If you’ve had an accident that was somebody else’s fault and you’re looking for Chorley personal injury solicitors that cover the local area, then this guide is for you. Legal Expert provide specialist solicitors who’ve been making successful injury claims for clients across the UK over many years.
This guide will show you how to choose the right solicitor to take on your claim, the most common types of claims that are filed in this area and how our No Win No Fee solution works.
If you’re ready now, or after reading this guide, to begin your claim then you’ll find our contact details at the bottom of the guide.
What are the benefits of claiming with a personal injury solicitor?
Making a personal injury claim against a company or anybody else can seem daunting, scary, complex and financially expensive but Legal Expert can help with all of that.
There is loads of legislation and laws in place to make claims for personal injuries much easier and, so long as the accident was somebody else’s fault, then the systems are there to make claiming safe and fair.
We offer a No Win No Fee service on all claims that we take on which means our clients don’t need to find any funds upfront and don’t have to pay a hefty legal bill if they lose the case. This makes claiming compensation virtually risk free.
Could I make a compensation claim?
In order to win a Chorley accident case, you, or more specifically your solicitor (if you choose to hire one), will need to be able to prove the following:
- Firstly, that the defendant in the case owed you a duty of care.
- Secondly, that they breached the duty of care in some way.
- And finally, that the breach they made caused you to have an accident and become injured.
To give your solicitor the best chance to be able to prove those points it’s highly recommended that you begin your claim as early as possible. Due to the Limitation Act 1980, there is normally a three-year time limit for starting a personal injury claim. The time limit starts from the date of your accident (or the day your injuries/illness could be diagnosed). A competent accident solicitor will gather as much supporting evidence as possible and make sure that any claims are backed up with solid facts.
What should you look for in a good quality solicitor?
The personal injury lawyer that you choose needs to be able to put together as full a case as soon as possible that supports the claim you are making. The outcome of their work will decide whether you win or lose your case and so it’s essential you choose one who understands and specialises in personal injury case law.
A good claim will explain how serious your injuries were and how they were caused by the defendant. These need to be backed up with legal and medical evidence and if you’ve chosen the right solicitor then the amount you receive as compensation will be higher than a case prepared with less supporting evidence.
What should you look for in a review of a solicitor?
Reviews are everywhere on the Internet these days and solicitors’ websites are full of them which is where we recommend you start before contacting or choosing a solicitor.
Reviews are a great source of recent information and there can be quite a lot of detail hidden in them that you can use to select the right solicitor to take on your case. As well as the number of stars the clients have given the solicitor you can look for details like: was the client happy with the amount of compensation received, have there been a lot of wins for the solicitor recently and how enthusiastic the reviews are about the solicitor.
Why the location of a solicitor is not important
Some people think that choosing a local solicitor means they’ll get a better outcome, but this isn’t true. There is no requirement for a solicitor to be based in Chorley to make a claim there and thinking about it logically, a solicitor will deal with clients and defendants using phone calls, emails and letters rather than face to face consultations, so the location of the office is not a relevant factor in choosing a solicitor.
We do ensure that any medical assessments that need to take place happen locally in Chorley so that our clients don’t waste time with excessive travel.
What compensation claims can our personal injury team conduct?
There are numerous types of personal injury cases that Legal Expert can help with. Essentially, as mentioned earlier, if somebody who owed you a duty of care breached that duty then we can make a claim for you.
In the next few sections we’ll list the most common claims that could be processed by Chorley personal injury solicitors on a regular basis:
How to make an industrial disease claim
Industrial injuries, illnesses and diseases often build up over a period of time and it’s often the case that they do not get claimed for until many years after they began to be caused.
Some common types of industrial illnesses that can lead to a personal injury claim include:
- Tinnitus
- Carpel Tunnel Syndrome
- Vibration White Finger
- Mesothelioma
- Acoustic Shock
- Industrial Asthma
We’re able to help with any of these conditions, amongst others, if the employer could’ve done something to prevent them from happening such as improving working conditions, providing better equipment or removing the risk from the workplace.
How to make a medical negligence claim
Medical negligence claims can be complex but don’t let that put you off as Legal Expert have the Chorley personal injury solicitors available that understand how they work and what’s needed to make a successful claim.
You can read our more general guide about medical or clinical negligence but some of the common reasons for negligence claims include:
- Delayed diagnosis
- Delayed treatment
- Misdiagnosis
- Surgical negligence
- Infections contracted while in hospital (such as MRSA)
Any of these can lead to a clinical negligence claim and could be caused by a nurse, doctor, dentist, surgeon or cosmetic surgeon. We would normally claim against the health authority responsible (or private healthcare provider) rather than the individual medical practitioner.
Accident at work compensation claims
Every employer, under health and safety regulations, has a duty of care to ensure that the workplace is safe and risk assessments should be made regularly to ensure that staff remain safe.
If you’ve been involved in an accident at work, then you could make a claim against your employer if it can be proven that:
- Training provided to yourself or a colleague was inadequate (or not provided at all).
- The equipment that caused your accident was faulty, damaged or not maintained properly.
- There was no, or inadequate, safety equipment provided.
- The general working environment was unsafe.
We can help with claims where your employer was to blame in some way for your accident and subsequent injuries.
How to make a slip or fall claim
As well as in the workplace a slip or trip leading to a fall can happen just about anywhere. If it happens where somebody owes you a duty of care and was caused by them (i.e. it wasn’t just because you weren’t paying attention) then you could use our No Win No Fee service to make a claim.
Some common reasons why a slip could be somebody else’s fault include:
- Items left scattered around (i.e. clothes all over a shop floor that could’ve been placed back on hangers by staff).
