Frequently asked questions

How long will the claim take?

This depends partly on how co-operative the Defendant's insurers are and partly on how long you take to recover from your injuries. It is not in your interests to settle a claim too early if you have not fully recovered as claims are settled on a 'once and for all' basis - i.e. you can't come back for more if you do not recover as quickly as anticipated. However, for our part we do not allow any avoidable delays - for example, if the other side are trying to drag the claim out, we will issue civil court proceedings to put pressure on them. However, a note of caution should be added in respect of 'pothole' or road/pavement defect claims, as these invariably take longer.

What do I have to do?

Hopefully very little - that's what we're here for! All you need to do is attend a medical appointment arranged by us (this will be in your own locality) and let us have any information that we ask for, promptly.

Why do I have to attend another medical - I am already seeing my own doctor or receiving treatment from a hospital?

Your own doctor or the hospital will only be concerned with getting you better. For the purposes of your claim we need a detailed medical report setting out your injuries and giving a prognosis for your recovery, as this is how your compensation is valued. Your own doctor will not usually be considered 'independent' for the purposes of a claim

How much will I get for my injuries?

We won't know the answer to this until we have your medical report. The value of a claim for injuries depends on how long the doctor predicts that you will take to make a full recovery (and that means no ongoing symptoms at all, even minor ones). The longer it is likely to take, the more your claim is worth. No two cases are the same, but as an example, if your injuries take 4-5 weeks or more to clear, then your claim will be likely to be worth upwards of £1,000. If you are likely to be left with visible permanent scars that you are very conscious of, these will increase the value of your claim.

How much will I get for the damage to my bike?

You may not get what you consider to be the full value of your bike. The law says that you can only claim for what it would cost to buy the same bike - i.e. if your bike is 3 years old, what it would cost you to buy a 3 year old bike of the same specification. Sadly, sometimes you may have an old but treasured and carefully maintained bike but not get back what it is worth to you because of the way the law works.

With cyclists things can be complicated by the fact that the groupset or individual components may have been upgraded since the bike was originally bought. We will argue this point on your behalf, but it is important that you let us have as much information as possible on the schedule of expenses about the age of your bike and any upgrades.

Do I have to pay you anything for the work you do?

No (but please see the "General Advice" page). If we win your case, the guilty party's insurers have to pay our fees, and the fees for medical reports, court fees etc. as well as your compensation. If we lose your case we do not get paid. However, the court fees etc. still have to be paid so if we have any strong doubts about your case we will be cautious about incurring these fees (called 'disbursements').

Does issuing court proceedings mean that I will have to go to court?

Extremely unlikely. Issuing proceedings simply means putting the court process in motion by sending a claim form to the court. There are a number of procedural steps that have to be followed before a hearing and the court sets a timetable which the other party's insurers (or, usually by then, their solicitors) have to follow. This usually means that we can force them to get on with dealing with your claim. Very occasionally the insurers simply won't get on with matters and the case will proceed to a final hearing (only a very small proportion of cases). However, these days the courts will often deal with deciding your case without you having to attend, at what is called a 'disposal hearing'. So all in all, your chances of having to actually attend court are very low.