Plain Speaking Promise: personal injury claims explained

At Smith Jones we pride ourselves on our professional yet “plain speaking” and relaxed approach to law. The advice we give is based on many years of experience and does not need to be masked with legal jargon, confusing language or inaccessible terminology.

Unlike many law firms we take the time to find out what our clients think about the service they receive from us. We provide our clients with an optional satisfaction survey so each testimonial on our “what our clients say about us” page is taken directly from our clients upon completion of their case. This means that everything you read is what our clients have taken the time, some at very distressing periods, to write about us.

We understand that sometimes the language you come across during the process of your claim can be confusing so we have tried to explain the most commonly used phrases and terms below:

Conditional fee agreement (CFA)

Also known as a “no win no fee” agreement, a conditional fee agreement allows us to pursue your claim at no costs to you.

We will be able to offer you a no win no fee agreement if the prospects of winning your case meet our required level.

The agreement means that if your claim is successful and you have complied with the terms of the “CFA” you will keep 100% of your settlement and our costs will be paid by the other party. If the claim is unsuccessful you will have nothing to pay.

Disbursements

These are the costs which we incur to cover the running of your case, for example GP notes, police reports, land registry fees and medical reports.

Liability

In law you are liable if you are responsible for or the cause of an occurrence. For example we will need to prove that somebody was liable (responsible) for your accident through their negligence.

Limitation period

This is the time limit within which you must bring your claim. In the UK this is 3 years but each country’s law in respect to limitation is different. In some countries you have as little as one year.

ATE Insurance

Where applicable we will take out an After the Event (ATE) Insurance policy on your behalf to cover the cost of disbursements and the other side’s costs should you lose your case. This allows us to run your case on a no win, no fee basis

Damages/Settlement

This is the compensation/money you will receive if your claim is successful.

We hope that the explanations above help de-mystify some of the language around the process of Personal Injury claims but if you have any further questions please call our FREE accident advice line on 0800 0187 047 and we will be happy to talk to you about your claim and your questions.