- Slippery and wet floors where no warning signs were used.
- Uneven or damaged flooring or walkways (such as broken kerbs, potholes or damaged floor tiles)
- Poor lighting that masks a trip hazard.
Feel free to contact Legal Expert now about how Chorley personal injury solicitors could assist you with a slip, trip or fall claim.
How to make a serious injury claim
For an injury to be deemed serious or severe it needs to be demonstrated that it’s at the high end of the claim scale which usually means it’s life-changing in some way. Accidents that cause brain damage, paralysis, deafness, blindness or amputations will often be classified as a serious injury.
If you’ve been involved in a serious accident in Chorley, then please get in touch as you will need the support of a specialist personal injury solicitor to ensure you get the compensation your injuries deserve as those funds will usually include an element that will pay for your ongoing care and recovery.
We’ve written a more thorough guide about serious injury claims.
Chorley road traffic accident compensation claims
When you’re involved in a road traffic accident in Chorley as either a driver, passenger or pedestrian if the other driver involved was to blame then you could make an accident claim against them.
Claims can range from whiplash injuries to life-changing or even fatalities caused by another driver (which can include criminal behaviour such as drink-driving or death by dangerous driving).
Finally, if the other driver was uninsured or was a hit and run driver, then we can still attempt to make a claim on your behalf from a scheme operated by the Insurance industry.
Lancashire county road traffic accident injuries and deaths
The table below shows the most serious road traffic accidents (including fatalities) in Lancashire for the past 3 years. The figures have been provided by the Department for Transport (DfT):
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
---|---|---|---|
Other | 26 | 23 | 27 |
Car | 262 | 223 | 235 |
Motorcycle | 142 | 169 | 132 |
Pedestrian | 150 | 144 | 126 |
There are no specific statistics for Chorley but they are included within this table which highlights that accidents against pedestrians (serious ones at least) have declined when comparing the period between 2011 and 2014.
Statistics published in a 2020 Lancashire County Council report offers insight into the frequency of road casualties in more recent years. Across the Lancashire area, there were 3,213 road casualties recorded by local police in 2020. 785 of these casualties were killed or seriously injured.
Make a No Win No Fee claim with our team
No Win No Fee services that a solicitor will provide include: a free consultation where the case is assessed and the injuries described by the claimant; checking of the technical and medical aspects of the claim to ensure it is sound; drawing up a No Win No Fee agreement; collecting evidence to support the claim; putting the claim to the defendant and asking for compensation; negotiation of any offers from the defendant and; paying the client the compensation that has been awarded after retaining the solicitors agreed fees.
As you can see, a No Win No Fee case is as complex as any legal case, but it is risk free as you don’t have to pay anything if the case is lost.
What is a No Win No Fee agreement?
The thing that clients like about No Win No Fee is that they don’t have to make any upfront payment to the solicitor and, if the case is lost, then they don’t pay for the solicitor’s time or services.
If the case is won, and compensation is awarded to the claimant, then the solicitor simply retains the agreed fee before sending the remaining funds on to their client which means the client never needs to find the funds to pay the solicitor as this is done automatically.
What other information do I need to know?
If, at this stage, you’re still not sure if you want to make a claim or feel you don’t yet have enough information then you can make use of some of the resources on this website which are a little bit more specific than this generic guide. You should be able to find a relevant guide for your accident but if you can’t then please get in touch so that Legal Expert can offer the correct information that’ll help you decide on the next steps of your claim.
How to contact us
Now that you’ve got this far into our guide and you’ve read about our No Win No Fee service, we hope that you’re ready to use Legal Expert to make your claim on your behalf. If so, then you can contact us numerous ways:
- Call us: Our telephone number is 0800 073 8804
- Email us: Send your message and details to office@legalexpert.co.uk
- Live Chat: You can chat with our specialist advisors via the live chat app on any page of this website
- Online Claim: Fill in this contact form and we’ll contact you at a convenient time
Additional resources and helpful services in Chorley
Following your accident in Chorley, there are a number of services, besides Legal Expert, that you may need to contact such as: the police, the courts or the local hospital. We’ve listed their details here:
Local Police Station
Chorley Police Station
St Thomas Road
Chorley
PR7 1DR
Tel: 101
Web: www.lancashire.police.uk/your-area/south-division/chorley/
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday – 9am to 5pm, Saturday – 9am to 6pm, Sunday -Closed
Local Hospital
Chorley and South Ribble Hospital
Preston Road
Chorley
PR7 1PP
Tel: 01772 524555
Web: www.lancsteachinghospitals.nhs.uk/chorley-and-south-ribble-hospital-profile
Here are a final couple of useful resources that may help with your claim:
Compensation for slips and trips – This guide covers the types of compensation amounts for different injuries related to slips and trip accident claims.
Claims Process – A more detailed explanation of how the personal injury claim process works.
Other Useful Compensation Guides
- Castlereagh Personal Injury Solicitors
- Ceredigion Personal Injury Solicitors
- Chatham Personal Injury Solicitors
- Chelmsford Personal Injury Solicitors
- Cheltenham Personal Injury Solicitors
- Chester Personal Injury Solicitors
- Chesterfield Personal Injury Solicitors
- Chippenham Personal Injury Solicitors
- How Do I Receive Personal Injury Compensation?
- Christchurch Dorset Personal Injury Solicitors
- Can I Make A Compensation Claim For Soft Tissue Injuries?
Thank you for reading our guide about making a claim with the help of Chorley personal injury solicitors. We hope you found this guide useful.