The Department of Transport released their annual report in June this year which stated that, in 2010, there were a total of 208,655 reported casualties which related to road traffic accidents and 1,857 fatalities.
Amazingly, these statistics demonstrated a fall in the number of casualties and fatalities compared with 2009. However, it is clear that there are a vast number of road traffic accidents each year.
If you are involved in an accident it can be upsetting or even shocking. You must stop if you are involved in an accident, even if there appears to be no damage to any vehicle and no one is injured. The best practical advice following an accident is to keep calm and assess whether or not medical attention is required for anyone involved in the accident and to seek help immediately if necessary. If the other driver leaves the scene of the accident, appears intoxicated or behaves in a threatening manner, do not hesitate to telephone the Police.
If you wish to make a claim in relation to the accident, it is extremely helpful to be able to provide information about the accident and any potential witnesses. If you can, make sure and take notes of:
- The make, model and colour of the vehicles involved along with their registration numbers.
- The details of the driver of the other vehicle involved and his or her insurance details.
- If there is a witness to the accident, you should ask them for their name, address and telephone number.
If you can, it is helpful to take photographs of the accident including:
- The position of your vehicle and any others involved on the road;
- The damage to your vehicle and any others involved
You must report any accident to your insurance company, even if you were not at fault. You should immediately inform your insurers who are likely to appoint a claims investigator or a solicitor to deal with the matter on your behalf. If you fail to report a claim or try to deal with it yourself, you may find that your insurer refuses to offer you cover under your policy which could of course have very significant financial implications.
In order to make a claim on your behalf for any injury, we would need to gather a significant amount of information about the accident. This process starts with us taking a statement from you about how the accident occurred and how it has affected you. We would then recover your medical records and, if you are still suffering from the effects of any injury, we would normally instruct an appropriate medical expert to examine you and provide us with a report. If you have been absent from your work we would also ask your employers to let us have details of how the absence has effected your income. Finally, you should make sure you keep hold of any evidence supporting a claim for miscellaneous expenses, such as taxi receipts for attending at hospital, physiotherapy costs and payments for medication.
You only have three years from the date of any accident to make a claim in court. If you do not, your case becomes what is known as “timebarred”. This means it will be almost certainly be impossible for you to make a claim. So, if you do have an accident, you should speak to a solicitor as quickly as possible.
Accidents are inevitable and become more frequent as the weather becomes colder.
Lindsays are members of the Compensate Personal Injury Network a national network set up to provide clients with the best possible service when dealing with a Personal Injury Claim. Our specialist advisors are holding an open day at our offices on the 25th November. If you would like to book your free appointment please call 0131 229 1212 and ask to speak to Jennifer Downie.
For more information please visit our Personal Injury webpage - Personal Injury
