case as the medical evidence develops and the recovery process takes place.

Usually, a claim for personal injury is made up of two areas; in legal terms, we call these general damages and special damages.

General damages – this is the amount you receive for your pain, suffering and inconvenience as well as all the difficulties which these may have caused you.

To calculate these, we look at previous cases which are similar to yours, together with guidelines which are issued to judges who decide the outcome of such claims if they go to Court.

Some firms of solicitors have a ‘Damages Calculator’ on their websites. These are irresponsible and a complete waste of time. Your case will be valued on the basis of your injuries as described by a suitably qualified medical expert or experts.

Special damages – these are any direct financial losses which you have suffered (or will suffer in the future as a result of your injuries. Typically, these may include:

Loss of earnings up to the settlement;
Los of earnings in the future;
An amount to reflect the fact that your injuries may make it harder for you to find work in the future;
The cost of medical expenses, treatment or surgery if needed;
Items which help you cope with your injuries, for example, a wheelchair, an electric scooter, crutches, a TENS machine etc;
The costs of care provided to you – an amount can be claimed even where no payment has been made because it has been or will be provided by family or friends
Travel expenses;
Prescription costs.

We are a small firm of solicitors based in Leeds. We are professional and progressive. We only act for Claimants – we never act for Defendants. We pride ourselves on exceptional levels of customer service.