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How To Claim For A Brain Injury From A Car Accident

By Cat Way. Last updated 3rd July 2024. Suffering a brain injury from a car accident can have a significant impact on your life. If you suffered your injury in a road traffic accident due to another driver breaching their duty of care, you may be able to make a personal injury claim for car accident compensation.

In this guide, we will explore the eligibility criteria you must meet to be able to make a personal injury claim, as well as the duty of care that road users owe to one another while navigating the roads.

We’ll also discuss how a car accident could happen and how this could result in a brain injury or brain damage. Brain injuries can have a very severe effect on your life, and as a result, you may be wondering about how much compensation you could receive if your claim succeeds. Our guide explores compensation in road traffic accident claims and how legal professionals value your injuries.

Following this, we will discuss the benefits of working with a solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis and how one of our solicitors could help you. Read on to learn more, or get in touch with our team of advisors today to get started:

A person lies on the road following a car accident brain injury, another person is in distress behind them.

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Could I Claim For A Brain Injury From A Car Accident?

In order to form the basis of a valid car accident compensation claim, you must be able to prove that:

  •   The other driver owed you a duty of care.
  •   They breached this duty, causing the accident.
  •   You were injured as a result.

When these three factors come together, they form negligence. It’s important to be able to establish negligence in order to make a claim.

Everyone using the roads, including drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and motorbike riders, owe a duty of care to others on the roads. Per their duty of care, they must use the roads in safe and responsible manner to avoid causing damage and injury to themselves and the other road users. Additionally, they must adhere to the regulations and rules set out for them in the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code.

If you can prove that your brain injury occurred because another driver breached their duty of care, then you may be able to make a claim for car accident compensation. Contact our team of advisors today to learn more.

How To Claim For A Brain Injury From A Car Accident – Collecting Evidence

If you have been involved in a car accident that has caused brain damage, it is a good idea to gather as much evidence as possible to support your claim. This includes the following:

  • Photographic evidence – If you have any visible injuries, it is a good idea to take photographs to support your claim. You should also take photographs of the scene of the crash itself and any damage to your vehicle.
  • Contact details – Not only should you get the contact details of the perpetrator, but you should also get the contact information of any witnesses. Witness statements can really help to strengthen your claim.
  • Keep proof of any expenses incurred – You will be able to claim for any expenses you have encountered as a direct consequence of your injuries. This includes loss of income, travel costs, medical expenses, the cost of counselling, and much more. However, to claim for these, you will need proof, so keep a hold of your receipts and any other documents.

Common Car Accidents Causing Brain Damage

There are many different types of car accidents that can result in brain damage injuries. And any of these could result in brain damage car accident compensation claims. Common causes include:

  • Someone using their phone will driving and causing a crash
  • Someone failing to stop at a zebra crossing and injuring a pedestrian
  • Crashes caused by speeding
  • Someone pulling out too quickly at a roundabout
  • Someone failing to acknowledge other drivers on the road
  • A passenger that has been injured due to the driver in the vehicle being careless

These are merely a few examples of the common incidents that can lead to car crashes. It is important to recognise that how the crash happened does not necessarily matter when it comes to making head injury compensation claims, so long as you can prove that someone else caused the incident.

Brain Injury Compensation Payouts Following A Car Accident

Compensation in a successful car accident brain injury claim can be awarded under two different heads of loss. These are:

  • General Damages: awarded for physical and psychological harm.
  • Special Damages: awarded for financial losses. 

 We’ll cover special damages further down the section, but how general damages can be calculated is examined below.

Those responsible for these calculations can refer to your medical documents in conjunction with the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This extensive publication contains guideline compensation values for many different types of injury. We have used the JCG figures for brain damage, with the exception of the top entry, in the table below. 

Compensation Table

Please take note that this table is for guidance purposes only. 

Injury TypeSeverityGuideline Compensation Amount
Multiple Very Severe Injuries Along With Significant Special DamagesVery SevereUp to £1,000,000 and above.
Brain DamageVery Severe (a)£344,150 to £493,000
Moderately Severe (b)£267,340 to £344,150
Moderate (c)(i)£183,190 to £267,340
Moderate (c)(ii)£110,720 to £183,190
Moderate (c)(iii)£52,550 to £110,720
Less Severe (d)£18,700 to £52,550
Injuries Involving ParalysisParaplegia (b)£267,340 to £346,890
EpilepsyEstablished Grand Mal (a)£124,470 to £183,190
Established Petit Mal (b)£66,920 to £160,360

Special Damages

Monetary losses stemming from your injuries can be compensated under special damages, the second of the two heads of loss. Possible examples of such costs can include:

  • Childcare.
  • Mobility modifications to your home.
  • Loss of earnings.
  • Domestic care support.
  • Travel expenses.

Remember to hold onto copies of your payslips, care bills, receipts and other documentation as proof you incurred these expenses.

As personal injury claims are assessed case-by-case, we can’t make guarantees about compensation figures in this guide. To get a more detailed idea of what your particular claim could be worth, and a free assessment of your eligibility to claim, contact our advisors today using the contact information given below.

Will The Whiplash Reforms Affect My Claim?

On May 31st 2021, the way some road traffic accident claims are made in England and Wales changed with the introduction of the Whiplash Reform Programme.

If you are over the age of 18, a driver or passenger of a vehicle with injuries valued at £5,000 or less (such as whiplash), you will need to make your claim via a different avenue. 

Your whiplash injuries will also now be valued in line with the tariff set out by the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021. These tariffs are fixed amounts. Injuries that are not covered by this tariff will be valued the traditional way.

It’s important to have your claim valued by a professional so that all areas are fully considered, such as special damages and psychological injuries. To find out how one of our brain injury solicitors could help you, contact our team today.

How To Make A No Win No Fee Claim For A Brain Injury From A Car Accident

If you are eligible to make a car accident claim but aren’t sure where to start, one of our solicitors may be able to help. With years of experience in road traffic accident law, our solicitors are experts in personal injury compensation claims and could represent you on a No Win No Fee basis.

Our solicitors work under a kind of No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When you work with a solicitor under a CFA, they won’t ask for any upfront fees in order to begin on your claim, nor will they require ongoing fees to retain their services. On top of this, if your claim fails, your solicitor won’t take a fee for their work.

In fact, your solicitor will only take a fee for their work if your claim succeeds. This success fee will be taken as a percentage from the compensation awarded to you. However, this amount is capped by law, which ensures that the majority share of what you receive stays with you.

Working with a solicitor comes with many benefits. For example, a solicitor can carefully value each area of your claim and make it clear through which channel your claim should be made. Similarly, they can explain any legal jargon or answer any questions you may have throughout the claims process.

Contact Our Team

If you’re ready to get started on your brain injury claim, contact one of our advisors today. If they find your claim to be valid, they may connect you with one of our expert brain injury solicitors. 

Helpful Resources

Below, we’ll included some useful links on brain damage injuries resulting from car accidents.

Government advice on brain injury and driving

This link takes you to the UK Government’s page on traumatic brain injury and driving. If you have suffered a traumatic brain injury, you need to tell the DVLA. If you don’t, you could face a £1,000 fine. This is the last thing you need after such a horrific ordeal, so check out this page to find out more about the correct procedure.

NHS advice on severe head injuries

This NHS page reveals everything you need to know about severe head injuries, including diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and complications.

We also have some other guides on car accident claims that you may find useful:

Thank you for reading our guide on claiming compensation for brain damage after a car accident.

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