A personal injury occurs when the actions of one causes injury to another. The action that causes the injury may be unintentional, but there are still consequences attached to the misguided action. It will be up to the plaintiff to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt who is at fault and why. Providing such documentation is not always as easy as it sounds and it could result in a long, drawn out case.

If you are injured in an accident, as a result of a defective product or due to workplace conditions, you may be able to seek compensation for those injuries. It is necessary to file a claim and go through the process which can be long and drawn out and there is no guarantee that your claim will be successful in garnering compensation.

There are time limits for taking the necessary action to file for compensation due to a personal injury. If the time limits are not met, the case becomes null and void unless the plaintiff can prove there are extenuating circumstances to allow the claim to move forward. Proceeding through the claim process may delay the process and prevent some time limits from being met.

There are a few ways to go about receiving compensation for an injury and they include seeking help from a claims assessor and filing a compensation claim, taking legal action in a civil court of law, file a claim with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, through a criminal compensation order and special government compensation claims for injuries and losses.

There are two types of compensation available for people who have sustained a personal injury and include special damages and general damages compensation. Special damages include the actual financial loss caused by an accident and the time frame considered is up to the date of the hearing. Included in special damage claim are clothes, travel costs incurred when going to the hospital, medical expenses and the cost of repairing or replacing your car. General damages include compensation for an injury such as compensation for the loss of future earnings and pain and suffering.

The court may not rule completely in your favour, but may rule you have some level of responsibility for the accident and will assign compensation accordingly. An example of what may trigger that ruling is if you were involved in a traffic accident and were not wearing a seat belt.