When speaking with solicitors, it can often mean that there are legal terms referenced throughout your case which may seem complicated or unfamiliar.
Our personal injury solicitors are here to help with this useful A-Z of legal terms with their definitions. These are phrases and keywords which you may hear used throughout your communications with our legal team.
If there is anything further we can help with, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
Accept an Offer
If you are the claimant in a personal injury claim, you may receive an offer to settle your claim from the Defendant at any time during the lifetime of the claim. Your solicitor will advise you on whether they think the offer is reasonable or not, but ultimately it is your choice as to whether you wish to accept an offer, to settle your claim
Acknowledgement of Service
An Acknowledgement of Service is the formal document the Defendant sends to the Court to let them know they’ve received your personal injury claim. In it, the Defendant states whether they accept liability or intend to defend your claim. They must file their Acknowledgement of Service, or a Defence, within 14 days of receiving your claim.
Adjournment
An adjournment is the postponement of the trial of your personal injury claim or any other hearing relating to your case. Either party can request an adjournment, and it is up to the Court to decide whether an adjournment is necessary to ensure fairness.
Admission
An admission of liability is where the Defendant admits the whole or part of your claim. Unless the admission relates to your entire claim, you still need to prove the other elements to succeed. Even if an admission relates to overall liability, the issue of how much compensation you are entitled to must still be addressed.
Affidavit
An affidavit is a formal written declaration made under oath. You can use affidavits to support your assertions regarding your accident and ask any witnesses to do likewise. If you give false evidence in an affidavit, you will be in contempt of Court and may be imprisoned.
After the Event Insurance (ATE)
ATE insurance covers the Defendant’s legal costs if your claim is unsuccessful. It is usually used alongside a no win, no fee agreement, to ensure you are covered for any eventuality.
Allocation
Allocation refers to the process whereby the Court decides which ‘track’ your personal injury claim should be allocated to. Each track has different rules regarding issues such as how much evidence you can produce and costs recovery. The Court will decide on a track based on several matters, including the value and complexity of your claim.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
ADR is the term given to any form of dispute resolution that does not involve Court proceedings. Parties to a personal injury claim are expected to engage in ADR and can be penalised on costs if they unreasonably refuse to do so. Most personal injury cases are settled through ADR.
AMRO (Association of Medical Reporting Organisations)
The AMRO represents several Medical Reporting Organisations, who provide expert reports assessing a Claimant’s injuries for use in personal injury cases. The AMRO offers best practice guidance to its members and streamlines the recovery of the costs incurred in obtaining a medical report to support your claim.
Appeal
If your personal injury claim is unsuccessful, you may be able to appeal the decision. You can usually only do so if your appeal has a good chance of success or for another compelling reason, such as the case being of significant public interest.
Application
You can use an ‘Application’ to ask the Court to authorise or order something. An example of an Application sometimes made in personal injury claims is a ‘Pre-Action Disclosure Application’, whereby you ask the Court to order the Defendant to provide you with documents in their possession, which may help you to decide whether to issue Court proceedings.
Arbitration
Arbitration is a way of resolving your personal injury claim without going to Court. If your case is suitable for arbitration, and you and the Defendant agree to use it, you jointly refer the matter to an impartial third party, the arbitrator, to consider the issues and make a binding decision.
Balance of Probabilities
The ‘balance of probabilities’ is the standard of proof applied in personal injury cases. It means that, for your personal injury claim to succeed, you must convince the Judge that, based on the evidence, it is ‘more likely than not’ that the Defendant’s negligence caused your accident.
Barrister
A barrister is a specialist legal advisor who presents your case in Court in the unlikely event it goes to trial. Whilst we will do the majority of the work to prepare your case, we may seek a barrister’s input to draft complex documents or to advise on how much your claim is worth particularly where the claim involves complex or unusual legal principles.
Before the Event Insurance (BTE)
Before the Event Insurance is an insurance policy you already had in place before your personal injury claim arose. It may cover both your own legal costs, and the Defendant’s costs if your claim is unsuccessful, up to the amount stated in your policy documents.
Breach of Duty
Breach of duty is one of the requirements of the law of negligence, which most personal injury claims are based on. To satisfy the requirement, you must show that the Defendant did not take reasonable care to avoid the harm or loss you suffered.
