Personal injury is a term describing an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as a result of the negligence, or fault, of another party. There are many different types of personal injury, some of the most common being injuries from road accidents, accidents at work, slipping and tripping accidents and accidents in the home. If you have suffered a personal injury which was not your fault, there are a number of ways in which making a compensation claim can help you.

An injury can affect not just your working life, but also your personal life, in ways which can seem almost impossible to recover from. Fortunately, laws in the UK mean that you should be able to claim compensation for your losses without paying a penny. Here are three ways in which compensation could help you following an injury.

1. Recovering Lost Earnings

If you have been seriously injured, you may well have been forced to take time off work, and therefore time without your salary, resulting in lost earnings. This may have led to severe cash flow problems, not just for you but for your entire family. Reclaiming those lost earnings is likely to be a crucial step towards getting you and your family back on your feet. As Well as lost earnings, you may be compensated for other work-related issues such as disadvantage in the labour market, loss of promotion, loss of any other work-related opportunities and even future loss of earnings should you have to leave your job. With all of these taken into account, and depending on the severity of the injury, the compensation you are entitled to can potentially add up to a very large sum.

2. Compensating for Pain and Suffering

A serious injury can be very difficult to cope with, not just because of what you are not capable of doing during recovery, but also because of the suffering you may be experiencing. Pain and suffering is the legal term referring to any physical or emotional stress caused by an injury, and these may form part of the compensation package you are awarded. In addition to pain and suffering, other hardships resulting from the injury, such as an inability to carry out day to day tasks or hobbies, may also be taken into account in the compensation awarded.

3. Preventing a Similar Injury from Happening Again

When you make a personal injury claim, it is because another party has been negligent, and it was their negligence led to you being injured. Negligence means that they failed in their duty of care towards you, for example as an employer or as a public body which is required by law to make all reasonable steps to look out for your safety. If that party has failed to do so, it's likely that others are at risk of being injured, as well. Making a personal injury claim will highlight the safety issues present and may prevent others from suffering from similar injuries in the future. And remember, you cannot legally lose your job for making a claim.