Personal Injury Claims: Time Limits, Process and Compensation
You normally have three years from an accident, or from when you knew your injury was linked to it, to start a personal injury claim; children have until 21. Most claims settle without a trial and run on no win no fee.
Key points
- Claims must be issued at court within three years of the accident or of the date you knew your injury was significant and someone else's fault.
- Children have until their 21st birthday, there is no limit while someone lacks capacity, and the court can allow a late claim under section 33 but rarely does.
- Injuries worth £1,500 or less (£5,000 for drivers and passengers) are small claims where legal costs are not recoverable, so you usually claim without a solicitor.
- Whiplash lasting up to two years is paid on a fixed tariff from £275 to £4,830 for accidents since 31 May 2025, and no claim can settle without a medical report.
- Compensation covers pain and suffering plus lost earnings, care and future losses; most claims run on no win no fee with costs protection if you lose.
You normally have three years to start a personal injury claim in England and Wales, counted from the date of the accident or, if later, from the date you first knew that your injury was significant and caused by someone else's fault. Children have until their 21st birthday, there is no time limit while a person lacks mental capacity, and the court has a limited power to let a late claim proceed. Within that window the process is well mapped, from evidence and a letter of claim to the insurer's decision, medical evidence, negotiation and, if needed, court. This guide explains the limits and exceptions, the small claims and whiplash rules that decide whether you need a solicitor, the stages of a claim, compensation and no win no fee funding.
The three-year rule and its exceptions
Section 11 of the Limitation Act 1980 sets the basic period: a claim form must be issued at court within three years of the date the injury was caused. Section 14 moves the start to your date of knowledge where that is later, which matters for industrial diseases and injuries that emerge slowly: the clock starts when you knew the injury was significant, that it was attributable to the act or omission complained of, and who was responsible; not realising you could claim is no excuse.
The exceptions are these:
- Children: time does not run until the 18th birthday, so a claim can be issued at any point before the 21st. A parent or guardian can act as litigation friend and claim sooner, and any settlement for a child must be approved by a court.
- Lack of capacity: section 28 suspends the limit for as long as the injured person lacks the mental capacity to conduct proceedings.
- Fatal accidents: dependants and the estate have three years from the death or from their own date of knowledge.
- Court discretion: section 33 lets the court disapply the limit where that would be equitable, weighing the length of and reasons for the delay, the effect on the evidence, the defendant's conduct and how quickly you acted once you knew. It is never to be relied on in advance.
Some claims have shorter limits. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority normally requires applications from victims of violent crime within two years. Injuries on aircraft and ships fall under international conventions with two-year limits, and accidents abroad may be governed by foreign law with shorter limits. Scotland and Northern Ireland also use three years but under their own legislation and court rules, and the whiplash tariff described below applies in England and Wales only.
Only issuing the claim form stops the clock; letters, portal notifications and negotiations do not, so where a settlement is close but the deadline closer, solicitors issue protective proceedings or agree a written standstill.
Small claims, whiplash and the portals
The value of the injury decides how the claim is run and whether legal costs can be recovered, which in turn decides whether a solicitor can act for you on no win no fee.
Claims where the injury is worth £1,500 or less and the whole claim is £10,000 or less are allocated to the small claims track, a limit in place since 6 April 2022. On that track the winner recovers only fixed, modest costs, so you will usually run the claim yourself in the County Court; the compulsory free mediation appointment that applies to other defended small claims does not extend to injury claims. The guide to recovering money through the small claims court describes the procedure.
Road traffic claims by drivers and passengers have a higher threshold: £5,000 for the injury and £10,000 overall. Below it, adults use the free Official Injury Claim portal without a solicitor, and whiplash injuries lasting up to two years are paid according to a fixed tariff made under the Civil Liability Act 2018. For accidents from 31 May 2025 the tariff runs from £275 (£300 with a minor psychological injury) for symptoms lasting up to three months to £4,830 (£4,975) for 18 to 24 months, and a court can add up to 20 per cent in exceptional cases. Where other injuries are suffered alongside whiplash, the Supreme Court decided in 2024 that the tariff figure and a conventional valuation of the other injuries are added together and then adjusted for overlap. Insurers may not settle a whiplash claim without a medical report obtained through the MedCo system. Pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and other vulnerable road users keep a £1,000 small claims limit and are outside the tariff.