Case
Your ‘case’ is your personal injury claim against someone who has caused you harm. We will assess the strength of your case based on the evidence and advise on how best to proceed. There are many types of personal injury cases, including those arising from road traffic accidents, accidents at work and accidents in public places.
Causation
Causation is a key element of personal injury claims. To succeed in your claim, it is not enough to show that the Defendant acted negligently; you must prove that their negligence directly caused your injuries. To establish causation in your case, we will gather various types of evidence, including expert reports and your medical records.
Chambers
Unlike solicitors who work for a firm, barristers are self-employed. However, they group together with other barristers specialising in the same practice area to form a ‘Chambers’. The members work out of the same building – also known as ‘Chambers’ – and pay a percentage of their income to their Chambers, which are managed by ‘Barrister’s clerk’ in return for shared services such as marketing, billing and administration.
Civil case
Litigation cases are classified as either ‘criminal’ or ‘civil’. Criminal cases involve actions that have a negative impact on society overall, whereas civil cases deal with disputes between individuals or organisations. While criminal law seeks to punish a Defendant, civil law seeks to compensate the victim who has suffered loss or harm due to someone’s wrongdoing (in a non-criminal sense). Personal injury claims are civil cases.
Claimant
When you bring a personal injury case against someone, you become known as the ‘Claimant’ in the court proceedings. The other party (who you claim owes you compensation) becomes known as the ‘Defendant’. As the Claimant, the burden is on you to prove that the Defendant’s actions caused your personal injury, and that you are entitled to compensation.
Claim Notification Form
Most personal injury claims valued at £25,000 or less are started by completing a ‘Claim Notification Form’ through an online portal. The Form is then sent to the Defendant or their insurers. It contains crucial information, such as a description of your accident and injuries. If the Defendant disputes liability, the claim exits the portal and is dealt with by personal injury litigation rules.
Claims Management Companies (CMC)
Claims management companies, also known as CMCs, claim to assist individuals in making compensation claims. However, they are not personal injury specialists and do little more than pass your details to solicitors’ firms for a fee. You gain minimal, if any, benefit from using a CMC; instead, you should save time by heading straight to a firm of specialist personal injury solicitors who will assess your case, advise on the best way forward and, in most cases will handle your claim on a No Win No fee basis.
Claims Portal
The Claims Portal is an online system designed to deal with personal injury claims with a value of below £25,000. It aims to minimise costs by processing low-value cases quickly and efficiently. The system comprises three stages, each governed by strict time limits. If the Defendant disputes your claim, it leaves the portal and follows the general personal injury claims process.
Client
When you instruct us to pursue your personal injury claim on your behalf, you become our client. As your solicitors, we owe you a range of duties under our professional code of conduct and by law. For example, we owe you a duty of care, meaning we must use reasonable care and skill when handling your case, provide a competent service and act in your best interests at all times.
Clinical Negligence
Medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care. For example, they must adequately investigate your symptoms, carefully review test results and take a proper medical history. If they breach their duty, and if you suffer harm as a result, you may have a claim against them for clinical negligence.
Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU)
The CRU is responsible for ensuring that any benefits you received due to your accident – such as income support and mobility allowance – are repaid to the taxpayer if you win your claim. The CRU will collect the sums from the Defendant.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA)
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority is a Government Body set up to compensate innocent victims of violent crime. You must meet a series of specific eligibility criteria to claim under the scheme, including that you have suffered an injury due to a violent crime and you reported the incident to the police. The deadline to apply is two years following the incident.
Cross-examination
Most personal injury claims are settled before trial. However, if your case does not, part of the hearing will involve the parties’ legal representatives cross-examining the other party and their witnesses. The aim of cross-examination is to discredit the witness and cast doubt on their assertions.
Damages
Damages is the legal term for the compensation you receive when you win your personal injury case. There are two types of damages: Special and General. Special damages make good any financial losses, such as the medical costs you have incurred. In contrast, general damages compensate you for your pain, suffering and loss of amenity (the injury aspect of your claim).
Date of Knowledge
The date of knowledge is when you became aware of the injury caused by the Defendant’s negligence. You have three years from the date of knowledge to bring your personal injury claim. Usually, the date of knowledge is the same as your accident date, but it can sometimes be later if symptoms are delayed or the injury is ‘hidden’.
