What Evidence Is Needed For A Personal Injury Claim?

Various forms of evidence are needed for a personal injury claim, including medical records, copies of accident reports, photographs, and video footage. This evidence is important for demonstrating how a third party acted negligently, resulting in your injuries. With the right documents, you can create a clear narrative of what happened, who was responsible, and what injury you sustained. 

Moreover, medical evidence can be used to help calculate compensation. Payouts are assessed on a case-by-case basis and can reflect the severity of an injury, its impact on quality of life, and the long-term prognosis. Therefore, your medical records can provide valuable insight to solicitors and others when assessing the value of a claim. 

The evidence you will need can depend on the specific circumstances of the accident and your injury. No matter what proof your personal injury claim might require, one of the dedicated solicitors making up our panel here at UK Law can help you obtain it. Contact our advisors if you have any questions about the personal injury claims process or would like to get started today.

Jump To A Section

1. Why Is Evidence Needed For A Personal Injury Claim?
2. Types Of Evidence For A Personal Injury Claim
3. Evidence To Prove Any Financial Losses
4. Is Evidence Difficult To Gather?
5. Who Is Responsible For Gathering The Supporting Evidence?
6. How Can UK Law Help Prove A Personal Injury Claim?
7. Learn More

Why Is Evidence Needed For A Personal Injury Claim?

Evidence is needed in personal injury claims to establish third-party liability for the harm you suffered through someone else’s negligent actions. In simple terms, it is a bundle of information that paints a picture of the facts of your case. Without it, establishing third-party liability may be difficult, which is essential to a successful claim. 

There are many forms of evidence you may obtain to support your claim, which are listed in this guide. The most important point to note is that the more evidence you are able to collect, the greater chance you have of making a successful claim. 

You must collect evidence for the following personal injury claims:

• Road traffic accidents 
• Accidents at work 
• Accidents in a public place 

Get in touch with our advisors if you have any questions about evidence for personal injury claims.

Types Of Evidence For A Personal Injury Claim

There are many types of evidence that are useful for proving personal injury claims. You can find examples of these below.

Medical Evidence

Medical evidence is a crucial form of evidence as it formally states the physical or mental harm you suffered as a direct outcome of your accident. To obtain such evidence, it is important to seek professional medical support for your injuries. 

Examples of medical evidence include:

• Diagnostic and medical reports 
• Copies of scans, such as X-rays 
• Copies of your prescriptions 
• Correspondence with medical professionals 
• Copies of specialist assessments 
• A&E attendance notes
• Details of specialist care plans 

Photographic And Video Evidence

Photographic and video evidence is important for your claim as it is able to place you at the location of the incident and typically the time it occurred. 

You may obtain photographic or video evidence of:

• The accident scene
• Your physical injuries
• Damage to personal property

Witness Evidence

Having the contact details of potential witnesses can help your solicitor gather supportive statements on your behalf. This may be in the form of a written statement, explaining what happened, who was responsible for your injuries, and what harm you suffered.

Accident Reports And Official Records

Accident reports and official records of accidents are valuable forms of evidence in personal injury claims. Depending on where you sustained your injuries, you may be able to obtain an official record containing details of the incident.

For example, you may obtain:

• Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reports 
• Workplace accident reports 
• Reports of public liability incidents 
• Fire and police reports 

Official accident reports aim to determine the root cause of the incident, so they often contain key details, such as:

• How the incident occurred
• The time and location 
• The parties involved 
• The injuries that occurred 

As such, after sustaining an injury in an accident that was not your fault, it is important to make a record of it in an official document. 

CCTV, Dashcam, And Bodycam Footage

CCTV, bodycam, and dashcam footage are effective forms of evidence in personal injury claims, as they can capture the incident as and when it occurs. This can clearly illustrate how a third party’s actions caused your injuries. Below, we look at various sources of recorded footage:

• Security cameras and CCTV are often present along streets and roads, as well as in workplaces and businesses
• Dashcam footage is typically available from cars and motorcycles
• The police often use body-worn cameras

You may request access to CCTV footage from local councils or businesses, dashcam footage from vehicle owners, and bodycam footage from first responders. A solicitor from our panel may assist you with obtaining such evidence if you require support. 

