By Stephen Bishop. Last Updated 30th October 2024. If you’ve suffered an injury from a heavy goods vehicle HGV accident that you were not at fault for, you may be able to claim compensation. You could have suffered this injury as an HGV driver involved in an accident caused by someone else or you may have been injured because of an accident caused by an HGV driver. Either way, you may be able to claim if you’re able to prove that your injuries were caused by third-party negligence.
In this guide about how to claim if involved in a HGV accident, we answer such important questions as:
- In personal injury claims, what types of losses can I claim?
- What is the personal injury claims time limit?
- How does the whiplash reform program affect my ability to claim?
- How do truck accident claims work?
- Can you claim compensation for a crash?
- What are the steps for lorry accident claims?
- How can a No Win No Fee personal injury solicitor help me claim for a truck accident?
Our advisors are available 24/7, offer free legal advice, and answer any questions or queries you may have about claiming for a road traffic accident or workplace accident. They can inform you in just a few minutes if you’re eligible to claim and can even provide you with a reliable compensation estimate. Please contact them using the details below.
- Call us using 0333 000 0729
- Use the live chat window on your screen
- Contact us using the form on our website
Alternatively, please read on to learn more about claiming for an HGV accident.
Jump To A Section
- How To Claim If Involved In A HGV Accident
- What Could Cause A Lorry Accident?
- Examples Of HGV Accidents
- Is The Owner Or Operator Of The Lorry Liable?
- Calculating Lorry Accident Compensation Claims
- Evidence That Can Support A Lorry Accident Claim
- How To Claim If Involved In A HGV Accident With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
- Useful Links
How To Claim If Involved In A HGV Accident
Every road user in Great Britain has a duty of care as established in the Highway Code and The Road Traffic Act 1988. You need to conduct yourself responsibly on the road to prevent unnecessary accidents that can endanger other people’s lives.
To be eligible to make a compensation claim for a personal injury, firstly, you need to establish whether the party you hold responsible for your injury owed you a duty of care. Next, the important thing is to establish how this duty was breached. Then you will look at showing how this negligence caused your injury.
Therefore, regarding your injury, you need to prove that:
- The third party had a duty of care towards you
- That their actions breached this duty of care
- That this breach of their duty led to your injury
Only by proving all three of these things would you be able to claim compensation for a lorry accident successfully. Claiming can be difficult and stressful. This is why you may want to use a personal injury lawyer.
Solicitors can collect evidence and organise witness statements to give you the best possible chance of receiving compensation. Our advisors are available 24/7, offer free legal advice, and, if you’re eligible to claim, can put you through to a lawyer in just a few minutes. Simply call our team using the contact details above.
What Could Cause A Lorry Accident?
There are various incidents on the roads that could result in a HGV accident. These could include:
- Lorry driver distractions, such as using a mobile phone or adjusting the sat nav. It is illegal to hold or use a data-receiving device while driving, including if queuing in traffic.
- Driving too close to another vehicle can result in a rear-end shunt accident. HGV drivers should leave enough space between themselves and the vehicle in front of them to stop safely. Lorries may need more distance to stop and this should also be considered.
- Speeding can also lead to collisions. If the speed limits, which could be lower on certain roads for lorries, are not adhered to, a crash could occur.
Call our advisors to learn about how to claim if involved in a HGV accident. They can assess the incident that caused your injuries and evaluate whether you have good grounds to make a lorry accident claim.
Examples Of HGV Accidents
Further to what could cause a lorry accident discussed above, this section looks at how one of these incidents could occur.
- If a lorry driver is distracted, they may not notice a car pulling out of a side street and crash into them. This could cause the driver and passengers of the other vehicle serious multiple injuries, including brain damage and a broken neck.
- The vehicle in front of a lorry may suddenly need to brake, such as if a pedestrian runs into the road. If the lorry is too close to that vehicle, they could crash into them causing the other driver a whiplash injury and broken ribs.
- A lorry could T-bone another lorry if speeding through an intersection. The other lorry driver could suffer a broken arm, lacerations and a back injury in such a collision.
Our advisors can discuss your injuries and how much you might be about to claim if you’ve been involved in a HGV accident.
Is The Owner Or Operator Of The Lorry Liable?
This is not always clear cut. When it comes to lorry accidents depending on who is liable for the accident will determine how the claim is made. Depending on how the accident is caused will shed light on who the claim is made against.
- If you’re claiming as a member of the public, whether it’s as another car driver or a pedestrian, who you would claim against would depend on your unique circumstances. You would either make a road traffic accident claim against the driver or a public liability claim against the company.
- When another road user is at fault for an HGV accident the driver could claim against their insurance.
- However, if you’re claiming as an employee, you would claim compensation for a workplace accident.
Employers have a duty of care to all of their employees in the form of The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They need to take reasonably practicable measures to make sure their employees are as safe and secure as possible while performing their roles and using their facilities, in general.
Calculating Lorry Accident Compensation Claims
You may be wondering, “how do truck accident claims work?” Regarding receiving compensation, there are two potential heads of claim if you want to claim for a lorry accident.
General damages relate to the general decline in your quality of life caused by the physical and psychological effects of the injury.
The Judicial College analyses previous general damages payouts, comparing the compensation amount with the severity and nature of the injuries. By doing this, they’ve created compensation brackets that provide an insight into the compensation you could receive. We use these figures below in our table.
