If you have been injured in a road accident that was not your fault, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and for the financial losses that have followed.
Road collisions affect everyone who uses the road. Drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians can all bring a claim, and so can people injured in accidents involving buses, lorries, taxis and delivery vehicles.
Our specialist solicitors will explain clearly where you stand, including whether you actually need a solicitor at all — for some smaller claims, you may not. We act for clients across London and the wider UK as part of our wider team of personal injury solicitors in London.
Injured in a Road Accident? Contact Us Today
If an insurer or claims company has already contacted you, it is worth taking independent advice before agreeing to anything. Early offers are often made before the full extent of an injury is known, and once a claim is settled it cannot usually be reopened.
Our road accident solicitors can help you to:
- Understand whether you have a claim and how it should be pursued
- Establish who was at fault and deal with any dispute about it
- Obtain independent medical evidence about your injuries
- Understand any offer you have received before you accept it
- Recover your losses in full, including future losses
Speak to our team today to discuss your circumstances.
Who Can Make a Road Accident Injury Claim?
Anyone injured in a collision caused by someone else’s negligence can usually bring a claim, whatever their role on the road. That includes:
- Drivers and their passengers
- Passengers in taxis, buses and coaches
- Motorcyclists and their pillion passengers
- Cyclists
- Pedestrians
Passengers are worth mentioning specifically. As a passenger you are almost never at fault, which means your claim is usually straightforward — and you can claim even where the driver at fault was a friend or a family member, because the claim is dealt with by their insurer rather than by them personally. People frequently do not pursue perfectly good claims for this reason.
Claims can also be brought where the accident involved a commercial vehicle, a public service vehicle or a driver working for an employer at the time.
What to Do After a Road Traffic Accident
If your accident happened recently, the following will help protect your position:
- Report it to the police where anyone is injured or details have not been exchanged
- Take the other driver’s details, including their name, address, vehicle registration and insurance details
- Photograph the scene — vehicle positions, damage, road layout, road markings and any relevant signs
- Note the details of any witnesses, including passengers in other vehicles
- Check for dashcam or CCTV footage, including your own, and preserve it
- See a doctor, even if the injury seems minor. Some injuries take days to develop and medical records matter
- Keep receipts for treatment, travel, repairs and anything else you have had to pay for
If you did not do all of this, please still speak to us. Many claims succeed on the basis of evidence gathered afterwards.
Whiplash Claims and the Small Claims Rules
The rules for lower-value road accident injury claims changed in 2021, and they cause a great deal of confusion. It is worth understanding where you stand before you do anything else.
When the Whiplash Tariff Applies
For most drivers and passengers aged 18 or over who suffer whiplash-type injuries to the neck, back or shoulder, compensation for the injury itself is now set by a fixed government tariff based on how long symptoms last, rather than assessed individually.
Claims of this kind are generally expected to be brought through an official online portal designed to be used without a solicitor, and legal costs are usually not recoverable from the other side.
We would rather tell you this plainly than take instructions on a claim where we could add little. If your claim clearly falls within the tariff, we will say so.
When You Can Still Instruct a Solicitor
Many claims fall outside these rules, and in those cases having a solicitor makes a substantial difference. That may apply where:
- Your injuries go beyond whiplash — for example fractures, psychological injury or other significant injuries
- Your symptoms have lasted longer or are more serious than first thought
- You were a cyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian
- You were injured while working, or as a child
- Liability is disputed, or you are being blamed for the accident
- Your financial losses are substantial, even where the injury itself is modest
The boundary is not always obvious, and getting it wrong can be costly. A short conversation will usually settle it.
Claims Involving Uninsured and Untraced Drivers
If the driver responsible was uninsured, or drove off without stopping, you may still be able to claim. Arrangements exist to compensate people injured in these circumstances where there is no insurer to claim against.
These claims work differently from ordinary insurance claims. Different procedures and deadlines apply, and there are specific requirements about reporting the accident to the police, so early advice is particularly important.
Hit-and-run and uninsured driver cases are among the situations where people most often assume nothing can be done. If this has happened to you, please speak to us before giving up on it.
Claims by Cyclists, Motorcyclists and Pedestrians
Collisions involving cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians tend to cause more serious injuries, because there is little between the person and the road.