Expert Evidence

Expert evidence can be beneficial in supporting personal injury claims, particularly in complex cases or where liability is disputed. This often helps with a more in-depth investigation into how the incident occurred and caused your injuries. Various types of reports can be used, including: 

• Independent medical assessments
• Psychiatrist reports 
• Accident reconstruction reports 
• Health and safety reports 
• Engineering reports 

Please remember that the more evidence you collect, the greater chance you have of receiving a compensation payout for your injuries and losses. 

Contact our advisors if you have any questions regarding the types of evidence needed for a personal injury claim.

Evidence To Prove Any Financial Losses

The evidence needed to prove any financial losses must be able to document each cost that you incurred as a direct result of your injuries, such as receipts for travel to medical appointments. You must have evidence to claim for your losses, such as:

• Your payslips for loss of earnings
• Bank and credit card statements
• Medical bills and prescription payments
• Travel receipts
• Childcare bills
• Receipts for special equipment 
• Bills for home or vehicle modifications

If you have any questions about evidence to prove financial losses, please contact our advisors. 

Is Evidence Difficult To Gather?

For most personal injury claims, the process of gathering evidence is generally not difficult. However, this can vary depending on the circumstances of the claim. 

For the more straightforward claims, gathering evidence may be a quick and straightforward process. However, for the more complex cases that require a great quantity of sufficient evidence, it may be more difficult to gather. It ultimately depends on the severity of your personal injury claim.

However, here are some important points to note to make this process as simple as possible:

• Contact our advisors for guidance 
• Receive medical assistance for your injuries
• Issue any reports or complaints regarding your accident 
• Keep hold of any potential supporting evidence

By completing these steps as soon as possible, it may make the process of gathering evidence and building your claim a lot more straightforward. 

If you are having difficulty obtaining evidence, please contact our friendly advisors, as they may be able to assist you. 

Who Is Responsible For Gathering The Supporting Evidence?

You will be responsible for gathering the supporting evidence initially, such as the contact details of any eyewitnesses present at the scene of an accident. However, you are not expected to obtain all the proof needed for your claim independently. 

At UK Law, we understand that obtaining evidence due to your injuries or because of the psychological impact it may have on you. Therefore, one of the excellent solicitors from our panel can utilise their expertise to help you collect supporting evidence, then use it to build your claim.

For help with collecting evidence, please contact our helpful advisors today.

How Can UK Law Help Prove A Personal Injury Claim?

Our panel of solicitors at UK Law can help clients prove a personal injury claim by utilising their legal knowledge, skills, and expertise. They have undergone extensive training to become specialists in this field and gained decades of combined experience in proving third-party liability.

Your solicitor may help you prove your claim by:

• Advising you on how to collect evidence and helping you obtain it
• Contacting the relevant third parties on your behalf 
• Setting you up with an independent medical assessment 
• Providing you with access to a psychological assessment 
• Reviewing the evidence and building your case 

At UK Law, our panel of solicitors have helped clients prove their claims on a No Win No Fee basis through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under this, you aren’t charged any service fees by your legal representative in advance of your claim or during the process. You also aren’t liable to pay these fees if you lose.

You will pay your solicitor a small success fee from your personal injury compensation if you win. This is limited by a legal cap being placed on the percentage taken for this fee. 

Contact Our Advisors

Contact our advisors today if you have any questions regarding evidence for personal injury claims or if you would like to pursue one with one of the dedicated solicitors from our expert panel:

• Call our advisors on 020 3870 4868 to discuss the circumstances of your injury
• Get quick and effective advice from our advisors through our private live chat
• Fill out the contact us form.

Please note our lines are open 24 hours a day.

Learn More

To learn more about personal injury claims, please read the guides linked below:

• Information about interim payments
• A guide explaining no witness accident claims
• Learn about what a loss of amenity is

References:

• Find an urgent treatment centre, NHS.UK 
• Access mental health support, NHS.UK 
• Learn more about statutory sick pay, GOV.UK 

We appreciate you taking the time to read this guide, which explored the evidence needed for a personal injury claim.