Claiming for low level personal injuries during the pandemic

Posted on February 25, 2021

Whilst most of us are staying at home and haven’t been exposed to the same risks during the pandemic accidents can still happen. Many people have jobs which they cannot do from home and so are still travelling for work or working on commercial premises.

If you have sustained an injury from an accident at work that wasn’t your fault visiting your GP and getting their advice is important right from the start. You may consider instructing personal injury solicitors to deal with a claim but they will require the following details from you:

Date the accident happened
Date you first asked for medical advice
Details about how your injury has been treated
Steps your GP has taken to treat your injury

Many GP surgeries have been carrying out telephone appointments and people have been afraid of visiting hospital accident and emergency departments due to possibly contracting coronavirus. Even outpatient hospital appointments have either been postponed or health professionals have conducted appointments remotely.

In normal times this usually wouldn’t be a problem as in serious injury cases immediate hospital treatment would be required. However, for less severe injuries such as a minor fracture or sprain people might be choosing to ignore it, or dealing with the injury themselves. The problem comes when you think you might have a personal injury claim.

Claiming for a Personal Injury

When instructing personal injury solicitors you are required to provide as much detail as possible, your adviser would expect you to describe the extent of your injuries. They would also be looking to see what steps you took to alleviate your losses by seeking out medical advice at the earliest time possible.

The reason for this is that the opposing party could argue that they cannot be responsible for your injuries and may not compensate you fully because you didn’t seek medical advice at the earliest possible opportunity and therefore could have aggravated your injuries.

Legal Advice from Personal Injury Solicitors

Michael Talbot, Head of Personal Injury at Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers has this advice, “Make sure you call your GP surgery immediately after your accident explaining what has happened and request an appointment as soon as possible. This could be an in person appointment or video telephone call. Then make sure you keep a diary and log every step you have taken since the accident as this will be really valuable to the legal team to take your case forward.

When visiting your GP, it is important to ensure that the accident circumstances causing the injury are a true reflection of what actually happened because if it isn’t this could cause problems further down the line.”

He adds, “Even if you think your injury is bearable it is best to keep your GP updated. By doing this there will be a full record of your injury right from the start, to when it is eventually healed.”

If you need further advice about an accident or making a personal injury claim call our Personal Injury Solicitors on 0161 785 3500 or email enquiries@pearsonlegal.co.uk

Please note that the information and opinions contained in this article are not intended to be comprehensive, nor to provide legal advice. No responsibility for its accuracy or correctness is assumed by Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers Ltd or any of its members or employees. Professional legal advice should be obtained before taking, or refraining from taking, any action as a result of this article.

This blog was posted some time ago and its contents may now be out of date. For the latest legal position relating to these issues, get in touch with the author - or make an enquiry now.