No Win, No FeeDespite strict safety guidelines at UK motorsport events, accidents do sometimes happen. Due to the size and speeds of the vehicles involved, some motorsport-related injuries can be very serious, life-threatening and, unfortunately, fatal. If you’ve been injured in a motorsport accident caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be able to claim compensation by lodging a motorsport injury claim.
You’re more than welcome to call us for a free consultation about your claim. We’ll provide no-obligation legal advice about how to proceed with your claim after it’s been assessed by a specialist. If the claim is suitable and a personal injury lawyer from our panel agrees to work for you, they’ll manage the claim on a No Win, No Fee basis. That means you won’t have to risk any money on upfront legal fees.
For more information on motorsport injury compensation claims, please read on. Alternatively, call us on 0800 652 1345 if you have any questions.
Can I claim compensation for a motorsport-related injury?
Our solicitors always review the chances of success before taking on any type of motorsport-related injury claim. So, before accepting a claim, they’ll try to determine if:
- The defendant (the party you blame) owed you a duty of care;
- Some sort of negligent act by the defendant caused a motorsport accident; and
- You sustained injuries as a consequence of the accident.
If you can’t prove all of the above and you end up in a ‘your word against theirs’ situation, it’s unlikely that compensation would be awarded. As such, a later section of this guide will explain what evidence you could use to help prove your case.
Common types of motorsports
Each year, thousands of motorsport events occur up and down the country. They can include:
- Motorcycle races including speedway.
- Rallying and rallycross.
- Circuit racing including professional motorsports.
- Drifting.
- Karting.
- Hill climbs.
- E-sports.
- Sprints and trials.
Managed properly, these events are usually safe for drivers, spectators and staff involved in motorsports. Despite strict safety regulations, accidents do sometimes occur. If you’ve suffered a motorsport injury, you may be entitled to claim compensation for your injuries.
Types of accidents that can occur at motorsport events
As stated above, motorsports injury claims are only possible if your injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence. So, let’s take a look at some examples of when claims might be possible.
Injured while racing
Claims might be possible for injuries caused by:
- A lack of vehicle checks before the race.
- Potholes of other damage to the track or road surface.
- An inadequate number of track marshals or poorly trained safety marshals.
- A poorly maintained vehicle.
- Broken safety barriers.
- Oil spillages or debris on the track.
Motorsport driver injury claims may be brought against the organiser of the race or the team you were driving for depending on whose negligence caused the accident.
Injured whilst watching motorsport
Race organisers also have a duty towards spectator safety. As such, you could claim compensation if you were injured while watching a race if the accident was caused by:
- Inadequate safety fencing at high-speed corners.
- Being allowed to cross the track when it was not safe to do so.
- Cars ploughing into the crowd because of broken safety barriers.
- Slipping or tripping around with a circuit because of spillages or trip hazards.
- Food poisoning caused by undercooked food from facilities within the event’s grounds.
Injured whilst working for a racing team
Whether you’re involved in elite motorsport or amateur racing, if you’re employed by a race team, your employer has a duty of care to try and prevent you from being injured as a result of your work.
So, you could claim for injuries caused by:
- Faulty, damaged or poorly maintained tools and equipment.
- A lack of proper job or safety training.
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that is not fit for purpose or was not provided i.e. fireproof overalls, gloves, helmets etc.
Your employer will legally need a liability insurance policy to cover employee accidents. As such, any claim you make will not affect the team’s ability to race as it will be made against the insurance policy and not the team.
Types of motorsport injuries you could claim compensation for
Some of the types of injuries from motorsport accidents you could claim compensation for include:
- Severe bruising.
- Broken bones.
- Concussions and more serious brain injuries.
- Neck, shoulder and back injuries.
- Burns.
- Soft tissue injuries.
- Cuts and laceration injuries.
- Psychiatric injuries.
- Wrongful death.
If your motorsport injury isn’t on our list, don’t worry. We could still help you to start a claim so please call our team today if you believe that you should be compensated.
Compensation for fatal motorsport injuries
Unfortunately, lives can be lost in motorsport accidents. We completely understand that being compensated won’t help you to deal with the loss of a loved one.
However, claiming justice for your loved one’s loss might be something you wish to do and you might also want to claim for any financial consequences linked to their death too. For example, our solicitors could help you to claim back funeral expenses that you’ve had to pay for. Similarly, they could help you to secure a settlement if you were financially dependent on the deceased.
If you’ve loved a lost one in a motorsport accident caused by someone else’s negligence, please feel free to call us at any time if you’d like us to review your case for free.
How much compensation for a motorsport injury claim?
