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#Every90Seconds – Action for Brain Injury Week 2023

15 – 21 May 2023 is “Action for Brain Injury Week” – a vitally important time for Headway, the Brain Injury Association, to raise awareness of the issues facing brain injury survivors

This year the theme is #Every90Seconds, because every 90 seconds someone in the UK is admitted to hospital with a brain injury. Strokes, road traffic accidents, brain tumours and meningitis can have devastating, lifelong consequences for anyone. Headway is helping to restore the lives of brain injury survivors and raise awareness that every 90 seconds someone needs help.

Philip Edwards, one of our brain injury claims experts, said:

“I have been a supporter of Headway for around 30 years and since they launched started Action for Brain Injury Week I have been a strong campaigner for it. In my role representing brain injury survivors, I am constantly reminded of the life-changing impact of these injuries and I will do everything in my power to raise awareness and offer support to those who have been injured. This year’s Headway theme #Every90seconds highlights how common head injuries are and that many people do not understand how life-changing they can be.

Through the claims I work on, we can often help brain injury survivors get the medical and therapeutic support they need, as well as providing for other needs such as care, equipment and accommodation. However, I would like all brain injury survivors to have equal access to the support they need to get back to the life they enjoyed before their injury and it is important to raise awareness to achieve this.”

How can Clarke Willmott help people adapt to life after brain injury?

Our specialist claims solicitors are leaders in their field and have decades of experience in claiming compensation for clients who have survived a brain injury as a result of an accident or medical negligence.

Our dedicated personal injury solicitors have extensive experience representing clients who have been involved in road traffic accidents, accidents at work and agricultural accidents. Our specialist medical negligence solicitors have considerable experience in representing individuals who have suffered a brain injury as a result of negligent medical treatment.

Our extensive experience has enabled us to build relationships with leading barristers and experts in the field, including neurosurgeons, neurologists, Brain Injury Case Managers, rehabilitation specialists, architects, employment consultants and care and support experts. This means we can quickly assemble a team of specialists to fully investigate the consequences of your injury on your life, to enhance your independence and maximise the value of the compensation you are entitled to.

For more information about Action for Brain Injury week visit the Headway website.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a claim?

There are numerous ways you can contact Clarke Willmott if you want to discuss your compensation claim with us. You can go through our website and access a form there and we will get back to you or you can simply telephone us, all of the numbers are available on our website and we’ll speak to you as soon as we can.

In reality, not every claim is worth pursuing – some cases are simply too complicated or expensive and have a poor chance of success. Start by seeking advice from one of our specialist medical negligence solicitors. The initial consultation is free and will help you understand whether your claim is likely to have a positive outcome for you.

How can I pay for the expenses of my claim?

One of the big things that concerns people when thinking about contacting a lawyer is how much is it going to cost them. And what we can do, is we can reassure you on that at the very start because we will be looking for the best solution for you. That can include working with you to see if you’ve already got any existing insurance cover that will cover your legal costs.

The alternative and most common way that we proceed with cases is on a no win, no fee basis. Which means that  there is little or no risk to the client. They are regulated by our regulator and so you can guarantee that it will be a proper product, you’ll be given full advice at the outset so that you can decide whether you want to proceed, but financially there should be very little risk, in fact no risk to you.

It’s important to consider how you’re going to pay your legal expenses especially as the cost of pursuing a medical negligence claim can be high. However, there are funding options available that could help reduce the expense, such as an existing insurance policy covering claims of this nature, a Conditional Fee Agreement (often called ‘no win no fee’) or legal aid.

Before you embark on your claim, we will talk you through:

  • The potential cost of pursuing your medical negligence claim
  • What percentage of these costs you might get back
  • What funding options are available to you.

How much compensation could I get?

In terms of thinking about how much compensation you will get, it’s important to note that every case is different. In our jurisdiction, we have a system that’s what we call a compensatory system. The object of bringing the claim is to put you back in the same position you would have been in, as best money can, as if you’ve never had the accident. So it’s impossible to say for any given case at the outset how much money people will get.

What we will do is we will look at all sorts of things that make up the value of the claim. So if you’ve been unable to work and had a loss of earnings, we’ll calculate that. We’ll make sure that we’re getting good advice from experts as to the cost of all the equipment, prosthetics, wheelchairs and everything else that you might need. We’ll also be able to include things like the claim for costs for care and assistance, for things that you can no longer mange yourself. But as I say, every case is individually assessed, and we will look at your case on an individual basis.

Every case is different, but here are some examples of compensation awarded to our clients:

  • £8.6 million – awarded to a child with cerebral palsy resulting from negligence during birth.
  • £1.5 million – awarded to a client who suffered a stroke due to negligence following a heart bypass procedure.
  • £500,000 – awarded to a family whose child suffered brain damage after a GP negligently failed to refer them to hospital.
  • £220,000 – awarded to a client who faced a delay in the treatment and diagnosis for a malignant melanoma.

If I have a claim, how long will it take?

One thing that concerns people who are bringing a claim is how long it’s all going to take? When are they going to get their compensation.  And there is really two things to say about that. The first is this: If we can establish liability on your behalf, we can prove that someone else is at least partly to blame for your injuries, we can usually get interim payments on account of damages quite quickly so we can start to help you with financial concerns or to fund the things that you need at the earliest part of your case.

In terms of how long the whole claim will take, that is actually very dependant upon the medical position and how well you are going to recover from your injuries and when we’re going to know how well you’ve recovered from your injuries. Everybody’s injury is different. Some people can reach a final position within a matter of a few months or a year or so, other people require much more lengthy rehabilitation, perhaps a number of other medical procedures. And this is important because we will only want to try to settle your claim when we can reasonably predict the future. And in doing so, that makes sure that we get the right level of compensation for you.

Speak to a brain injury claims expert

To speak to one of our brain injury claims experts, request a consultation today.

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