Victims of road traffic accidents can seek compensation through a variety of ways and schemes. Firstly there will be an insurer if an insured vehicle was involved. Our personal injury lawyers can advise you whether it is possible to claim and advise about obtaining independent evidence to support any claim for losses and costs. In addition, we can arrange for medical examinations and reports to be obtained, quantify claims and advise about what can or cannot be claimed.

In serious cases we can seek to arrange payments on account from insurers to allow for medical or other care or we can arrange for a case manager to be appointed in catastrophic injuries.

In some cases, victims of accidents are found to be partially at fault for their injuries (known as contributory negligence). An example would be not wearing a seatbelt or not using a specified crossing on a busy road. We can advise those injured about whether there is likely to be any fault attributed to them, why and what proportion of compensation may be affected.

Foreign vehicles
Where foreign vehicles are involved we may also be able to locate an insurer who has been nominated to deal with the vehicle and any problems while the vehicle is in the UK. This is known as the Green Card scheme and allows claims to continue in England & Wales where foreign vehicles now generally located here are involved.

Non insured vehicles
Where the vehicle in an accident is not insured it may still be possible to claim via the Motor Insurers' Bureau. The MIB was set up to compensate victims of road traffic accidents where the vehicle involved was either uninsured or untraced. Currently there are two schemes, both of which have very specific and often complex rules.

We can assist in any application to the scheme and if necessary take legal action against uninsured drivers. Compensation is paid in full via the MIB.

Untraced vehicles
In some cases the driver of a vehicle which was involved in an accident can leave the scene without victims or police being aware of who was involved, such as a hit and run accident. It may still be possible to make a claim for compensation under the MIB untraced driver scheme and we can advise whether this is likely to be possible and obtain evidence to support the claim for injuries and other losses. The MIB untraced scheme has specific rules regarding costs and recovery of damaged items. We can advise you how to make a claim, what evidence is required and the value of the claim.

In very rare circumstances a claim may be possible via the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. The circumstances are very limited but we can advise you whether this is possible and on what basis a claim can be made.