How will Coronavirus affect my injury claim?
The legal system is one area of society that has continued throughout the lockdown. Not all Court buildings are open but the courts are contuing to process and hear cases mainly via the telephone. As such, the short answer is “Yes, you can still claim”. However, read on to discover the answer to: How will Coronavirus affect my injury claim?
Is there anybody there?
The day to day management of a personal injury claim is the job of your solicitor and the insurance company to which your claim has been presented. The majority of staff are either furloughed or working from home. At best this means that they are difficult to contact. Worse case, it may mean that there is nobody actually working on your case at the moment. This will delay your claim.
Is there a doctor in the house?
To pursue a personal injury claim you will need to be examined by a doctor. Face to face examinations with a doctor cannot currently be undertaken due to social distancing. Some types of injury are suitable for the examination to take place via video link, but for serious/complicated injuries this is not appropriate. These cases are on hold until a physical examination can occur.
Despite Coronavirus, can we investigate?
To support your claim, evidence is required This usually includes witness statements, expert reports, photographs, site plans and documents, among other things. These are difficut to obtain when investigators cannot visit premises and interview face to face. Many individuals and companies are in lock down and it is hard to contact them in order to obtain evidence to support your case.
I have been furloughed/lost my job. Will this affect my injury claim?
The answer to this depends upon your individual circumstances. It will not affect whether you win or lose but it may impact upon the amount of compensation that you receive.
Being furloughed should not affect the amount of compensation that you receive.
A loss of employment requires an investigation as to whether it is due to your injury or coronavirus. The result may impact whether you can claim for loss or earnings and the amount of that claim.
What are HW Solicitors doing to minimise disruption?
How will Coronavirus affect my injury claim? – We are confident that the majority of claims we are pursuing on behalf of our clients are unaffected by Coronavirus. The small number that are affected, we are doing everything possible to ensure that all steps have been undertaken and the case is ready to proceed as soon as possible.
We are open. We cannot currently offer face to face appointments but you can still contact us is all the other ways. We are in the office everyday and working normally. We are arranging as many medical appointments as possible via video link. If the injury is not suitable for an online examination we are instructing the doctor and ensuring our client’s are top of the list when face to face examinations can take place. We are undertaking all possible investigations to succeed on liability and implementing alternative strategies where we cannot physically attend.
If you are an existing client, please do not hesitate to contact us in the usual ways to discuss your claim.
If you are not currently one of our clients but would like to speak to one of our solicitors in confidence about a compensation claim, you can call us on 01484 518356, send us an email info@hwsolicitors.co.uk or complete our contact form.
We are happy to discuss anything with you via WhatsApp. Please message us here