Personal injury claims are a very significant area of law; of proceedings started in the High Court in 2021, 24% were personal injury claims, closely followed by clinical negligence claims at 20%. Here, we’re looking at some of the different types of injury claims and some of the most common personal injury claims.
Most Common Types of Personal Injury Claims
Accidents at work
Accidents at work are one of the most common personal injury claims. Employers have a duty of care towards their employees and to uphold all relevant health and safety practices, including providing any training and PPE to allow you to do your job safely.
This duty of care is considered an implied term in your employment contract, meaning it may not be explicitly written into the contract, but your employer will still be held to it.
If you have an accident at work, even if you don’t initially feel ill or injured, you must report it to your employer, who should record the details in an incident book.
Accidents at work may include:
- Slips and trips
- Falling from height
- Muscle strain from lifting and handling
- Machinery-related injuries (getting caught in a machine, hand-arm vibrations etc.)
- Repetitive strain injuries
Medical negligence
These types of injury claims occur when a healthcare provider (such as a doctor, nurse, GP, surgeon, therapist etc.) is found to have been lacking in their care in such a way as to have caused or worsened injury or illness. Learn more about clinical negligence claims.
Medical negligence may include:
- Missed or wrong diagnosis
- Errors with medication
- Surgical negligence
- Withheld information (or lack of informed consent to treatment)
Road traffic accidents
There are many different types of road traffic accidents as there are many different types of travel, which is why they are one of the most common personal injury claims. In order to make a claim, the accident must have been partly or entirely a third party’s fault, and a motoring offence may have been committed.
Road traffic accidents may include:
- Being struck by a vehicle as a pedestrian, cyclist, horse-rider etc.
- Being a driver or passenger in a road traffic accident that was not your fault
- Whiplash or soft tissue injuries
- A driver did not meet their duty of care (such as if the driver was driving inappropriately or if a child under the age of 14 was injured in an accident while not wearing a seatbelt)
Public accidents
This type of personal injury claim might include accidents in streets, parks, supermarkets or schools – any public space. Businesses and local authorities have a duty to ensure that public spaces are properly maintained and adhere to health and safety standards.
In public accident cases, photographs of both what caused the accident and your injuries (where possible) can be very useful in proving your case.
Public accidents may include:
- Slips and trips in public spaces – which may be due to inclement weather, spillages or obstructions
- Accidents caused by poorly-maintained pavements
- Injuries that could have been prevented by adequate signage which was not posted
Animal accidents
Claims for dog attacks have risen significantly in recent years, especially following the number of ‘pandemic puppies’ bought or adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many dogs were poorly trained or socialised during puppyhood due to lockdown rules, leading to a rise in reactive animals.
With animal accidents, you typically cannot claim if you own the animal – for example, if you were thrown from your own horse. However, if a third party is responsible – such as a driver who did not take due care and spooked the horse – you may be able to claim.
Animal accidents may include:
- Being trampled, thrown or kicked by a horse
- Dog bites or attacks
- Injuries caused by animals in a road
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of all types of personal injury claims, but rather just a few of the most common personal injury claims. If you have been hurt through someone else’s negligence and would like to make a claim, please get in touch with Newtons solicitors today and our expert team of personal injury solicitors will guide you through the process.