First of all let me tell you a little bit about what constitutes a personal injury. If you are a victim of an accident that should have been avoided if the right procedures were followed and the accident happened through no fault of your own then you will have suffered a personal injury. A personal injury can occur through any form of accident, for example a road traffic accident. If someone hits your car and causes you harm then they have caused you a personal injury.

The term personal injury is a very broad one that covers an array of different sub categories depending on the accident that caused you your personal injury for example as well as a road traffic accident being one cause of a personal injury the following can also cause you a personal injury:

• Work accident
• Product liability
• Motorcycle accident
• Medical negligence
• Asbestos related illness
• Whiplash injury
• Slip, trip or fall
• Vibration white finger
• Repetitive strain injury
• Military accident
• Fatal accident

You could suffer an injury in a public place through tripping over loose paving slabs or you could be suffering due to being the victim of a criminal act. The way in which your personal injury can be caused varies greatly and the injury that you will receive can also vary greatly for example you may be suffering from broken or fractured bones, torn ligaments, head and neck trauma or even spinal cord damage; in very severe cases a personal injury could even result in death. The one thing that these personal injuries do have in common though it that none of them were your fault meaning you can make a compensation claim based on the injuries that you are suffering from.

It is your civil and legal right to make a claim for compensation after you have suffered due to an accident that wasn't your fault. Although compensation won't make your injuries and suffering disappear it will bring you a small amount of justice for the negligence of the other party involved; however if you are hoping to make a claim for compensation after suffering from an accident that wasn't your fault there are a number of things that you should do to make sure that you have the best chance of securing a successful compensation claim.

Below are a few examples of some of the things that you should do if you are involved in an accident that wasn't your fault and that has left you suffering from a personal injury:

• If the accident was a road traffic accident that involved injury you should always inform the police and always inform your insurance company

• If the injury resulted from an accident at work, you should notify your employer and the accident must be recorded in the accident book. Your employer has a legal responsibility to report the accident to the Health and Safety Executive or the local authority environmental department and can be prosecuted if they fail to do so

• Report the injury to your doctor as it could become more serious. You should do this even if the injury seems minor. This is because if your compensation case goes to court your doctor will be asked to provide a medical report of your injury; hard to do so if you never went to see them

• Gather evidence about the accident and injuries. For example, it may be useful to take photographs of the scene of an accident and of what caused the injury. You should also, if possible, write an account of the incident while details are still fresh in your mind. If there are witnesses, you should make a note of their names and addresses.

For more information about claiming compensation that has left you with personal injury then get in touch with a legal advisor today as they will be able to inform you of where you stand legally.