Our team provides an unparalleled level of advice, guidance and representation for all forms of personal injury.

Company History (Estd. 1985)

The Personal Injury Team was founded in 1985 and has specialised in helping those who have suffered personal injury and medical negligence ever since. We continue to fight for the rights of those who need our help. Although we deal with a broad range of cases and promise to deal with every client on a one to one and personal level, no matter the value of their claim, our niche passion and expertise is to help those who have suffered serious or life changing injury.

Visit the Ross Aldridge Personal Injury Law Firm Website

We are authorised personal injury and clinical negligence solicitors fully regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). We are not a Claims Management Company.

Why is this important?

The SRA imposes and enforces the highest of standards in professional conduct for solicitors. We are obliged to hold top tier insurance cover for everything we do.

No Win, No Fee

GUARANTEE

Fast Claim Processing

24-HOUR TURNAROUND

Personal Injury Experts

35 YEARS IN BUSINESS

Meet Your Team

Established in 1985, our team of experts have decades of experience in achieving clients the highest compensation possible for clients.

Daniel Menell
Director & Senior Lawyer

Daniel has worked in law since 1990 and since qualifying as a lawyer more than 20 years ago, has worked exclusively for claimants pursuing personal injury and clinical negligence claims. Although conducting a varied caseload, he specialises in higher value and complex claims and has particular expertise and interest in spinal and brain injury claims. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, and member of the Law Society Personal Injury Panel.

In the past year, Daniel has conducted and successfully concluded claims worth a combined total of in excess of £18 million. Daniel also has a burgeoning practice in Sports Law, having represented a number of former professional rugby players. He tends only to stop working intermittently during the winter months, when he can be found strapped to a snowboard on a slope which is far too steep for his ability, albeit with regular stops to attend to work emails. A former member of the GB Karate squad, and latterly running his own ju-jitsu club, with the odd triathlon here and there, Daniel refuses to succumb to being too middle-aged any time soon.

John Depner
Director & Senior Lawyer

One of the founding partners of the firm, John qualified as a Solicitor in 1987 and has acted exclusively for victims of accidents for over 25 years. He has vast experience in this specialist area of the law and has conducted many complex accident and medical negligence cases through to the Court of Appeal.

He currently deals with a wide range of cases from minor road accidents to the most difficult medical negligence claims. Away from work he enjoys all forms of motorsport and is a keen but inelegant skier. Having recently retired from running a private evening and weekend taxi service for his 4 daughters, he now hopes to devote more time to these activities.

Peter Trotman
Director & Senior Lawyer

Pete is a hugely experienced Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives with many years of litigation experience in a broad range of claims from road accident, employers’ and public liability, Ministry of Defence, Product Liability, Holiday Claims, and most other types of cases. He acts for those whose claims are modest in value right through to claims worth well into 6 figures.

In what spare time he is allowed, Pete plays pool and football, supports Liverpool FC and enjoys cycling and walking the hills with his cocker spaniel.

Ryan Simmonds
Case Handler

FAQs

No two claims are exactly the same so the way we deal with your case will be tailored to your particular needs. We will not fit you into a “one size fits all” claims process and we will make sure you fully understand and are kept up to date with how your claim is progressing.

However, in all cases to understand the full implications of your injuries and to get you the best compensation, a medical report is essential. We will arrange this with an independent medical expert. Often, in more complex cases (£100,000+) we may need more than one medical report.

Once medical evidence has been obtained and details of your out of pocket expenses assembled, the claim is presented to the insurance company for settlement.

In straight forward cases where the insurer has admitted liability, your claim will proceed through a Claims Portal where settlement is usually reached within a few weeks of it being presented to the insurer.

The aim of a compensation claim is twofold;

Firstly, to compensate you for your injuries. This is known as pain suffering or loss of amenity, or “general damages”. The amount will depend on the nature, extent and longevity of those injuries. The more serious the injuries, the more they will be worth.

Secondly, to compensate you for your financial losses. These are known as “special damages” and the law aims to put an injured person back in the financial position they would have been in had the accident not happened.

Examples of special damages include:

  1. Past loss of earnings – If as a result of an accident you are absent from work and your pay is reduced, the shortfall can be claimed. Ongoing or future loss of earnings or pension; If the injury is likely to impact your future employment, we can make a claim for future loss of earnings, and sometimes loss of future pension value.
  2. Care – If because of an injury, friends or family help you with things that you are struggling with, we can make a claim for “domestic assistance”. For example, help with shopping, housework, cooking, cleaning etc.
  3. Medical Expenses – Sometimes there is a need for private medical treatment. We can include the cost of anything from physiotherapy to an operation, and can often help arrange this if it is required.
  4. Miscellaneous Expenses – This could be anything from parking or travel costs to clothing or items damaged in an accident, to painkillers, and almost anything else, as long as the expense arises due to the accident.

