Making a personal injury or workplace disease claim during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

Our dedicated team of solicitors remains available and committed to helping you with any injury or disease claim you may have.

Here is what you need to know about making a personal injury or work-related disease claim during the pandemic:

We are here to support you with claims brought during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

Our dedicated personal injury experts are working from home due to government guidance, but they are still able to support clients with their claims.

When the government announced the list of key workers needed to keep the country in operation in March, this included those deemed ‘essential to the running of the justice system’.

Our legal executives have been working closely with the courts and defendants to continue to support clients remotely since then.

Those injured before this pandemic can still make a claim

As well as working on claims which have arisen since the start of the pandemic, we have also been representing those who were injured before this all began - whether that be for accidents at work, on the road or for claims relating to asbestos exposure or medical negligence.

If you have been involved in an accident or have been injured or mistreated within the last three years, you may still be eligible to claim. The three-year time limit for pursuing a claim still applies during the pandemic, so we encourage you to get in contact with us sooner rather than later.

We have developed an unprecedented agreement to ensure the justice system keeps working during the outbreak

On March 2020, we launched the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Personal Injury Protocol with the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

The protocol, which called for personal injury solicitors (both defendant and claimant) and insurers to work together to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on legal claims, has already seen more than 317 firms sign up.

Read more on the cross-industry collaboration.

Medical assessments are still taking place

Medical assessments may be required in some personal injury claims to provide evidence of the injuries sustained by the claimant. In order to avoid delays in the claims process, while still following the government’s social distancing guidelines, medical assessments are increasingly being done online via video conferencing facilities with medical reports being emailed to solicitors.

We have started to settle claims in virtual joint settlement meetings

Our personal injury specialists have already held numerous, successful joint settlement meetings virtually, with settlements ranging from £1,500 to £1.2 million.

Claims brought during the pandemic can still go to court; the courts and tribunal services are gearing up to use telephone and video technology in order to conduct hearings. While hearings and cases brought are going to be fewer than before the pandemic - and our experience is that settlements are far more common - some judges, magistrates and panels are operating and will hold hearings during the crisis.

The UK government has released guidance on the ways in which court proceedings will be conducted during the pandemic and this page is being updated regularly.