Asbestos disease claims are a perfect example of where the date of knowledge that you have a claim for asbestos disease compensation may only become apparent many years after you were exposed to asbestos..
Default Judgment
If the Defendant fails to acknowledge service of your personal injury claim or file their defence within 14 days, you can apply to the Court for Default Judgment. If the Court grants Default Judgment, you have won the liability aspect of your case, so you do not need to prove the Defendant’s fault. However, the Judge still needs to decide how much compensation you are entitled to.
Defective Premises
The Defective Premises Act 1972 imposes a duty of care on landlords and those building or working on a property. If they breach their duty, rendering the building dangerous, and if you suffer injury as a result, you may be able to bring a personal injury claim against them.
Defence
If the party against whom you bring your personal injury claim wishes to dispute your case, they must serve a defence within 14 days of receiving your claim. Examples of the types of defences common in personal injury claims include that the Defendant did not owe you a duty of care, their actions did not cause the accident, or the accident did not cause your injuries.
Defendant
When you issue a personal injury claim, you become known as the Claimant and the other party, the Defendant. Since most Defendants have insurance policies to deal with the claim, such as employer’s liability insurance, public liability insurance or motor insurance, the Defendant’s insurer will usually defend the claim on behalf of their client and pay any compensation.
Disbursements
Disbursements are the out-of-pocket expenses we incur on your behalf during your personal injury claim. They can include Court fees, barrister’s fees, expert witness fees, and the cost of obtaining medical reports. Our no-win fee agreement does not cover disbursements. However, we may pay some of the disbursements for you and recover them from the Defendant’s insurer when you win.
Disclosure
Disclosure refers to the process by which the parties in personal injury proceedings provide each other with copies of all documentation relevant to the claim, which are or have been within their control. Crucially, the obligation includes documentation that both helps and harms your case. Examples of documents you may need to disclose include medical reports, other expert reports, your accounts if self-employed or wage slips (where you are claiming loss of earnings). Sometimes, disclosure can consist of bundles of documents in large claims.
Directions
If the Defendant defends your personal injury claim, the Court will draw up directions detailing the steps the parties need to take up to trial and when they need to be done. Directions are essentially a timetable and include matters such as expert evidence, disclosure, and exchanging witness statements.
Directions Questionnaires
In a directions questionnaire, the parties set out how they believe the case should proceed. They will provide details relating to essential matters such as their witnesses, expert evidence, and how long they expect the trial to last. The Court will consider the Directions Questionnaires when deciding on the timetable for the claim.
Duty of Care
Duty of care is a legal duty to protect others from coming to harm. To succeed in your personal injury claim, you must prove that the Defendant owed you a duty of care, breached their duty, and caused you harm as a result. Many people or organisations we interact with, including our employers, doctors, and other road users, owe us a duty of care.
Employers Liability
‘Employers liability’ refers to an employer’s legal duty to take reasonable steps to ensure their employees’ health and safety whilst at work and, in turn, their obligation to compensate employees for injuries or illness sustained as a result of that breach that duty of care. If an injured employee sues the company for personal injury compensation and succeeds, the company’s employer’s liability insurers usually pay the compensation award. The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 makes it compulsory for almost all employers to have a policy of employers’ liability insurance in place.
Enforcement Proceedings
If you win your personal injury claim but the Defendant is not insured and cannot or will not pay the compensation awarded, you can take out enforcement proceedings to force the Defendant to pay the compensation owed to you. There are various ways to enforce your Judgment, including using court bailiffs and asking the court to take money directly from the Defendant’s salary to go towards paying what you are owed over a period of time.
Examination in Chief
In the often unlikely event that your personal injury claim reaches trial, your witnesses will begin giving their evidence by answering questions your barrister asks. This is known as their ‘examination in chief’ and is an opportunity for your witnesses to confirm or clarify the evidence given in their witness statements. Compare this with a ‘cross-examination’, which in this instance will be where the Defendant’s barrister will ask your witnesses questions.
Expert
Experts are used in court proceedings to explain issues outside the Judge’s expertise. A medical expert is frequently the primary type of expert used in personal injury cases. Their evidence assists the Judge in understanding your diagnosis, prognosis, and the extent of your injuries. Medical evidence is fundamental in determining your case’s outcome and the compensation you will receive.
