Liability

Blame for a wrongful act.  A person can be liable as a result of a negligence act (see below) or through being in breach of a duty owed under an Act of Parliament.

Negligence

This is not simply a careless act.  To prove negligence, there must have been:

·        a ‘duty of care’ owed to you by the Defendant,

·        a breach of that duty, a failure to act according to the legal standard of care and

·        damage suffered by you, which was caused by this breach.

Third Party or Defendant

A term referring to the person you are claiming against.  This may be an individual, a company or a local authority, to mention a few possibilities.  If Court proceedings have to be issued, the “third party” becomes known as the “Defendant”.

Damages

An award of money compensation.

General Damages

Losses which cannot be calculated by arithmetic, such as injury damages for pain and suffering.

Special Damages

Losses which can be calculated by arithmetic.  This includes all claims for financial losses, both past and future, including loss of past and future earnings.

Quantum

How much: the amount of damages.

Letter of Claim

An important document in which the circumstances giving rise to the claim are set out and the precise reasons for alleging that the Defendant is at fault.  This is sent to the Defendant at the start of the claim.

Interim Payment

This is a payment on account.  Rather than waiting until the end of your claim to receive all your damages, you can probably receive some payments earlier on provided that liability is admitted.  Most frequently, these payments will reimburse you for particular expenses such as the policy excess payable in a road accident claim, or the cost of physiotherapy treatment.

Medical Expert

A suitably qualified medical practitioner we will select and ask to examine you, review your medical records, and then prepare a detailed medical report.  This will usually be a GP or consultant and will be an independent practitioner, not someone who has been treating you.  The Defendant is also allowed to choose their own expert.  Whether preparing a report at our request, or at the request of the Defendant, the medical expert is obliged to give an objective, unbiased opinion.

Medical Report

This is a crucial document in an accident claim and forms the basis for working out how much money you should receive.  It contains the medical expert’s findings on examining you, outlines your medical history pre- and post-accident, gives recommendations for treatment, if relevant, and gives the expert’s opinion about how long your symptoms are likely to last, if you have not already made a complete recovery.

CPR

This refers to the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 which brought radical changes to the way that injury and other claims are conducted (also known as the Woolf reforms).

JSB Guidelines

Published guidance on the level of injury damages compiled for the Judicial Studies Board which is the training body for Judges.

Limitation

The time limit for bringing a claim in the courts.  The rules are complex but the basic rule is that court proceedings must be started within 3 years from the date of the injury.  However, in some cases it should be earlier.  The time limits are different for children or incapable adults.