These claims also attract a particular difficulty: injured cyclists and pedestrians are frequently blamed for the collision, whether over clothing, visibility, positioning on the road or the use of a crossing. Insurers raise these arguments routinely and they should not be accepted at face value.
Claims by cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians generally fall outside the whiplash rules described above, which means the injury is assessed on its own facts and legal costs are usually recoverable in the ordinary way.
What Car Accident Compensation Can Cover
Compensation is made up of two parts: an amount for the injury itself, and an amount for your financial losses.
The injury element reflects the pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life caused, and is assessed with independent medical evidence — except where the whiplash tariff applies, in which case it is set by the fixed rates described above.
Financial losses may include:
- Loss of earnings, including future losses where you cannot return to the same work
- Medical treatment, physiotherapy and rehabilitation
- Travel to appointments
- Care and assistance provided by family members
- Vehicle repair or replacement costs and insurance excess
- Adaptations or equipment needed because of the injury
Rehabilitation deserves particular mention. In serious cases, treatment can sometimes be arranged and funded at an early stage rather than waiting until the claim concludes, which can make a real difference to recovery.
Should I Use My Own Insurer’s Solicitor?
After an accident, your own insurer will often offer to handle your injury claim, or refer you to a firm it works with.
You are entitled to choose your own solicitor. Legal expenses insurance policies generally allow you to do so, particularly once court proceedings become likely, and it is worth checking your policy rather than assuming the referral is your only option.
This matters because your insurer’s interests and yours are not always identical. Insurers deal with volume, and arrangements between insurers and firms are built around efficiency. That may suit a straightforward claim perfectly well. Where an injury is significant or fault is disputed, independent advice is worth having.
Related Personal Injury Services
How Our Road Accident Solicitors Can Help
We can:
- Tell you honestly whether your claim needs a solicitor, and explain the alternative if it does not
- Investigate the collision and gather evidence, including dashcam, CCTV and witness accounts
- Deal with disputes about fault, including allegations that you were partly to blame
- Obtain independent medical evidence about your injuries and recovery
- Arrange rehabilitation and treatment where appropriate
- Calculate your losses in full, including future losses
- Negotiate with the other side’s insurers and advise you on any offer
- Issue court proceedings where a fair settlement cannot be reached
- Keep you updated in plain English throughout
Where it is easier for you, we can meet at your home or in hospital, and we can arrange an independent interpreter if English is not your first language.
Why Choose TV Edwards?
- Experienced personal injury solicitors. Your claim is handled by a named solicitor, not passed between case handlers.
- Straight answers. We will tell you if your claim falls within the small claims rules and does not need us, rather than taking it on regardless.
- Strength where it counts. We are well placed to act where injuries are serious, fault is disputed, or the driver responsible was uninsured or untraced.
- An established London firm. We have supported clients across London and the wider UK for many years.
- Clear communication. You will always know what stage your claim has reached and what happens next.
- Practical support. Home and hospital visits and independent interpreters are available where they would help.
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Road Traffic Accident Claim FAQs
How long do I have to make a road accident claim?
In most cases you have three years from the date of the accident. Different rules apply to children and to people who lack the mental capacity to bring a claim themselves, and shorter deadlines can apply to claims involving uninsured or untraced drivers. It is always better to seek advice early, because evidence such as CCTV and dashcam footage is often overwritten within weeks.
Can I claim if the accident was partly my fault?
Often, yes. Where responsibility is shared, a claim can still succeed with compensation reduced to reflect your share of the blame. Insurers frequently allege contributory fault as a negotiating position, particularly against cyclists and pedestrians, and those allegations can be challenged. Do not assume you have no claim because someone has told you the accident was your fault.
Can I claim as a passenger?
Yes. Passengers are rarely responsible for a collision, so these claims tend to be among the more straightforward. You can claim whether you were in a car, taxi, bus or coach, and you can claim even if the driver at fault was a friend or relative — the claim is handled by their insurer, not paid by them personally.
What if the other driver was uninsured or drove off?
You may still be able to claim. Arrangements exist to compensate people injured by uninsured and untraced drivers where there is no insurer to pursue. These claims follow different procedures and deadlines, and there are specific requirements about reporting the accident to the police, so it is important to take advice quickly.
