While the personal injury market shrank by 1.5% to just £3.92 billion in 2020, this represents a minor blip and one that’s expected to have been corrected last year.
Certainly, this market remains busy and crowded, while there are numerous niches and types of personal injury claims within the space.
But what are the most common iterations of personal injury claims? Here are some of the most popular examples, along with a brief explanation of personal injuries and how they’re defined in law!
What is a Personal Injury Claim?
If you experience an accident or injury in a public space or building, you may be able to make a claim for compensation.
In this instance, you’ll have to demonstrate both liability and the direct impact of the incident, whether this is a personal injury that requires treatment or a sustained and damaging loss of earnings.
Common locations for personal injuries include workplaces, government buildings and retail outlets, while shopping centres and schools may also provide grounds for you to make a claim.
What are the Most Popular Claims?
The question that remains, of course, is which personal injury claims are the most commonplace or popular? Here’s the top three!
- #1. Car Accidents: While car accidents occur outside, they take place in a public place where liability is usually applied to one driver or another. In instances where you’re injured as a direct result of another driver’s actions (and you can prove this), you may be able to pursue a claim that can be settled through insurance. Common injuries arising as a result of car accidents include whiplash, broken legs and facial damage that requires surgery.
- #2. Commercial Accidents: Unlike relatively low-grade incidents that happen in public places like shopping centres, commercial accidents tend to be more serious and costly in terms of compensation payouts. For example, such instances may include trips and slips at work, potentially in dangerous environments such as factories or warehouses. Claims will be larger if an employer is at fault due to poor signage or the presence of wet floors, while inadequate safety standards and reporting processes could also result in a hefty payout.
- #3. Medical Negligence: According to the BBC, some £4.3 billion worth of NHS England medical negligence claims were outstanding at the end of 2020. This highlights the scale of the issue facing medical negligence, which owns a huge portion of the personal injury market and refers to instances where qualified practitioners fail in their duty of care and a patient is injured as a result. Medical negligence claims can also take numerous forms, from prescription errors and surgical mistakes to a missed diagnosis or instances where doctors fail to diagnose the correct condition.