Claims above the small claims limit and up to £25,000 go through the Claims Portal under the low value protocols for road traffic, employers' liability and public liability claims. After the claim notification form is sent, the insurer must respond on liability within 15 business days for a road accident, 30 for a workplace accident and 40 for a public liability claim, and recoverable costs are fixed at each stage. Larger or more complex claims follow the general personal injury protocol: the defendant has 21 days to acknowledge a letter of claim and three months to investigate and respond. Claims between £25,000 and £100,000 have used the intermediate track with fixed costs since 1 October 2023; the biggest go to the multi-track.
The claims process step by step
- Deal with the injury and the evidence. Get medical attention promptly even for an injury that seems minor; the record it creates is the backbone of a claim. Report the accident to your employer, who must record it in the accident book if the business has ten or more employees, to the shop, council or landowner, or to the police after a road collision involving injury. Photograph the scene and your injuries, take witnesses' names, ask for CCTV or dashcam footage before it is overwritten, and keep receipts and a symptom diary.
- Check your funding and choose a representative. Look for legal expenses cover on home or motor insurance and for trade union schemes before agreeing a no win no fee deal, then choose a solicitor who specialises in your type of claim.
- Notify the claim. Your solicitor sends a claim notification form through the portal or a letter of claim setting out what happened, why the defendant is at fault and what injuries and losses you have suffered. The insurer investigates and admits or denies liability within the protocol period.
- Obtain medical evidence. An independent expert examines you and reports on your injuries, treatment and prognosis; serious injuries need several experts. Rehabilitation such as physiotherapy is often funded by the insurer at this stage under the Rehabilitation Code.
- Value and negotiate. Once the prognosis is clear your solicitor values the claim and exchanges offers. Formal Part 36 offers put the other side at risk on costs. Where liability is admitted, you can apply for an interim payment.
- Issue proceedings if necessary. Proceedings are issued if the insurer denies liability, offers too little or the limitation date approaches. Most claims still settle before a hearing; trials are rare.
A soft tissue claim with liability admitted can settle within months; a serious injury claim may take two years or more while the prognosis settles.
What compensation covers
General damages compensate pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Outside the whiplash tariff they are valued from the Judicial College Guidelines (18th edition, April 2026), which give a bracket for every kind of injury. Special damages compensate financial loss: net lost earnings, treatment costs, travel, damaged belongings, and care and help around the home, including help from relatives, which is valued and then reduced. Future losses are added where the injury has lasting effects, using the Ogden tables and the discount rate of plus 0.5 per cent set in January 2025.
Two deductions are common. If you contributed to the accident, for instance by not wearing a seatbelt, damages are reduced by a percentage for contributory negligence. And state benefits paid because of the injury are recovered from the compensator through the Compensation Recovery Unit. Where someone has died, dependants claim under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, which includes the £15,120 bereavement award for a limited class of close relatives.
Paying for a claim: no win no fee and costs protection
Most personal injury claims above the small claims limit are funded by a conditional fee agreement. Your solicitor is paid only if you win, recovering basic costs from the insurer and charging a success fee from your damages that is capped by law at a quarter of your general damages and past losses. After-the-event insurance covers expert fees and other expenses if the claim fails, with a premium paid from damages on success. Under qualified one-way costs shifting you will not normally have to pay the insurer's legal costs if you lose, unless the claim was fundamentally dishonest. Legal aid is not available for accident claims. The detail, including what you keep and what to ask before signing, is in no win no fee agreements explained.
Work accidents and public places
Employers must provide a safe system of work, competent colleagues, proper equipment and training, and must carry employers' liability insurance under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. Since 1 October 2013 a breach of health and safety regulations has no longer been actionable in itself, so claims are framed in negligence, but the regulations remain strong evidence of what a reasonable employer should have done. You cannot lawfully be dismissed or penalised for making a claim or raising a safety concern; if that happens, employment law solicitors can advise on a separate tribunal claim.
