Your Personal Injury Claim: What Your Solicitor Is Doing When You Haven’t Heard From Us

If you have been injured in an accident, developed an illness because of your work, or suffered because of medical negligence, your claim can feel very personal. You are the one dealing with the pain, attending appointments, struggling at work or worrying about your financial future. So, when you do not hear from your solicitor for a few weeks, it is understandable to wonder whether anything is happening.

At Hopkins Solicitors, we understand that a personal injury or medical negligence claim can become part of your everyday life. You may be waiting for answers about responsibility, medical appointments, treatment or compensation.

What many clients do not see is the significant amount of work that takes place behind the scenes. A claim is rarely as simple as sending a letter and waiting for compensation. Much of the important work involves reviewing records, analysing evidence, communicating with medical experts, investigating what happened, dealing with insurers and other solicitors, monitoring deadlines and deciding the best time to take the next step.

No two claims are the same, so the work involved will depend on your individual circumstances. Many important decisions require time and careful consideration. The fact that you have not received a telephone call on a particular day does not mean your file has been forgotten. Sometimes, the work being carried out cannot be easily summarised until we have enough information to give you a meaningful update.

Obtaining and reviewing evidence

Evidence can be crucial to establishing what happened and who was responsible. In some cases, evidence needs to be obtained quickly because it may disappear. CCTV footage can be deleted, accident scenes can change and witnesses can become difficult to trace. In other cases, obtaining information takes time because we are waiting for organisations to locate and provide relevant documents.

Our role is not simply to collect evidence. We need to consider what that evidence tells us and how it affects your claim. Sometimes we are waiting for information. At other times, we are actively reviewing what has already been received and deciding what needs to happen next.

A common stage in a personal injury claim is receiving a response from the Defendant or their insurer. They may accept responsibility, deny liability, admit part of the claim, argue that you were partly responsible or ask for further evidence. They may also put forward a version of events that differs from your own. A letter saying that a Defendant “denies liability” is not necessarily the end of the matter. We need to understand exactly why liability has been denied and consider whether further evidence could strengthen your position. This might involve obtaining witness statements, requesting additional documents or investigating whether another party could also be responsible.

Equally, an admission of liability does not mean the case is ready to settle. We still need to establish the full extent of your injuries and financial losses. A settlement is only a good settlement if we have enough information to know whether the amount offered properly reflects the value of your claim.

Arranging medical evidence

Medical evidence is central to personal injury and medical negligence claims. Your medical records tell us about the treatment you have received, but they do not always answer every question required for a legal claim. We may therefore need an independent medical expert to provide an opinion. Depending on your circumstances, this could involve an orthopaedic surgeon, psychiatrist another appropriate specialist. Your solicitor must consider what evidence the expert needs, provide the relevant records and prepare appropriate instructions. Once the report is received, it must be reviewed carefully.

If the report is unclear or incomplete, further questions may need to be asked. If you have not recovered, an updated report may be required later. Occasionally, another expert may also be needed. In serious cases, it can be inappropriate to rush towards settlement before your long-term prognosis is clear. Although waiting can be frustrating, settling too early could mean accepting compensation before the full consequences of an injury are known. At Hopkins, we will not deliberately delay a case. We also have a responsibility to make sure important decisions are made with the evidence needed to protect your interests.

The work involved in medical negligence claims

Medical negligence claims can involve particularly detailed investigations. You may know that something went wrong, such as a delayed diagnosis, unsuccessful operation or inadequate treatment. However, the legal questions can be more complicated. We generally need to establish both whether the treatment fell below an acceptable standard and whether that failing caused an injury or outcome that would otherwise have been avoided.

An expert may conclude that treatment was below the expected standard but that the same outcome would have occurred even with appropriate treatment. Alternatively, the treatment may have been appropriate but the outcome poor because medicine cannot guarantee success. This is why medical negligence claims require careful investigation.

Our Medical Negligence Team obtains and analyses relevant medical records, builds detailed chronologies where necessary and seeks independent expert evidence before advising clients about the strength of their case. For a client, this can sometimes look like a period of waiting. For us, it is often a period of careful investigation.

We are monitoring deadlines

Every personal injury and medical negligence claim has important time limits. These need to be monitored throughout the life of the claim. As a case develops, there may also be deadlines imposed by court rules, agreements with the other side or directions made by the court. Your solicitor is managing these deadlines and making sure your case continues to progress appropriately.

If, for example, a medical provider has not responded to a request for records, we cannot simply allow the case to drift indefinitely. We may need to chase the organisation, make further enquiries or consider other options. A lack of visible activity does not mean there is no strategy or organisation behind your claim. An important part of litigation is anticipating what will be required before it becomes urgent.

We are considering your financial losses

Depending on your circumstances, you may also have financial losses involving lost earnings, treatment costs, travel expenses or other expenses arising from the injury. We need to understand your individual circumstances and support any losses with appropriate evidence. This may include payslips, tax returns, pension information, invoices and receipts. In more substantial claims, specialist evidence may be required to assess future losses. A self-employed person, for example, may have very different losses from an employee. A claim is not simply a medical diagnosis converted into a compensation figure. It is about understanding what has happened to the individual person behind the claim.

Communication is important

At Hopkins, we recognise that clients should not be left feeling ignored. Our Hopkins Promise is to communicate regularly, respond to enquiries and explain matters clearly. We also believe communication should be meaningful. There may be periods when there is no major development to report. We may be waiting for a medical appointment, an expert’s report, disclosure from another organisation or a formal response from the Defendant. We may still be chasing the relevant party and monitoring the position, but there may not be a significant change every week.

If you are worried or have questions about what is happening, please contact us. You should never feel that you cannot pick up the telephone and ask. Your claim is important to you, and you are entitled to understand what is happening.

A local team that is accessible when you need us

At Hopkins, we are proud of our local roots and have served people in Mansfield and the surrounding areas for many years. Our firm has offices across Mansfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottingham and Heanor. We believe access to legal advice should not mean dealing exclusively with a distant call centre or online portal.

We understand that face-to-face contact can matter, particularly when you have received a complicated medical report, are considering a settlement offer or need to explain how your circumstances have changed. We also recognise that visiting an office is not always possible. We can communicate by telephone, email and video call, and can arrange home or hospital visits where necessary.

You are never just another file. Like every legal team, our solicitors manage a number of cases at the same time. However, managing multiple claims does not mean working on them in a production-line way. Each day can involve reviewing medical evidence, responding to correspondence, preparing witness statements, dealing with court directions, speaking with experts, negotiating with insurers and advising clients about important decisions.

Contact us

If you are already a Hopkins client and are worried about what is happening with your claim, please contact your solicitor or case handler. We will always be happy to explain the current position and what we are waiting for.

If you are considering raising a personal injury or medical negligence claim, our team is here to listen to your story, explain your options and provide clear, straightforward advice. We offer face-to-face appointments at our local offices and can also speak with you by telephone or video call.

There may sometimes be a period without a major update. But behind every claim is a team working to investigate, prepare and move your case forward towards the best possible outcome.

If you would like to speak to our Personal Injury and Medical Negligence Team, contact Hopkins Solicitors today to discuss how we may be able to help by clicking the Request a Callback button below or giving us a call on 01623 468 468.