Here’s a closer look at the main themes from the conversation, including the types of injury covered, what needs to be proved, and why it’s always worth getting advice, even if you’re not sure how serious your injury really is.
The Short Answer
A serious injury claim generally involves a more complex injury, such as a brain injury, a complex orthopaedic injury, or a spinal injury. To bring a claim, liability and causation need to be established, alongside the medical evidence to support it. Compensation isn’t only about the injury itself: future needs such as rehabilitation, home adaptations and loss of earnings are all considered, and interim payments may be available before a claim settles. Some serious injuries, particularly brain injuries, aren’t always obvious, so it’s worth getting advice even if you’re unsure how serious your injury was.
What Is a Serious Injury Claim?
Legally speaking, a serious injury claim covers more complex types of injury than a standard personal injury claim.
“A serious injury claim is a more complex injury, which involves brain injuries, complex orthopedic injuries, spinal injuries, and basically we’re here to obviously help you with the compensation that you need.”
Bringing a claim isn’t just about identifying the injury itself. Liability and causation both need to be established, along with the medical evidence to support the claim, something the team at NJS Law helps put together.
For a broader look at the claims process, see our Serious Injury Claims service page
Where Do Serious Injuries Typically Happen?
Serious injuries can arise in a wide range of settings.
- Workplace accidents
- Road traffic accidents
- Accidents in public places
- Clinical negligence
“These can happen in a variety of places. So we can have workplace accidents, road traffic accidents, accidents that happen in public places, clinical negligence claims.”
The Main Categories of Injury
Brain injuries are among the most common, and can range from something more psychological, such as travel anxiety, through to an injury that affects someone permanently.
- Brain injuries
- Psychological injuries
- Chronic illness
- Amputations
- Spinal injuries
Each of these brings its own challenges, and the team treats every case individually rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.
How Are These Claims Assessed?
Brain Injuries
Assessing a brain injury means looking closely at how serious it really was. This can involve changes to someone’s speech, the way they approach things, or even their personality. Because the team doesn’t know the client before the accident, speaking to family and friends can help identify changes that might otherwise be missed.
“People’s speech can change, the way that they address things, their personality can even change. So we have to try and assess those different things, and sometimes even speak to family members can help.”
Amputations and Future Needs
For an amputation claim, a central part of the case is assessing future needs, since so much can change in how someone lives day to day.
Loss of earnings, both current and future
Rehabilitation needs
Home adaptations, which might include a move to a bungalow or an occupational therapist assessing the property
Employment, including whether someone can continue working, or needs changes to their role
“We’d have to assess the future needs. That’s really important because a lot of things are going to change in the person’s home and the way that they’re able to do things.”
Rehabilitation and Interim Payments
Rehabilitation is often a major part of both recovery and the claim itself, covering things like physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Alongside this, the team looks to secure interim payments early wherever possible.
“We also look to secure interim payments early for clients as well, which is obviously a more financial side of rehabilitation, to try and get interim payments for them before we settle the claim.”
An interim payment effectively works as a down payment on the eventual damages, coming off the final settlement sum. Where there’s evidence that an injury is likely to be serious, and a client has a genuine need, such as being unable to work or needing private physiotherapy that can’t otherwise be arranged, a significant sum can sometimes be secured early.
What Needs to Be Proved?
From a legal perspective, two things need to be established at the outset.
“We need to prove firstly liability. So we need to make sure that we’ve got someone that would be at fault for the accident. … And then we also need to prove causation, which is when obviously the injury has been caused by what’s happened during the accident.”
Building the Evidence
Establishing liability and causation involves several steps.
- Speaking to the client about the accident circumstances
- Taking witness statements from anyone present or aware of the accident
- Arranging medical evidence, including appointments with professionals experienced in both medical and legal reporting
- Drawing on expert input into rehabilitation needs, which can also support the claim
“We have a variety of experts here that help with different things for us that can obviously emphasize the claim.”
For a broader overview, see our Serious Injury Claims Guide.
It’s Not Always Obvious You’ve Had a Serious Injury
One of the most striking points in the conversation is that a serious injury isn’t always apparent, particularly with brain injuries.
“It’s not always obvious, especially with brain injuries. I found in the past people aren’t aware that they’ve had a brain injury.”
Hannah shares an example of a client who had made the same cup of tea every day and suddenly forgot how to make it, a small change that turned out to signal something worth investigating further.
“He forgot how to make his cup of tea, and that designated that maybe there’s something there that we need to investigate.”
In that case, medical professionals hadn’t picked up on the injury until the team’s own investigation prompted further assessment, which then confirmed a significant brain injury.
“Medical professionals didn’t actually pick up on it until we did, and then they started investigating and found that there was a problem there.”
The takeaway is a simple one: it’s always worth getting advice, even if you don’t think your injury was especially serious.
Frequently Asked Questions
Generally a more complex injury, such as a brain injury, a complex orthopaedic injury, or a spinal injury.
Liability (that someone was at fault) and causation (that the injury was caused by the accident), supported by medical evidence.
A payment secured before a claim settles, which effectively acts as a down payment on the final compensation and comes off the eventual settlement sum. It can help with costs such as bills or private treatment while the claim progresses.
No, particularly with brain injuries, where changes can be subtle, such as changes in speech, personality or everyday habits. It’s worth getting advice even if you’re not sure how serious your injury was.
Beyond the injury itself, future needs such as rehabilitation, home adaptations, and changes to employment and earnings are all considered.
Get in touch and explain what happened. The team will tailor their questions to your situation and guide you through the next steps.
Conclusion
Serious injuries can have lasting consequences, but as this episode makes clear, support is available, and it isn’t always obvious from the outset how serious an injury really is. If anything discussed here feels familiar, it’s worth getting in touch to talk it through.