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Cycle Aid - Personal Injury Compensation

Have Any Questions About Legal Terminology or Making a Claim? Find Answers Here.

Increasingly in the UK, people are using alternative modes of transport to get from one place to another. A growing number of the population have taken up cycling as an alternative to using public transport or their car. Cycling brings with it many benefits, chief among them personal fitness while helping the environment. However, it also accounts for a number of the personal injury claims that are launched in road traffic accidents: cyclists being knocked off their bike by another road user or falling off their bike because of an uneven or poorly maintained surface.

At Simon Holt, we are regularly sought out to advise cyclists who have been injured in a road traffic accident that was not their fault. Our experienced personal injury team are highly experienced in pursuing these kinds of claims and ensuring our clients secure the financial compensation they are entitled to. Click on the links below to read more on cyclist claims:

Can I Make a Personal Injury Claim Following a Cycling Accident?

In the UK, all road users, whether they be car drivers, lorry drivers, motorcyclists or cyclists, owe one another an obligation to conduct themselves in a manner which does not expose others to harm. In legal terms, this is sometimes called their ‘duty of care’. At its most basic level, it requires other road users to acknowledge your presence on the road, and use reasonable skill and care while using the roads so as to not cause an accident and cause you to be injured.

If a road user, e.g. a car driver, fails to afford you the necessary space that you need as a cyclist, causing you to be knocked off your bike and injure yourself, then they are vulnerable to a personal injury claim. It is also very important to keep in mind that, as a cyclist, the injuries you can sustain by someone failing to take the necessary degree of care in driving can be disastrous: cuts and bruises in minor cases can easily become brain or spinal damage in severe road traffic accidents.

If you are a cyclist and someone else’s actions cause you to suffer an injury, then you may be entitled to raise a personal injury claim against them for compensation.

What Kind of Cycle Accidents can I Claim Compensation For?

UK Personal Injury law reflects that fact that, as a cyclist, you can suffer a variety of injuries in a road traffic accident. This means that you are entitled to claim for two different strands of damage:

  • General Damages are the physical or psychological injuries you sustain as a result of your injuries. This aspect of your compensation claim is designed to account for the pain you have had to endure, and the impact your injuries have had on you, e.g. your being prevented from cycling for pleasure in the future or the fear you now suffer of being injured in the future as a result of your accident; and
  • Special Damages relate to the financial losses you have had to endure as a result of your accident. This can cover, amongst other things, any loss of earnings during your recovery, any repair costs for your bike that you have had to absorb or any increased travel costs you have had to endure through not being able to cycle to work.

How Much Financial Compensation Could I be Entitled To?

Because every personal injury claim is different, it is impossible to determine, in the abstract, the exact level of compensation you could be entitled to as a cyclist having been injured in a road traffic accident. However, the levels of compensation available for injuries is set out in a series of guidelines called the ‘Judicial College Guidelines for the Assessment of Damages in Personal Injury cases’ (JCG). These guidelines are used to guide courts in determining the appropriate level of compensation in a particular personal injury claim.

As a cyclist, if you are injured in a road traffic accident that was not your fault, the level of compensation you can expect can vary greatly:

  • Cyclists spines are particularly vulnerable to injury. If you fall off your bike onto your back this may result in nerve or ligament damage of varying degrees. Minor injuries with good scope for recovery can attract, under the JCG, between £1,800 and £6,000 depending on the time needed for recovery. Alternatively, spinal injuries causing some level of paralysis, loss of bodily function or the need to suffer constant pain can warrant compensation between £34,575 through to £112,000.
  • If you are forced off of your bike and the impact causes trauma to your head, this could have disastrous consequences for your way of life. Brain damage is one of the most severe injuries that cyclists can sustain in road traffic accidents. Compensation under the JCG can range from between £1,675 to £9,700 in minor cases through to awards of £214,000 to £307,000 where an accident completely destroys someone's mental capacity.
  • Cyclists arms and legs are also exposed to injury. The JSG highlight that leg injuries can range in compensation awards: soft tissue damage can attract up to £9,000 in compensation while serious fractures can warrant up to £41,000. This is similar in the case of arm injuries, where minor fractures may attract up to £14,600, while more complex cases might warrant up to £99,000.

It is important to bare in mind that the JSG is a guideline only, reflecting that the amount of compensation depends on where on your body you have been injured and the gravity of your injuries. If you successfully make a cycling accident claim, the exact figure you could be entitled to will be determined according to your circumstances and the strength of evidence supporting your claim.

Contact our Expert Cycling Accident Injury Lawyers Preston UK

If you are a cyclist and have been injured in an accident that was not your fault, you should speak to a specialist Personal Injury lawyer about making a compensation claim. You enjoy the same legal protection as any other road user, and should not suffer the consequences of someone else's negligence.

At Simon Holt, our friendly team of solicitors are highly experienced in dealing with complex personal injury claims. We often work with cyclist clients who have suffered horrific road traffic injuries, and make it a priority to secure the compensation that they are entitled to. Our depth of knowledge, and years of practice in pursuing bicycle accident compensation claims affords us a considerable advantage over other generalist service providers: we understand the issues affecting our clients and will review your case in its entirety to build a strong claim. We also operate on a ‘no-win-no-fee’ basis: if we do not secure you any compensation, then you owe us no legal fees. 

To speak to one of our experienced cycle claim solicitors, contact us today on 0800 387 815 or alternatively, complete our online contact form and a member of our team will be in touch. You can also start your claim online here.

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