Below is a list of injuries and their respective compensation brackets. The Judicial College has supplied these, except for the figure in the top row, which was not taken from this resource. Additionally, we’ve also provided a few tariffs from the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021 (discussed below). Please note that the table is included to offer guidance only.
| Area of Injury | Amount of Compensation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Serious Injuries And Special Damages | Up to £250,000+ | If you can claim for a lorry accident that caused multiple serious injuries, then you may receive a payout covering all injuries as well as related special damages, such as loss of earnings. |
| Brain Injury - Moderate (iii) | £52,550 to £110,720 | Injuries in this bracket affect concentration and memory, there's a small risk of epilepsy and the ability to work is reduced. |
| Bowels (d) | £54,420 to £85,100 | This injury is a severe abdominal injury causing functional impairment and usually necessitating temporary colostomy (causing disfiguring scars). |
| Arm Injury - Resulting In Permanent And Substantial Disablement | £47,810 to £73,050 | Injuries in this bracket include serious fractures of one or both forearms causing a permanent residual disability. |
| Chest Injuries (c) | £38,210 to £66,920 | Injuries in this bracket cause traumatic injuries to chest, heart and/or lung(s) leading to permanent damage, physical disability and a reduction of life expectancy. |
| Back Injury - Moderate (ii) | £15,260 to £33,880 | Many frequently encountered injuries fall into this bracket, such as ligament disturbances and prolapsed discs necessitating laminectomy or leading to multiple relapses. |
| Reproductive System: Female (e) | £8,060 to £22,800 | This injury leads to infertility where the injured person would not be able to have children anyway (due to age, for example). |
| Hand Injury - Moderate | £6,910 to £16,200 | Injuries in this bracket include penetrating wounds, crush injuries and deep lacerations. |
| Whiplash Injury | £4,345 | A whiplash injury plus psychological harm with symptoms lasting between 18 and 24 months |
| Whiplash Injury | £4,215 | A whiplash injury with symptoms lasting between 18 and 24 months |
What Else Could I Claim If Injured In A Lorry Accident?
The second potential head of claim is special damages. Special damages relate to the financial losses suffered because of the injury. You will, however, need to prove the value of the losses. This can be done by providing receipts, invoices and bank statements.
Examples of financial losses you could claim include:
- Care costs, such as the costs of using a care nurse
- Adjustments to your home, such as needing a care bed
- Loss of earnings
- Loss of future earnings
- Travel costs
- Prescription/medication costs
You may also be wondering what the personal injury claims time limit is. In most cases, you need to claim within three years of the accident or three years from being made aware of the injuries. This latter option is more for if you’ve suffered internal injuries that you weren’t initially aware of. This timeframe is established in The Limitation Act 1980. There are exceptions please call our advisors for more information.
Whiplash Reforms
Certain lorry accident claims may be impacted by the Whiplash Reform Programme. If your HGV accident occurred in England and Wales and you were:
- A driver or passenger of any vehicle.
- 18 years old or above.
- injured, but these injuries were valued at £5,000 or less.
Your claim must be made through the Whiplash Reform Programme. Furthermore, whiplash injuries are valued in accordance with the fixed tariffs found in the Whiplash Injury Regulations (we included examples with our table). Any additional injuries sustained in the HGV accident will be valued traditionally. However, if the claim value is calculated to be above £5,000, you will make your case through the traditional route, but these tariff amounts will still apply.
Call an advisor for a free valuation. This can help you decide how to claim if involved in a HGV accident.
Evidence That Can Support A Lorry Accident Claim
A claim for an HGV accident requires supporting evidence. You must be able to prove that a third party owed you a duty of care, and when they breached this, it caused a road traffic accident that injured you.
Examples of evidence that could support a lorry accident claim include:
- Medical records that confirm your injuries and what treatment you’ve received since suffering them. You may also be asked to attend an independent medical exam.
- Footage of the accident, such as a recording from a dashcam.
- The contact details of any witnesses who could provide a statement about the road traffic accident that harmed you.
- Photographs of the accident scene and any visible symptoms of your injuries.
To learn more about how to claim if involved in a HGV accident, please contact our team of advisors online or on the phone today.
How To Claim If Involved In A HGV Accident With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
The benefits of using a No Win No Fee personal injury lawyer include:
- Not paying solicitor fees at any point during the claims process.
- The payment covering solicitor fees being taken from your compensation amount. This will be a small, legally capped portion.
- Not needing to pay solicitor fees if your claim is unsuccessful.
Therefore, you can rest assured knowing that our panel of personal injury lawyers will only take your case if they feel you have a reasonably good chance of success. As such, they won’t waste your time. They’re always diligent, upfront and honest about your chances of success.
Contact our advisors for free legal advice today to see if you’re able to claim. They’re available 24/7 and can inform you in just a few minutes if you’re eligible to receive compensation. You can use a personal injury solicitor from our panel on a No Win No Fee basis. They have years of experience in personal injury claims and could help you receive compensation.
- Call us using 0333 000 0729
- E-mail the details of your injury to us using [email protected]
- Use the live chat window on your screen
- Contact us using the form on our website
Useful Links
To learn more about claiming for a lorry accident, please use the links below.
Would you like medical advice after potentially breaking a bone? If so, view this page on the NHS website.
You can view more road accidents and safety statistics on the Department for Transport’s website.
To know more about claiming road traffic accident compensation through the MIB, view this page on our website.
For more information about claiming for road traffic accidents, view this webpage.
Have you been involved in a road traffic accident caused by an animal? If so, visit our website to see if you can claim.
Learn more about prison injury claims and get advice on the personal injury compensation claims process.
Thank you for reading our guide about how to claim if involved in a HGV accident. Direct any further questions about making a lorry accident claim to a member of our advisory team.