Fast Track
All personal injury claims get allocated to a ‘track’ which dictates the procedure to be followed until trial. The fast track is the middle track and deals with relatively straightforward claims valued at £25,000 or less. Most personal injury claims are allocated to the fast track.
Fees
Solicitors charge fees for the work they do for their clients. Most of the time, clients pay their solicitor’s fees as they go along. However, Mooneerams are purely personal injury solicitors and act for most clients on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis. You don’t pay anything until you win your case when you pay the amount agreed beforehand and specified in your no-win, no-fee agreement.
Fee Remission
When you issue your personal injury claim, you will need to pay a court fee, the amount of which will depend on your claim’s value. If you are on low income and have little to no savings, you may be entitled to government help to pay the court fee. This is known as’ fee remission’.
Funding
Funding refers to how you will cover the costs of your personal injury claim. Several methods of funding might be available to you, including legal expenses insurance, and a no-win, no-fee arrangement. We act for most of our clients on a no-win, no-fee basis, which means you will not pay us anything unless you win your case.
Full and Final Settlement
Most personal injury claims are resolved on a ‘full and final’ settlement basis. This means that the compensation you negotiate with the Defendant, or are awarded by the court, will be the entire amount you receive in respect of your injuries. Therefore, it is important to anticipate any potential future losses and include those in your damages claim.
Filing
Filing is the process of lodging documentation relating to your claim at court. When making directions, the Judge will decide what documentation must be filed on your behalf and by what date. Examples of the documents we might need to file include a pre-trial checklist and a skeleton argument.
Fundamental Dishonesty
A defendant can raise the issue of ‘fundamental dishonesty’ if they believe that you have been dishonest about some or more aspects of your claim, and your dishonesty goes to the root of your case. If the court accepts that you have been fundamentally dishonest, your claim will be dismissed, you may have to pay the entire costs of the litigation, and you may face criminal sanctions.
General Damages
General damages form part of the compensation you will receive when your claim succeeds and are intended to compensate you for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA) caused by the accident, where ‘loss of amenity’ refers to the effect your injuries and have had on your daily life.
Going to Court
Your claim is said to be going to court if it proceeds to trial. Whilst we will prepare your case on the basis that it will go to court, in reality, very few personal injury claims get that far. Instead, over 90% of the disputes are settled by the parties through negotiation or, in some limited cases, alternative dispute resolution.
Heads of Damage
Heads of Damage are the categories of damage you have incurred as a result of your personal injury. Personal injury claims usually comprise two main heads of damage: Special and General. Special damages make good your financial losses, such as loss of earnings. General damages compensate you for your pain, suffering and loss of amenity.
Hearing
Hearings are any formal proceedings that take place in court before a judge, at which both parties are usually represented. If your case does not settle during the litigation process, you and the Defendant will attend a hearing at which the Judge will decide the outcome.
High Court
Personal injury claims fall under civil law, so the County Court or High Court deals with them. The High Court is the third highest court in the UK civil court hierarchy and deals primarily with complex, high-value claims. The County Court handles most personal injury cases, but the High Court can hear those worth over £50,000.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for regulating workplace safety. If you have an accident at work, your employer may have a duty to report it to the Health and Safety Executive. In some cases, the HSE may investigate the incident and even prosecute your employer. The HSE investigation is entirely separate from your personal injury claim.
Indemnity
Many personal insurance defendants have insurance policies under which their insurance company gives an indemnity against any costs and damages the Defendant has to pay in relation to personal injury claims. So, in most cases, the insurance company pays the compensation awarded to you and your legal costs.
Independent Witness
An independent witness is someone who saw your accident but has no connection to anyone involved (and so is likely to give honest evidence of what they saw). Independent witness evidence can be crucial to the outcome of your personal injury claim, so we will contact anyone who may have witnessed the incident and ask them to provide a statement and, if necessary and their evidence helps your case, require them to give evidence at court.
Infant Approval Hearing
In personal injury cases involving children, a judge must approve any settlement offer made by the Defendant before it can be accepted in settlement of the claim. This is done by means of an infant settlement hearing. The purpose of an infant settlement hearing is for a judge to review the medical and other evidence to ensure that the compensation is adequate and will be appropriately managed on behalf of the child until they turn 18.
