There comes a time in some people’s lives where their future quality of life comes down to how hard a solicitor can fight for them; such a situation arises when you are the victim of a catastrophic injury and need to claim.

What is a catastrophic injury claim?

Catastrophic injuries are essentially severe injuries that threaten ones quality of life, either through some form of:

• Permanent disability - physical or mental, as with brain injuries
• Requirement to receive long term medical care, as with orthopaedic cases
• Likely to reduce life expectancy
• Lead to fatality

Injuries such as these often have an impact on every aspect of a victim’s life, as they can seriously affect personal relationships, prevent them from working, and enjoy life as normal. If a person who previously had an income loses it suddenly, it can result in serious financial hardship, and become a burden on their family or the state. Even injuries that you can’t see from the outside, such as a traumatic brain injury, can cause life-long problems.

Catastrophic injuries and life-changing injuries often come with complications that make compensations claims particularly difficult. The seriousness of the claim can also mean that the parties responsible do their best to hide evidence or give false testimonies – which are often hard to dispute. Unless a specialist catastrophic injury solicitor handles the case, the compensation could be reduced, or the claim might be rejected outright.

You can read more about what is considered as a catastrophic injury here.

How can catastrophic injuries occur?

In it’s simplest form, a catastrophic injury could arise from even a simple fall, one which results in a person sustaining a head or spinal injury for instance.

Often, they are the result of a significant accident, such as a road traffic accident or an injury at work involving machinery.

At the more extreme end, catastrophic injuries can occur as a result of exposure to toxic industrial chemicals or perhaps sustain the injury through the negligence of another, as might be the case in a medical or cosmetic procedure causing extreme complications post surgery due to mistakes.

In short, there are a wide variety of circumstances involving accidents, in day-to-day life or at work, caused as a result of another’s negligence, that could give rise to a catastrophic injury claim.

Some examples where catastrophic injuries can occur include:

• Accidents in the workplace, especially where heavy or automated machinery is involved
• Product failures, such as with cars which lead to serious accidents or incidents involving domestic electrical appliances
• Medical negligence
• Accidents involving public service vehicles or equipment, such as train disasters
• Air accidents
• Maritime accidents
• Road traffic accidents
• Amusement parks and fairgrounds where rides suffer catastrophic failures and cause serious injury to passengers.

You can read more about the circumstances that lead to catastrophic injury in our article here.

Exercising Due Diligence in a Catastrophic Injury Claim

Procedural due diligence is more the realm of the solicitor working for you. However, as a claimant, exercising a little due diligence yourself can go a long way to helping your case. In many cases, this may simply be a matter of adequately documenting events, keeping notes of conversations and copies of emails, particularly if you’ve already tried to settle a matter with an insurance company before approaching a solicitor. At CCH & Co., we receive numerous enquiries from individuals unsatisfied by claims they often settled years ago, but now feel the full effects of their injuries. It’s too easy for an insurance company to apply unfair pressure in settling a claim, often they know full well that the extent of the injuries may not be fully know for years and so it’s in their interests to settle early. Naturally, this often appears a tempting offer. Before accepting such an offer, contact a solicitor like Romain Coleman and let us manage the case on your behalf.

Due diligence in catastrophic car accident injuries

For most people, the one place that they are more likely to suffer a catastrophic accident is on the roads and in particular, in a car. Modern cars are packed full of safety technology, most of which is invisible. In the majority of accidents, these features due their jobs and the occupants walk away from what may appear complete carnage. However, during a car accident, the body is subjected to violent forces and for some, these alone can cause serious, even fatal injuries. Consider the accident with Princess Diana. Outwardly she suffered minimal signs of injury. Internally though, it was a different story and those injuries ultimately claimed her life. The issue here is that some injuries, even fatal ones, are not always obvious. Some may only manifest for days or even weeks after, such as brain damage caused by a slow bleed on the brain or the weakening of blood vessels in the brain that later burst because of a follow-on incident - sometimes minor, but enough to cause a cascade of damage that lead to life changing circumstances.

If you have been in a serious car accident, exercise absolute caution and make sure you are fully checked out. Don't take anything for granted or simply dismissed as a passing problem. The reason is simple: once you walk away from an accident, or even hospital after being treated for the accident, it becomes very difficult to prove that any follow-on issues, even fatal ones, were attributable to the original accident. The insurance companies will likely work hard to try and show that it was not and dismiss a claim.

Furthermore, the issue of contributory negligence in an accident could raise its head if it can be shown that the actions you took following the accident contributed in anyway to the seriousness of your situation. An example might be that you refused roadside treatment or a hospital check up. You may have brushed aside a nagging head- ache that appears a few days later and resumed your normal life, including perhaps sport. When insurance companies investigate claims for significant amounts of compensation, they leave few rocks unturned, and so it is essential you ensure you fully cover yourself after a serious accident that could lead to a catastrophic injury by exercising sensible due diligence with yourself.

What happens after catastrophic injury?

The most important aspects after an injury are associated with helping you recover and then rehabilitate. If there are long term care issues, then these need to be addressed as early on as possible.

Our goal as catastrophic injury claim solicitors is to help you and your family make the necessary claims and recover as much compensation for your injuries as we can. If the person suffering the injury is the family’s primary breadwinner, then significant financial hardship may result, and it’s our goal to help reduce this burden.

Why do you need a catastrophic injury solicitor to help?

As specialised catastrophic injury solicitors, CCH & Co. will help you make the necessary claims and get the maximum compensation available to you. In some cases, recovery can take a lifetime, and in those cases, issues regarding care and the costs involved need to be addressed. We aim to reduce the burden on your part and help you get on with your life.

We don’t just receive enquiries from people who have recently suffered a catastrophic injury; sometimes, the full effects of a physical injury do not surface until years later, and the original compensation is not sufficient. Insurance companies may settle early, knowing full well that the claimant will suffer for years to come. Therefore, we recommend you contact us before accepting any offer of settlement, so that we can review your case.

If you or a loved one have suffered a catastrophic injury, do not be tempted to hand your claim over to unqualified people. At CCH & Co., we have taken on many such cases with success, and only appoint highly experienced catastrophic injury solicitors to handle them. Call us immediately on 020 8520 1021  to find out how we can help you get the maximum claim.

Why use CCH & Co.

In short, catastrophic injury claims is an area we are very experienced in, and we fight for you every step of the way. While that may sound clichéd, it’s true. All too often we hear of cases taken on by even reputable solicitors where the solicitor managing the case is not overly experienced and fails to get the best deal for their client. That’s not the case with CCH & Co. If a loved one has suffered a severe injury and you need to claim, call one of our highly experienced catastrophic injury claim solicitors urgently so we can help you maximise your award.