Blog
Individual / Personal Injury Claims
When pain continues long after an injury should have healed, it can take over your life, your work, your sleep, your independence and your mental health. Chronic pain claims are among the most complex in personal injury law, and they need a solicitor who understands both the medicine and how insurers defend them. If your chronic pain followed an accident that was not your fault, we can help. Our personal injury solicitors act for people across Greater Manchester, the North West and nationally.
To talk through what happened, call 0161 930 5151 or use our online contact form and we will call you back. The first conversation is free and without obligation.
Chronic pain is generally described as pain that persists beyond the time an injury would normally be expected to heal, often taken as more than three to six months. Sometimes the pain is far out of proportion to the original injury, and sometimes it continues after the original injury appears to have resolved. Doctors recognise a number of specific chronic pain conditions that can follow trauma, including:
These conditions are real and can be disabling, even though many of them do not show up on scans or have an obvious physical cause. That is part of what makes them hard to diagnose, and hard to claim for without the right expertise.
You may be able to claim if your chronic pain was caused, wholly or partly, by an accident or incident that was someone else’s fault, whether a road traffic accident, an accident at work, an accident in a public place, or medical treatment that fell below an acceptable standard. You may also have a claim if an existing condition was made significantly worse, or if chronic pain developed some time after the original injury. If you are already pursuing a personal injury claim and pain that should be settling is not, tell your solicitor, because the chronic pain may substantially increase the value and complexity of your claim.
The central battleground in almost every chronic pain claim is causation, proving that the condition was caused by the accident rather than by a pre-existing problem or something unrelated. Because conditions such as CRPS and fibromyalgia often have no visible organic cause, defendants and their insurers frequently dispute the diagnosis, argue the pain would have happened anyway, or suggest it is psychological rather than accident-related. Courts have become increasingly willing to accept these conditions, but only where they are properly evidenced.
That means the quality of medical evidence is decisive. Generalist reports are rarely enough; these claims usually need a consultant in pain medicine, instructed to the standard required by the civil court rules, and sometimes evidence from other specialists such as rheumatologists, neurologists or psychologists. Choosing a firm that understands how to build and defend that evidence, and how to value pain that may affect you for the rest of your life, makes a real difference to the outcome.
Compensation usually has two parts. General damages compensate for the pain, suffering and the impact on your quality of life; the amount depends heavily on the specific condition, its severity and its prognosis, and is assessed against the Judicial College Guidelines and comparable cases. Special damages compensate for financial losses, which in chronic pain cases are often substantial and can be lifelong: loss of earnings and future earning capacity where the condition affects your ability to work, the cost of pain management, medication, physiotherapy, psychological therapy, care and assistance, aids and equipment, and adaptations to your home. Where the effects are long term, compensation can be structured to provide for future needs, and we can seek interim payments to fund treatment and support before the claim concludes.
In most cases you have three years to start a court claim, under the Limitation Act 1980. That period usually runs from the date of the accident, or from the later date on which you first knew your condition was significant and linked to someone’s fault, which matters for chronic pain because these conditions often develop or are diagnosed months after the original injury. Different rules apply where the injured person is a child, in which case the three years begins at 18, or lacks mental capacity, in which case the time limit may not run at all. Because these claims take time to build and evidence is easier to gather early, it is best to seek advice as soon as you can.
We know that worrying about legal costs is the last thing you need when you are living with chronic pain. There are different ways a personal injury claim can be funded, and the right option depends on your circumstances. We will explain clearly at the outset how your claim can be funded and set out our charges, so you understand exactly where you stand before you decide whether to proceed.
Gorvins is a Legal 500 recognised firm based in Stockport, acting for injured people across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, the North West and throughout England and Wales. Chronic pain claims are not clear-cut, and they reward experience, patience and a careful, sensitive approach, which is exactly what our personal injury team brings.
When you instruct us you will have a dedicated specialist handling your claim from start to finish. We take time to understand how the pain affects your daily life, instruct the right pain medicine and other experts, build the medical evidence needed to establish causation, and quantify the full lifelong cost of the condition rather than settling for the low offers insurers often make in these cases. We arrange rehabilitation, therapies and pain management where they will help, and seek interim payments to support you along the way. Where chronic pain has followed a very serious injury, our wider teams handling brain and head injuries and spinal injuries can also assist.
To find out whether you can claim, call 0161 930 5151 or complete our online enquiry form and we will call you back to talk it through.
Possibly, yes. If your chronic pain was caused, wholly or partly, by an accident or incident that was someone else’s fault, you may have a claim. This includes conditions such as CRPS, fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain that follow an accident, and cases where an existing condition was significantly worsened. Whether a claim succeeds depends on establishing that the negligence caused your condition, which we can assess for you.
Chronic pain is pain that persists beyond the normal expected healing time. Recognised conditions include Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), formerly known as RSD, fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain, and neuropathic pain from nerve damage. These conditions are genuine and can be disabling even where scans show no obvious physical cause, which is why specialist medical evidence is so important.
Because the main issue is usually causation, proving the condition was caused by the accident rather than a pre-existing or unrelated problem. As conditions like CRPS and fibromyalgia often have no visible organic cause, insurers frequently dispute the diagnosis or argue the pain would have occurred anyway. Success depends on high-quality evidence from a pain medicine consultant and, where needed, other specialists.
You can claim general damages for the pain, suffering and loss of quality of life, and special damages for financial losses, which in chronic pain cases can be substantial and lifelong. These include lost earnings and future loss of earning capacity, pain management, medication, physiotherapy, psychological therapy, care, equipment and home adaptations. Compensation can be structured to provide for future needs where the condition is long term.
Usually three years from the date of the accident, or from when you first realised your condition was significant and linked to someone’s fault, which is important for chronic pain as it often develops or is diagnosed later. Different rules apply for people under 18, where the three years starts at 18, and for those who lack mental capacity. It is best to seek advice promptly, as these claims take time to build.
There are different ways a personal injury claim can be funded, and the right option depends on your circumstances. We will explain the available options and set out our charges clearly at the outset, so you understand exactly where you stand before deciding whether to proceed.
