When can I and how do I make a claim for personal injury?

If you have been hurt because of someone else's fault, you may be able to claim compensation for a personal injury. But there are conditions on when you can claim and a clear process for how to do it in England and Wales. Here is a plain-English guide.

When can you make a claim?

You can usually make a personal injury claim where all of the following are true:

1. You are within the time limit (see below).

Typical scenarios: road traffic accidents, accidents at work, slips/trips in public places, clinical (medical) negligence, and defective products.

The crucial time limit

You generally have three years to bring a claim, running from:

• the date of the accident; or
• the date of knowledge, when you first knew (or should have known) your injury was significant and linked to someone's fault (relevant for illnesses that emerge later).

Key exceptions (Limitation Act 1980):

• for children, the three years runs from their 18th birthday;
• for people who lack mental capacity, time may not run while incapacity continues; and
• different rules can apply to some claims (e.g. certain travel/industrial cases).

Don't delay, missing the deadline usually ends the claim, and evidence fades.

How to make a claim, step by step

1. Get medical attention and keep records of your injuries and treatment.
2. Gather evidence, photos, witness details, an accident-book entry (for work accidents), and a note of losses.
3. Take legal advice, many solicitors offer "no win, no fee" (conditional fee) arrangements.
4. Follow the pre-action protocol, your solicitor sends a letter of claim to the at-fault party (or their insurer); lower-value claims often go through the EL/PL or RTA Claims Portal.
5. Obtain medical evidence to support the injury and prognosis, and value the claim (pain and suffering plus financial losses).
6. Negotiate, most claims settle, often using formal Part 36 offers.
7. Issue court proceedings if needed (or to protect the deadline), under the Civil Procedure Rules, with the claim allocated to a track by value/complexity.

What you can recover

• General damages, for pain, suffering and loss of amenity.
• Special damages, financial losses (lost earnings, care, treatment, travel), including future losses in serious cases.

Key takeaways

• You can claim where you suffered an injury, someone else is legally responsible (negligence; breach of statutory duty where a civil right of action exists; occupiers' liability; or strict liability for defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987), and you are within the time limit.
• The usual limit is three years (from the accident or date of knowledge), with special rules for children and those lacking capacity.
• The process runs: medical care → evidence → advice → pre-action protocol/letter of claim → medical report and valuation → negotiation/Part 36 → court if needed.
• You can recover general (pain and suffering) and special (financial) damages, act promptly.

Sources

• General law of negligence and related causes of action; Occupiers' Liability Acts 1957/1984; Consumer Protection Act 1987 (strict product liability); Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, s 69 (restricting civil actions for breach of statutory duty in workplace cases)
• Limitation Act 1980 (three-year limitation; date of knowledge; children and incapacity)
• Civil Procedure Rules and Pre-Action Protocols for Personal Injury / low-value EL, PL and RTA claims; Part 36 offers

--- This article is general information about the law of England & Wales as at 2026, not legal advice. Personal injury claims have strict deadlines, consult a qualified solicitor promptly.