Motorbike Personal Injury Claim

Motorbike Personal Injury Claim Guide

It is your legal right to make a motorbike personal injury claim to recover compensation for any injuries sustained in an accident which was not your fault. Compensation will be awarded to ensure that were it not for the accident, your financial situation will be no different and motorbike personal injury compensation will also make up for any pain and suffering that is attributable to an accident for which you were not to blame. Making a motorbike personal injury claim may seem like a daunting prospect at a time when you are recovering from a serious injury, but with the help of an experienced solicitor it need not be stressful.

Eligibility to Make a Motorbike Personal Injury Claim

In order for a motorbike personal injury claim to be made in the UK there are two main conditions which need to be met. The first condition is that for a motorbike personal injury claim to be made you must have sustained a personal injury. A claim cannot be made for a near miss or narrow escape. The second condition is that the personal injury must have been sustained in an accident which was caused by the negligence of at least one third party. Negligence means that there was a failure in a duty of care to you as a road user, which has placed you at risk of an accident and sustaining an injury. In the majority of cases, a motorbike personal injury claim is made for injuries sustained in a collision with a vehicle, although there are many instances of negligence which can result in a successful motorbike personal injury claim being made.

A motorbike personal injury claim can be made when the actions of a driver has forced you off the road, or when you have been forced to avoid a car which has pulled out from a junction without looking, and have sustained an injury by doing so. A motorbike personal injury claim can also be made when there has been negligence in the maintenance of a road surface, or even when diesel or oil spills have caused you to lose control of your bike. As long as the accident and resultant injuries were not primarily your fault, you should be eligible to make a motorbike personal injury claim for compensation.

Proving Negligence in a Motorbike Personal Injury Claim

In order for a motorbike personal injury claim to succeed, it is necessary to prove that a third party has been negligent in their actions or has failed to take sufficient care to avoid causing an accident. Proving third party negligence means collecting evidence and being able to demonstrate that that negligence was responsible for the accident and injuries sustained.

Advice on collecting evidence to support a motorbike personal injury claim will be provided by a solicitor; however time is of the essence when preparing a claim for motorbike personal injury compensation. Evidence is easiest to collect close to the time of the accident and when the accident is fresh in the mind of any eye witnesses. Although by law a motorbike personal injury claim does not need to be initiated immediately – it can be made up to 3 years from the date of the accident – delaying collecting evidence or seeking legal advice can harm your case.

Photographing the scene of the accident with the camera facility of a mobile phone can be useful, or making a sketch of the accident can similarly help to clarify how the accident occurred. Eye witness details should be recorded at the scene and any road hazard which caused the crash – such as a pothole – should be photographed with a ruler or other object to give an indication of the scale of the hazard. If it is not possible to revisit the scene of the accident promptly, you should ask a relative or friend to do this for you. Any evidence which can be collected will help to support a motorbike personal injury claim.

Motorbike Personal Injury Claim Amounts

Compensation amounts for a motorbike personal injury claim can vary significantly, and will depend on the circumstances of each particular claim as well as how the injuries have affected the victim. Even when similar injuries have been sustained by two accident victims, motorcycle accident compensation awards may be substantially different. This is because the calculation of compensation amounts in a claim for motorbike personal injury compensation involves many different factors. For example, the age of a motorcycle accident victim has a significant bearing on the value of a motorbike personal injury claim. Generally speaking, the younger the victim, the higher the compensation will be for a permanent injury, as the injury will have to be suffered for longer.

Pre-existing health conditions will also be factored in to a compensation calculation, as these can affect the severity of the injuries sustained in a motorbike accident. A motorbike personal injury claim for a woman will tend to involve higher compensation amounts for any visible injuries, than the same injuries sustained by a man. Physical scarring and burns are deemed to be ‘more severe’ when a woman is injured, due to how much importance is placed on appearance with women.

If you would like to receive an accurate assessment of the maximum compensation you are entitled to receive in a motorbike personal injury claim, you should speak with a motorcycle accident compensation solicitor for advice.

Interim Payments of Compensation in a Motorbike Personal Injury Claim

A motorbike personal injury claim can take a considerable time to be resolved; however it does not always mean that compensation payments cannot be paid quickly. When the cost of medical treatment mounts and expenses arising from the accident cannot be afforded, it may be possible to petition the courts to release funds to cover treatment; even if the motorbike personal injury claim has not yet been resolved. Interim payments are usually only possible when liability has been accepted and negotiations on the final settlement figure are taking a significant amount of time. However, provided that the chances of success are particularly strong, a solicitor may be able to arrange for interim payments of compensation to be made.

Interim payments of motorbike accident compensation can be vital for the victim to ensure that adequate treatment can be undertaken. It may also be in the insurer’s best interests to release compensation. If treatment and recovery are delayed, this will no doubt increase the amount of compensation which will need to be paid to a victim Ensuring early treatment is undertaken is in the interests of all parties concerned. In order for interim payments to be released, a case needs to be made to justify compensation being released. This is best achieved with the help of a motorbike accident compensation solicitor, to ensure the strongest possible motorbike personal injury claim for interim payments is presented to the courts.

Making a No Win No Fee Motorbike Personal Injury Claim

When a motorbike personal injury claim has a good chance of being successful, a solicitor may be able to offer legal representation on a No Win No Fee basis. This is an increasingly popular way of making a legal claim for compensation, as under this conditional fee arrangement a claimant will not be charged by their appointed solicitor if the case proves to be unsuccessful. A No Win No Fee motorbike personal injury claim which does succeed will see the legal fees of the solicitor charged to the defendant. Under UK claims law it is the losing party who is liable for the costs of the winner.

This means that while a No Win No Fee motorbike personal injury claim will not involve fees for legal representation, a claimant may still be liable for costs if the claim does not succeed. Many people believe that a No Win No Fee motorbike personal injury claim will be totally free of charge, and this is not always the case – especially with unsuccessful claims.

However, it is possible to reduce the cost of making a motorbike personal injury claim by taking out an ‘After the Event’ insurance policy. Such an insurance policy will cover defence costs if the claim does not succeed. A solicitor will be able to explain how a No Win No Fee motorbike personal injury claim works, the costs that the claimant will be liable for under all eventualities, and whether After the Event insurance should be taken out.

Seek Legal Advice before Starting a Motorbike Personal Injury Claim

In you have been injured in a motorbike accident and have sustained an injury, it is important to seek legal advice about making a claim for compensation as soon as possible – even if you are not sure if you wish to proceed with legal action. When you speak with a solicitor about making a motorbike personal injury claim, you will find out if you are eligible to claim, what the claims process involves, the likely costs and the chances of success.

You should also be able to find out an approximate compensation figure which can be claimed, and how long a motorbike personal injury claim should take to be resolved. If you have any legal questions about making a motorbike personal injury claim, it is a good opportunity to get the answers you need.

The decision to make a motorbike personal injury claim should not be undertaken lightly, and that decision should only be made when you have all the relevant facts and information. You can then make an informed decision about whether a motorbike personal injury claim is worth your while to pursue.