Five things to know about making a personal injury or work-related 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 are five things you need to know about making a personal injury or work-related disease claim during the pandemic:

We’re still open and personal injury claims can still be brought during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

Thompsons’ dedicated team of expert personal injury solicitors may all be working from home, but they are still available to assist and represent members with their claims.

In March, the government announced the list of key workers needed during the pandemic. This extended to those deemed ‘essential to the running of the justice system’.

Working together with the courts and defendants, our legal executives have continued to represent members remotely.

We’ve led the field in developing a ground-breaking agreement to ensure the justice system keeps working

Launched on 24 March 2020, Thompsons Solicitors and ABI spearheaded the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Personal Injury Protocol, which called for personal injury solicitors – both defendant and claimant – and insurers to work together to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on legal claims. More than 317 firms have signed up and you can find out more about the cross-industry collaboration here.

We are proud we were able to lead on the delivery of an immediate, practical solution in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and protect access to justice for injured claimants.

There was life before this pandemic and people were being injured

Our team are not only working on new claims which have arisen since the start of the pandemic. We’re also seeing claims come through for injuries that occurred within the last three years, and these can still be pursued.

We’ve had claims from people who have been injured at their workplace, from accidents on the road, from injuries on holiday, from medical negligence and from exposure to harmful products, like asbestos, which have led to an industrial disease.

If you have been injured within the last three years, or you have developed a condition which has led to a disease within the last three years, we encourage you to get in contact with us sooner rather than later. The three-year time limit for bringing a personal injury claim remains in place throughout the pandemic.

Medical assessments are still taking place

In a personal injury claim, a medical professional may be required to provide an assessment of the injuries sustained by the claimant. In an effort to combat delays in personal injury claims while following the government’s social distancing guidelines, medical assessments are now increasingly being conducted by video conference, and medical notes are being sent through to solicitors via email.

We’ve already begun settling claims in virtual joint settlement meetings

Our personal injury teams have already held numerous, successful ‘virtual’ joint settlement meetings, where settlements have ranged from £1,500 to £1.2 million.

Claims can still go to court during the pandemic, and the courts and tribunal services are gearing up to utilise telephone and video technology 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.