Brain Injury Compensation Claims

If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident that has caused a brain injury, get in touch with us today and we can provide a free, no obligation consultation.

Accidents are simply instances when something happened to someone that was not planned or intended. While this may be true, it does not change the fact that a small mishap can have severe consequences for individuals. The law has developed to reflect this reality.

Brain injury is one of the many results of a personal injury and is unfortunately, an increasingly common occurrence. Attempting to handle any kind of personal injury can be a very difficult time for individuals, and this is especially so when someone suffers a brain injury. The law has developed in such a way as to try and make the process of making a personal injury claim for a brain injury as logical and accessible as possible.

How to make a PI claim for a Brain Injury?

As with most kinds of PI claim, there are certain criteria that need to be satisfied before anyone can seek compensation for a brain injury:

1. An individual will need to show a court that they were owed a duty of care; and
2. It must then be proven by the individual that the duty of care they were owed was breached.

To show that someone breached their duty of care, a court will need to be satisfied that the person who is defending the claim did not observe the standard of care that was expected of them.

Brain injuries are normally the result of accidents on the roads, as a result of car collisions. As a result, drivers on the UKs roads are expected to observe the rules, and exercise a reasonable degree of skill and care when driving a motor vehicle. This means that they are not to do anything, or avoid doing anything, that could injure their fellow road-users or pedestrians. It is not uncommon for the Highway Code to be used in cases to demonstrate that road users breached their duty of care, in not observing the terms of the Code.

Did the accident cause the injury?

Brain injuries are more complex than other injuries. As a result, the law has developed to reflect this reality. If an individual suffers physical injury that the law deems to be reasonably foreseeable because of the defenders actions, that same person will be held responsible for any mental injuries that his or her actions cause. However the law does place a limitation on the liability here, and will only hold a defender liable for a brain injury if the ‘wrong’ they caused contributed to the mental injury i.e. brain injury. An example would be a car or motorcycle crash claim, where head trauma caused an individual to suffer a brain injury.

What evidence is needed?

PI claims for Brain Injury are very complex. However they are made much more manageable if there is detailed evidence on how an accident took place. It is not uncommon for experts to be asked to provide detailed reports, and to speak in court on whether or not a set of circumstances has caused or contributed to a brain injury.

If someone believes that they have a PI claim for brain injury, it is incredibly important that the details of the circumstances are noted very carefully. Owing to the complexity of these accident claims, individuals are best advised to work alongside solicitors with experience in dealing with this kind of court action. It will be very helpful to specialist personal injury solicitors if individuals are able to provide as much detail about their circumstances as possible, including:

1. Details of the injury;
2. Timeline of events; and
3. Parties involved in the accident

Owing to their complexity, claims regarding Brain Injury should always be supported with Hospital/ medical records. These records should be made available to solicitors at the earliest possible opportunity, to allow them to identify the weight of medical opinion and decide on how best to pursue a claim.

As with most kinds of PI claims, pursuing them in the courts can be a lengthy and expensive endeavour. In some instances it may be possible, where liability is accepted, for some compensation to be made earlier on in the process. However this will always depend on the circumstances in question.

Brain Injury claims aren’t all the same?

It is not uncommon that PI claims regarding brain injury are treated the same as cases concerning mental injury that is alleged to have been caused by medical treatment. However these two kinds of claims are different, and should not be confused. Claims regarding brain injury and medical treatment are claims regarding Clinical Negligence, and are dealt with differently in law.

If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident that has caused a brain injury, get in touch with our expert team of no win no fee solicitors * and we will provide a free, no obligation consultation with regards to your compensation claim.

* other costs could be payable