Accidents in shops, on pavements and in other public places are claims against the occupier or the highway authority. The Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 requires reasonable care for visitors' safety, while section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 requires councils to maintain the highway, subject to a defence under section 58 that they had a reasonable system of inspection and repair. Photographs with measurements of the defect, taken quickly, are often decisive. A conviction of the other driver can be used as evidence of fault after a collision; if you yourself face prosecution, a criminal law solicitor should advise you first.
Choosing a solicitor and avoiding cold calls
Look for a solicitor accredited under the Law Society's personal injury scheme or by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, and check the firm on the Solicitors Regulation Authority register. Paying or receiving referral fees in personal injury cases has been banned since April 2013, and unsolicited calls and texts about claims are prohibited unless you have agreed to them, so treat any cold approach as a reason to walk away. Claims management companies are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority but are not solicitors and often sell cases on.
Ask what the success fee and insurance premium would cost on a typical award, who will handle your case, how long they expect it to take and what happens if you want to change solicitor. You can search for personal injury solicitors in Liverpool, browse solicitors in Sheffield or use the solicitors near me search. Injuries caused by medical treatment are covered in how to make a medical negligence claim, disputes with your own insurer in the guide to insurance law, and the field as a whole in personal injury and clinical negligence law.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still claim if the three years have passed?
Sometimes. First check whether the clock really started when you think: if you only recently learned that your injury was significant and linked to the accident or exposure, your date of knowledge may be later. Children and people lacking capacity have longer. Otherwise you must ask the court to use its discretion under section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980, which turns on the reasons for the delay and whether a fair trial is still possible. Speak to a solicitor immediately, because every further day counts against you.
What should I do straight after an accident to protect a claim?
See a doctor or attend hospital so the injury is recorded, report the accident to whoever is responsible for the place or vehicle, and gather evidence while it exists: photographs of the scene and the hazard, witnesses' contact details, dashcam or CCTV footage, and the other driver's insurance details after a collision. Keep receipts and a diary of symptoms, time off work and help you needed. Do not accept an insurer's early offer before you have medical evidence and advice.
Do I need a solicitor for a whiplash claim?
Not usually if you were a driver or passenger and the injury is worth £5,000 or less, because the Official Injury Claim portal is designed for you to use yourself and legal costs cannot be recovered. A solicitor becomes worthwhile where there are other injuries that take the claim above the threshold, where the insurer disputes liability or alleges you were partly at fault, where you were a cyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian, or where the symptoms have lasted beyond two years and fall outside the tariff.
How much is a personal injury claim worth?
It depends on the injury, how long it lasts and what it has cost you. Whiplash up to two years is fixed by the tariff, between £275 and £4,975 for accidents since 31 May 2025. Other injuries are valued from Judicial College Guidelines brackets, from a few thousand pounds for a quickly healed fracture to very large sums for life-changing injuries. Lost earnings, care and treatment costs are added on top and, for serious injuries, usually make up most of the award.
Will I have to pay anything if I lose?
Under a properly set up no win no fee agreement, normally nothing. Your own solicitor is not paid, qualified one-way costs shifting stops the defendant enforcing a costs order against you, and after-the-event insurance meets expert fees and other expenses. The protection is lost if the court finds the claim fundamentally dishonest or strikes it out for abuse of process, and it can be reduced if you reject a reasonable formal offer and then fail to beat it at trial.
Can I claim if the accident was partly my fault?
Yes. Where both sides share responsibility the court or the insurer apportions blame and reduces your compensation by a percentage to reflect your contribution, a principle known as contributory negligence. Not wearing a seatbelt typically costs 15 to 25 per cent, and crossing a road carelessly or ignoring safety instructions at work can lead to larger reductions. You still recover the remainder, so shared fault is a reason to take advice, not to abandon the claim.
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This guide describes the law in England and Wales as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.