Official Injury Claim makes the claim process simple, unbiased and secure so you can claim for minor injuries yourself for free without legal help. You may prefer instead to ask a claims professional to make the claim on your behalf such as a solicitor or claims management company who might charge you for their help.
Official Injury Claim will take you through a simple step-by-step process.
You can make a claim through Official Injury Claim if:
We’ll ask you about your claim, including:
After you’ve submitted your claim, Official Injury Claim will pass this to the insurance company that covered the driver you believe was responsible. This service calls them the ‘compensator’. The compensator will then make their own investigations to consider your claim.
You will need an appointment with a medical expert, who will assess your injury or injuries and write a medical report. Official Injury Claim will help you arrange this.
Once you have resolved who was responsible for the accident with the compensator and have provided evidence of your losses or injuries, you should be offered compensation for your claim, which you can choose to accept or challenge.
After you have accepted any offer, the compensator will contact you to arrange payment. You'll be able to check the progress of your claim online and we'll also notify you when there are any updates.
Resources to support your claim can be found here. This includes a starter guide if you want to know more before making you claim and signposting to o ur Help Hub, which provides useful resources to assist with each stage of the claim process.
The Official Injury Claim portal is aimed to be as universal as possible for users, accessible on a range of devices. To have the best user experience for the portal, the minimum device requirements to access our service include:
The portal works best on the following web browsers and their latest versions:
*This information is accurate as of June 2022*
Do I need to pay anything to claim and how much can I claim for?
Official Injury Claim is free for you to use. If you have chosen to use a claims professional such as a solicitor or claims management company to make the claim on your behalf, they might charge you for their help. They must also explain the details of any charges.
The vast majority of whiplash claims (neck, back and shoulder) and most other soft tissue injuries (such as cuts and bruises) will be valued at less than £5,000 and are suitable for Official Injury Claim.
Additional losses, costs, and expenses (other than damages for injury) can also be claimed for up to a value of £5,000.
If the amount you wish to claim for is more than £10,000 in total (£ 5,000 for your injuries, and £5,000 for your losses ) then the Official Injury Claim portal is not suitable for you and you will need to follow a different route, and may benefit from seeking the advice of a legal adviser who can explain your options to you.
Remember: you may wish to seek further advice or guidance on the value of your claim. There are various sources of advice you could use. These include your own insurer or legal adviser, although you may need to pay for a legal adviser’s services. Your adviser will be able to guide you on whether you can recover any of your legal costs from the other party.
What information do I need to make a claim?
Before you start your claim you should have the following available:
Not all road traffic accidents.
Official Injury Claim is for use if you were inside a vehicle as a driver or passenger and you feel another person is at fault .
If you were involved in an accident as a cyclist, motorcyclist or a pedestrian, this service is not for you, you will need to seek advice.
There are various sources of advice you could use. These include your own insurer or legal adviser, although you may need to pay for a legal adviser's services. Your adviser will be able to guide you on whether you can recover any of your legal costs from the other party.
What help is available to make a claim and how long is the claim journey?
We have tried to make Official Injury Claim as easy to use as possible, and there are lots of materials to help you:
There is also a dedicated Official Injury Claim customer contact centre you can call: 0800 118 1631. It is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. You can message the team here.
The Official Injury Claim website is available in English and Welsh language. Translation services are available for those who are unable to read English and Welsh in the top 10 most requested foreign languages. The customer contact centre will help. If you are unable to complete the process online call 0800 118 1631.
There is no fixed time for completing your claim. The time it takes for your claim might depend on how quickly fault for the accident is established or agreed and how quickly you recover from your injury or injuries. Here is an idea of how long each stage may take:
- start your claim - 20 to 30 minutes .
- investigations – Once a compensator has been identified and confirmed the compensator has up to 30 business days (6 weeks) to consider their position on fault for the accident although they may do this much more quickly.
- medical - it might take a few weeks to organise your medical examination and receive a report. Most claims will only require one report, but some might need more which will take longer.
- offer - once you are in a position to ask for an offer, the compensator has 20 business days (3 weeks) to make a first offer.
- close claim - once you have agreed a final settlement, payment should be made within 10 business days (2 weeks).
What is the role of Official Injury Claim during the claim process, and what decisions do you make on a claim?
Official Injury Claim are not a legal service or compensator, and as such do not make any decisions on your claim, all decisions made on a claim are made by the compensator handling your claim.
Official Injury Claim are unable to give advice on what actions should be made on a claim, as an unrepresented claimant this is up to yourself.
The role of Official Injury Claim is to assist you if you have any difficulties in using the portal or any queries when using the portal during your claim journey and answer any questions you may have about the claims process.
To use the service, you must make and manage your own claim. The Portal does not permit the submission of claims by McKenzie friends or personal representatives. As an alternative to making and managing your own claim, you may wish to seek the assistance of claims management companies or legal representatives who are authorised to submit a claim on your behalf.
The Official Injury Claim portal is also compatible with screen readers and has a range of inclusion resources for those that require accessibility options when navigating through the portal and the claim journey. More information on the accessibility options which the portal is compatible with can be found here.
What happens if the compensator does not accept my claim or I do not accept their offer?
If the compensator does not accept liability for your claim, reasoning should be provided by the compensator why the claim was not accepted. You can challenge their decision through the portal. You can also attempt to contact the compensator through the portal messaging system prior to any resubmissions or you can seek independent legal advice.
If you do not accept the compensator's offer, you can make a counter offer up to a maximum of three times.
If you and the compensator cannot reach an agreement. you have the right and the choice to start legal proceedings. Any legal proceedings would take place outside this service.
Why will I need an appointment with a medical expert?
As part of the Official Injury Claim journey, you will need an appointment with an independent medical professional so they can assess your injury or injuries and write a medical report that the compensator will use as a basis for any injury compensation offer.
Once a medical provider is selected through the portal, the medical appointment and booking will take place outside of the portal, either in person or remotely.
If you live outside England and Wales, you will have to arrange and pay for your own medical report. This can be claimed back as a fee. For further information please refer to a “Guide to Making a Claim” here.
If I decide to go to court, what should I do?
Official Injury Claim does not handle the court process, it can only guide you through the process of putting together your court pack and selecting the relevant documentation, as well as what actions need to be taken on the portal to start court proceedings.
How do I withdraw my claim?
A claim can be withdrawn from the system by you by selecting the option to “Withdraw this claim” under “my other actions” on the claim overview page. If this option isn’t available, contact the compensator.
If a duplicate claim is submitted by the same claimant for the same accident, one of the claims will need to be withdrawn, as you are unable to have two claims under your name for the same accident.