In cases involving catastrophic and life-changing injury there may be a myriad of special damages to consider. Some examples include aids and equipment, home adaptations, cost of moving to a more suitable property, cost of professional care, cost of a case manager, vehicle adaptations, specialist medical equipment or treatment, prosthetics, cost of deputyship or fund management.

Nobody likes the idea of going to court, and thankfully, this is very, very unlikely.

We will start Court proceedings on a lot of our cases as we find this is the best way to get the best compensation for our clients, but the vast majority of cases will be concluded long before you see the inside of a courtroom.

Fewer than 5% of cases will come to trial, and in the post-COVID world, we have seen an increasing number of the trials that do happen being conducted by remote hearing, so even if your case does go to court, you might do so in the comfort of your home.

Generally, a claim must be bought within 3 years of an accident.

That means that court proceedings must be issued no later than the third anniversary of the accident. There are some exceptions, however, most commonly claims for children. A child (defined as anyone under the age of 18) has 3 years from their 18th birthday to bring a claim, so court proceedings must be issued by their 21st birthday. Also, the 3-year rule does not apply to those who lack capacity (perhaps arising as a result of a serious brain injury, for example).

That all said, if you do have a claim, it is best to bring it as soon as possible.

Putting a monetary value on pain and injury is an art rather than a science but our experienced lawyers will advise you on how much your claim is worth once medical evidence has been obtained.

We use a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines which is used by all Judges when they assess compensation and we have access to many thousands of reported Court cases to fine-tune our advice and give you the best indication of how much your claim is worth.

We will also prepare a calculation of all your out of pocket expenses for presentation to the insurer.

This depends on the type of case you have.

Very often we will be able to advise you on day one, that liability is very strong and that the case is overwhelmingly likely to succeed. However, the law allows defendants set periods of time to investigate liability, and depending on the type of case, that investigation period can be anything from 3 weeks to 13 weeks from the date the claim is notified to them.

Almost certainly, yes.

In order for us to assess the value of your case, we usually need expert medical evidence. We will always arrange this as close to your home as possible through our network of GPs.

Very often, yes.

In a case where the defendant has admitted liability, we are usually able to obtain a payment on account of your final compensation. This is known as an “interim payment”. In many claims, there is an automatic right to an interim payment of £1,000.

However, interim payments of far larger sums can be obtained in appropriate cases. In catastrophic injury claims, interim payments of £250,000 or more are not uncommon to assist with anything from alternative accommodation needs, prosthetics, rehabilitation or private medical treatment, care, loss of earnings and any other reasonable needs the client may have.

It is just what it says on the tin!

If your claim is unsuccessful, we will not charge you anything.

If the claim is successful, you may have to make a contribution to your legal fees out of the compensation awarded to you.  However, that contribution is never more than 25%, including vat, so you are always guaranteed to recover at least 75% of the compensation awarded to you.

We never have to ask for any money or payments upfront, and any contribution to legal fees is only taken out of your compensation once received. There are no “hidden extras”. Many solicitors charge up to 25% plus vat and also charge for separate legal fees insurance. We guarantee transparency from day one so that you will always know where you stand with legal fees.

For serious and catastrophic injury cases, we often make no deduction from compensation at all, so you are guaranteed 100% of the compensation awarded.

There is no one size fits all answer here, but, we would generally caution against settling a claim until you have recovered from your injuries, or until the long term prognosis is known, as this will protect you against under-settling the claim.

The more valuable the claim, the more important this approach will be. For example, holding out for an offer which is 20% higher if the claim is worth only £1,000 may not be worthwhile for you. If the claim is worth £10,000,000, it certainly would be.

Our job is to advise you throughout the process so you can make smart and informed decisions. Ultimately the final decision is yours  and if you have an opportunity to and wish to settle a claim before we advise you to, we will, of course, follow your instructions.

We work for you, not the other way around.

The time frame will depend very much on the nature and extent of your injuries and whether the defendant admits liability.

In a liability admitted case where the injures are relatively mild, a claim could be concluded in as little as 3-4 months, although 6-9 months is the average. In a claim where liability is disputed, or injuries slightly more severe, the average could extend to 12-18 months. In serious and catastrophic injury cases, the average is nearer 3 years.

Option 1 – Simply fill in online claim form here and we’ll be in touch with you within 24 hours (although very often almost immediately, and even at the weekend or evenings) to discuss your claim. We will be able to advise you immediately if we can assist, and will answer any questions you have.

Option 2 – Send us an email to

Option 3 – Call us on 0800 0270370 and speak directly to one of our expert team between the hours of 9-5, Monday to Friday.

However you get in touch, we will deal with your enquiry quickly and professionally and once we have advised you that we can help, we can get the ball rolling immediately. Get in touch and we will do the rest!

Your claim is in safe hands with us whether it is worth £1,500 or £15,000,000.

In a world where solicitors firms come and go, our doors have been open since 1985. We are large enough to deal with the most complex of cases and small enough to offer the truly personal service we are so proud of.

We only act for accident victims, and we deal only with personal injury and medical negligence. That is what we do and this is all we do. We are recognised, long-established regulated experts in this area of law.