The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) is a not-for-profit campaign group representing injured people. A new campaign – Rebuilding Shattered Lives – aims to put injured people first, and encourage people to seek help to put their lives back on track.
APIL CEO, Mike Benner explains:
“The myths and misconceptions enshrouding personal injury have made people feel that if they try to seek redress they are doing something wrong, something deceitful or even something criminal. The reality is that only 8%, a tiny fraction, of people who are injured make a claim for compensation.
Rebuilding Lives aims to tip the balance back in favour of injured people. It provides injured people with a voice and a safe place to tell the story of their journey towards recovery with the help and support of a dedicated personal injury lawyer by their side. Injured people deserve empathy and access to expert help in their time of need.
Compensation is never a windfall and money is only a part of the toolkit of recovery for a needlessly injured person.”
When people have been injured following an accident, or as a result of medical negligence, it is their right to seek compensation. The law allows for victims of negligence to claim damages for their financial losses and also for their pain and suffering. Injured people might have lost out financially because of being unable to work, or they have incurred extra bills such as for medicines, therapies, additional childcare, or transport (APIL 2019).
How medico-legal expertise supports compensation claims
At NRC Medical Experts, our neurological specialists carry out assessments on behalf of the courts in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the injured person, and how their life has been impacted.
Medico-legal reports can take into account all aspects of a persons’ health, life and recovery potential, and in some cases will include a life expectancy estimation. The report may consist of comments on mobility, cognition or understanding, speech, attention, memory, planning and the support package required for an individual to live with independence.
This information is used by legal teams to present their case to the courts. When a settlement is reached or a claim concluded, the compensation received by the individual is used to fund their future care needs, compensate them for future lack of earnings and to ensure, as far as possible, they do not suffer further in their life, of their family’s life, due to the incident.
Finding expert support
APIL’s ‘Rebuilding Shattered Lives’ tells the real story of personal injury and of people who need expert support to help them build brighter futures. You can watch real stories at www.rebuilding-shattered-lives.org.uk.
Find out how NRC Medical Experts support people following a serious injury. Explore our specialisms, meet our experts and request a free pre-instruction conversation.