What are the Elements to Establish Before a Personal Injury Claim?

Suffering any form of injury is certain to be an emotional and stressful time as you attempt to come to terms with what has happened, however if you believe your injury was caused as a result of negligence by a third party, you could be in a position to make a personal injury claim.

However, before your claim can be processed and the legal case commences, there are a number of key elements that need to be established beforehand. These elements will help to determine the strength of your case and whether the chances of you winning your personal injury claim are likely.

There are four essential elements which the injured party must establish against the defendant, the party at fault, in order to prove any personal injury claim. They are;

Duty- The vast majority of personal injury claims arise following a breach of the duty of care owed by one party to another. For instance, business owners have a duty of care in establishing a safe working environment for their staff whilst, as car drivers, we all owe a duty of care to other road users as well as pedestrians. The duty of care is therefore the first thing that needs to be established.

Breach- The next step is to show how a third party’s failure to exercise their duty of care, and therefore be negligent, has resulted in you being injured.

Causation- The third essential element is causation, whereby you must show the harm you have suffered was caused by this breach of care.

Damages- The fourth and final aspect involves proving your injuries were a result of this negligence. Physical injuries are the most common type of injury claimed against however, dependent upon the circumstances, emotional injury can also fall under this type of claim.

It is the responsibility of the injured party to establish the claim and prove the injury suffered was caused by third party negligence. Injury law then enables the wrong to be addressed if the case can be proved and, all being well, the necessary compensation received for the injured party.

If you believe you have a personal injury claim that you’d like to progress with, get in touch with us here at Tranter Cleere & Co today to discuss your situation with one of our no win no fee solicitors who will be more than happy to help in any way they can.