Tag: injury

How much could a barrister help me claim for a motorcycle accident?

If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident that was at least partially the fault of someone else, you might be wondering whether you are entitled to compensation and how much you are able to claim. This post looks at how your barrister and the court will value your claim, in order to give you an idea of how much compensation you might be entitled to for your injury.

Calculation of compensation

Most personal injury cases do not proceed to court and are settled between the parties for a fair amount of compensation. Your lawyer will look to value your claim in line with what would be awarded to you by a court, and seek to recover this amount from the other party’s insurers.

In order to make a proper evaluation, your lawyer will need to obtain information from you, as well as all of your medical reports and notes. Valuing motorcycle injury compensation can be challenging, but the right legal professional will fully consider the points below in order to get the maximum amount of compensation you are entitled to.

Factors that are considered

How severe was your injury?

The extent of your injuries will have an effect on how much you could be entitled to. The injuries sustained from motorcycle accidents can vary substantially, as can the amount of compensation you could be awarded.

Minor fractures attract around £1000, whereas compensation for the most serious injuries, including paraplegia, can attract awards of up to £350,000. When making your claim, your lawyer will obtain an expert medical opinion on how your injuries might impact your life, in order to make an accurate assessment of how much compensation you are entitled to.

How have you suffered loss?

The court will also award compensation for all of the ways in which you have suffered loss financially. This includes loss of earnings and loss of future earnings. If your injuries will affect your capacity to earn in the future, your lawyer will calculate how much this could be worth. In order to do this, your lawyer will consider how old you are, your line of work and your capacity to carry out another job.

Obtaining a quote from one of our direct access barristers is completely free, so contact us at Barristers 4 U today to find out how we can help you claim compensation for your motorcycle injuries.

Who pays compensation where collisions involve driverless cars?

Driverless cars have generated a lot of interest of late, with a number of vehicle providers carrying out test runs on public roads and insurance companies reviewing their motor insurance products with a view to accommodating the change to automated transport.

The benefits of driverless vehicles have also been well reported. For example, driverless vehicles will reportedly reduce pollution and, quite importantly, are expected to remove human error leading to fewer road traffic collisions.

While driverless cars may remove human error, they introduce risks of their own with machine error being one key issue. There are tricky questions about who pays compensation when driverless cars cause injury or damage. This is because traditional laws on vehicle-related accident sought compensation from drivers and their insurers on the basis of driver fault where a driver’s negligence had caused injury or damage.

Proposed new laws

The UK Government is seeking to address this issue by introducing new laws which could make it easier to seek compensation directly from insurers of driverless vehicles when insured vehicles cause injury or damage.

The Government introduced the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill to the House of Parliament in October 2017, though it is yet to be passed as law.

When introducing the Bill, Transport Minister John Hayes said, “We want the UK to be the best place in the world to do business and a leading hub for modern transport technology, which is why we are introducing the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill in Parliament and investing more than £1.2bn in the industry.”

(Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-electric-and-driverless-car-industry-as-government-drives-forward-green-transport-revolution)

What changes are being introduced

Under the proposals, motor vehicle insurers will be liable to pay compensation when a driverless vehicle they insure causes an accident while “driving itself” which results in death, personal injury and/or property damage.

Insurers will not have to pay compensation if the driverless vehicle is uninsured at the time of the accident. Insurers can also avoid liability or limit the amount of compensation they are liable to pay if an injured person is partly at fault for the accident.

Source: https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/automatedandelectricvehicles.html

Barristers4u are specialists with experience in a wide range of motor-related incidents. Contact us today to see how we can help you.