Any compensation you receive for a motorsport injury should compensate for any suffering you already endured and help you to cope with any future suffering too. This can be in the form of psychological, physical or financial suffering.
If you make a successful motorsport injury claim, the compensation you receive could cover:
- The pain and suffering caused by physical injuries.
- Flashbacks, nightmares, distress and other forms of emotional distress.
- The cost of private medical treatment for your injuries.
- Loss of enjoyment of any activities affected by your injuries (including motorsports of course).
- The cost of a carer.
- Lost income and any future reduction in earnings.
- Travel costs associated with your injuries or your claim.
- The cost of making modifications to your home to improve your quality of life e.g. installing ramps or widening doors to help if you’ve been confined to a wheelchair.
Your solicitor will go through all aspects of your suffering with you to try and ensure that you receive a fair level of compensation if your claim is successful.
Providing proof for motorsport injury compensation claims
The defendant in your claim will more than likely pass your file on to their insurance provider to deal with. Unless the insurer is convinced that their client caused your accident and about the severity of your injuries, they might not pay any compensation. For this reason, your solicitor will try to collate as much information as possible to substantiate your allegations. The types of proof they might use to support a motorsport injury claim include:
- Video footage. Many motorsports accidents are recorded on camera. This might be on a mobile phone, an onboard camera or even on a security camera. If you act quickly enough, you can ask the owner of the footage to send you a copy of the relevant data.
- Photographic proof. Another way of establishing how you were injured is to take pictures at the scene of the motorsport accident. This will help your solicitor to piece together how your accident occurred. Also, any visible injuries from the motorsport accident should be photographed throughout your recovery to demonstrate the extent of your injuries.
- Medical records. Your solicitor will contact the hospital where your injuries were treated and ask them for a copy of any relevant medical notes, X-rays, test results and scans.
- Accident reports. Various organisations may investigate a motorsport accident to try and learn from any mistakes made. A copy of a report into your accident could be obtained to help understand why your accident happened.
- Witness statements. On top of other forms of proof, it can be a good idea for witnesses such as other drivers, tack marshals, spectators or team members to be asked for a statement of what they saw. This can be particularly useful if the defendant tries to deny that the motorsport accident occurred.
Hopefully, you’ll have collected some of the proof listed here already but don’t worry if you haven’t. You can still call us about your options and, if your claim is taken on, your solicitor will work hard on your behalf to try and collect any further information needed.
Motorsport injury claim time limits
Personal injury claims are generally bound by a 3-year limitation period in the UK. For motorsport injury claims, this will usually start from the date of the accident in which you were injured. However, where an injury might not become apparent until a later date, it could start from the date of your diagnosis.
Claims for children don’t have an immediate time limit. In this scenario, the 3 years begins on the child’s 18th birthday. As a result, a responsible adult can seek compensation on the child’s behalf at any time before then.
If you are claiming for the loss of a loved one in a motorsport accident, the time limit will start from the date of their death or from when you found out about it.
We would urge you to talk to us as soon as possible following your accident. That’s because if a claim is made outside of the 3-year time limit, it might be refused. Starting your claim at your earliest opportunity should mean there is plenty of time for proof, medical reports and other information to be collected before the claim is filed.
No Win, No Fee claims
We believe that it’s more likely that you’d win a motorsport injury claim if you have legal representation from a personal injury solicitor on our panel. Also, their legal skills could mean you receive a higher amount of compensation if your claim is successful. We know that most people don’t want to risk their own money on legal fees so you only have to pay ours if they win compensation for you.
Their No Win, No Fee service means that:
- You won’t be asked to pay any upfront legal fees.
- If your claim is not won, you don’t pay any legal fees at all.
- Where there is a positive outcome, a percentage of your compensation will be retained by your solicitor to cover their costs – this is called a success fee.
At the start of the claims process, you’ll receive a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Once you’ve signed the contract, work on your claim will begin. This will include your solicitor:
- Finding the proof and medical information needed to support the claim.
- Making contact with the defendant, their lawyers or their insurance company.
- Fighting hard to try and counter any objections or arguments raised by the defendant.
- Contacting you with regular updates on your motorsport injury claim.
- Checking any compensation offers with you to assess whether they compensate you fairly.
You can check if one of our solicitors could help you to claim by calling our team today.
Start a motorsport injury compensation claim today
We can help if you’d like to find out if you could claim for any type of motorsport-related injuries. If you call us today on 0800 652 1345, your claim will be reviewed for free and we’ll explain your legal options.
You don’t have to make a claim after listening to our advice but if you do want to take action and one of our personal injury lawyers offers to help, your claim will be processed on a No Win, No Fee basis.
Please use live chat to connect with us if you have any further questions on motorsport injury claims, or claim your free consultation here.
