Questions claimants
actually ask

In most cases, you have three years from the date of the accident to start a personal injury claim. This is called the limitation period. If you do not begin the process within this window, the claim is time-barred and cannot proceed.

The claims process itself can take several months — so starting well before the deadline matters. Don't assume that having two years left means there's no urgency.

No — not in the same way. If you were under 18 at the time of the accident, the three-year limitation period runs from your 18th birthday, not the date of the accident. This means you may have significantly more time than you realise.

A parent or guardian can also bring a claim on behalf of a child before they turn 18. If that didn't happen, you may still be able to bring it yourself once you reach 18.

Usually, yes — the three-year period runs from the date of the accident, even if your symptoms appeared later. However, where injuries were genuinely not apparent at the time and only became known later, a concept called the 'date of knowledge' may apply — meaning the clock could run from when you first became aware of the injury, not when the accident happened.

This is a nuanced area that depends on the specific circumstances of the accident and when symptoms became apparent. The Limitation Calculator on this site works from the accident date — if your situation involves delayed onset, the standard deadline shown may not reflect your actual position.

Once a claim has been formally submitted through the OIC portal and registered, the limitation period is generally satisfied — you've started the process within time. The ongoing deadlines that now apply are internal to the claims process itself: the 30 working days for liability, 35 days for a settlement offer after the medical report and so on.

You can stop monitoring the three-year deadline and focus on the stages ahead.

Yes — completely. After submission, the other party's insurer has 30 working days to make a liability decision. During this window, you should expect to hear very little. The portal does not send frequent updates and the insurer is under no obligation to communicate until their decision is made.

Silence during this stage is not a sign that something has gone wrong or that your claim is being ignored. It is the intended experience. Note the date you submitted — that is when your 30 working days begin.

If the other party's insurer denies liability, they are saying they do not accept that their policyholder was responsible for your accident. This does not mean your claim is over — it means the claim needs to be disputed.

Denied liability claims leave the OIC portal process. The portal itself has an escalation route for disputed liability — this is the formal process for recording and progressing a denial. The When Things Go Wrong page covers what this involves in more detail.

Most OIC claims that proceed straightforwardly resolve within 6 to 9 months from the date of submission, though this varies. A faster summary of typical stages:

Liability decision: up to 30 working days after submission. Medical appointment: usually 4–8 weeks after liability is admitted. Medical report finalised: 1–3 weeks after the appointment. First offer: within 35 days of the report being submitted. Negotiation and settlement: 2–6 weeks depending on how many rounds of offers take place.

Claims involving disputed liability, complex injuries, or ongoing symptoms will naturally take longer.

No. The OIC portal was specifically designed so that claimants can manage their own claim without legal representation. This is a deliberate design choice.

That said, many people still choose to use a solicitor — particularly if the claim is complex, if liability is disputed, or if they simply find the process difficult to navigate alone. If you do use a solicitor, their fees are generally deducted from your settlement rather than charged upfront.

You are not obliged to. Insurers sometimes make early contact — before a formal claim has been submitted — with the aim of settling quickly. You are entirely within your rights to decline to discuss settlement until you understand your full position, including the nature and extent of your injuries.

Accepting a very early offer before medical evidence is gathered is almost always disadvantageous. It is difficult to know what is fair before a medical assessment has taken place.

No. The medical examiner is an independent medical professional — typically a GP or specialist — instructed through an accredited agency. They are not employed by the insurer and have no financial interest in the outcome of your claim.

Their job is to assess your injuries objectively and produce an accurate report. That said, it is still important that you describe your symptoms clearly and completely during the examination — the report can only reflect what is discussed.

The examiner's report can only reflect what is discussed during the appointment. The appointment typically lasts 20 to 40 minutes. The examiner sees the claimant once — they have no other basis for their assessment. This is why the completeness of the account given during the examination matters: the report records what was described, not what might have been described.

Symptoms that fluctuate — better on some days, worse on others — are important to describe at their most significant, since the prognosis period should reflect the duration of meaningful impact, not just how someone feels on one particular day. Financial and daily-life consequences of the injury are also relevant, since these inform both the medical report and any claim for financial losses.

Yes — before it is submitted. After your appointment, you will receive a draft copy of the report to review. This is your opportunity to check accuracy. If symptoms are missing, underreported, or the prognosis period doesn't reflect your actual recovery, you can raise formal amendments.

Once you approve the report and it is submitted, it cannot be changed. The settlement offer you receive will be based directly on this document. Do not approve it hastily.

If the prognosis period in the report is shorter than your actual experience — for instance, it says you recovered in three months when you were affected for six — this directly reduces the tariff value and therefore the settlement offer you will receive.

You are entitled to formally query this before approving the report. Write a clear, factual account of your recovery timeline and submit it through the portal's amendment process. The examiner may revise the report, or maintain their assessment. Either way, the query is on record.

If you are unable to resolve this satisfactorily, seeking advice from a solicitor at this stage is worthwhile.

Rarely. First offers are a starting point — they reflect the minimum that can be justified under the tariff based on your medical report, without any upward negotiation. The fact that the portal is designed with a negotiation mechanism tells you that counter-offers are expected, not unusual.

Whether the first offer is appropriate depends on whether your medical report accurately captured your symptoms, whether your financial losses have been properly included and whether your prognosis period was correct. If any of those things were understated, the first offer will reflect that.

Through the OIC portal. You reject the offer and submit a counter-offer with a figure and a brief explanation of why you believe the original offer was insufficient. You do not need legal training or extensive documentation to do this — clarity and accuracy matter more than formality.

The insurer will then respond, usually within a few weeks. They may improve the offer, hold their position, or make a revised proposal. This back-and-forth is normal and can take two to four rounds before settlement is reached.

A settlement closes the claim permanently — there is no mechanism to reopen it after acceptance, even if symptoms continue or worsen. This is a structural feature of the process, not a technicality. It exists because the system treats acceptance as a final resolution.

The process does not require claimants to make a decision before their condition has stabilised. Claimants in this position often advise the insurer that they are unable to consider settlement at this stage and ask that the offer remain open. This is a recognised position within the process — insurers are accustomed to it.

A delay of a few days to a week between offer and response is normal. If communication has stopped entirely for an extended period without explanation, the portal has a formal escalation mechanism you can use.

Keep a record of all correspondence, dates and the amounts of each offer and counter-offer. If formal escalation through the portal does not resolve matters, seeking advice from a solicitor is the appropriate next step.

Under the OIC process, compensation typically has two components. The tariff payment covers pain, suffering and loss of amenity — it compensates for the injury itself and is calculated from a fixed government schedule based on injury type and prognosis period.

The second component is special damages — financial losses caused by the accident. These include: travel costs to medical appointments, lost earnings if you were unable to work, prescriptions or medical costs, physiotherapy and other reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. These are separate from the tariff and are not capped by it.

Yes — lost earnings as a result of the accident can be claimed as special damages, separate from the tariff injury payment. Documentation is important: payslips showing normal earnings, a letter from your employer confirming absence and the reason and details of the period you were unable to work.

Self-employed claimants can also claim lost earnings, though the calculation may require more supporting evidence such as invoices, accounts or client records.

The tariff is a government-set schedule of fixed values for specific injury types and recovery periods. For the most common OIC claims — whiplash and minor soft tissue injuries — the value is determined by the prognosis period stated in your medical report: how long your symptoms were expected to last.

For example, whiplash with a prognosis of up to 3 months is tariffed at £240. The same injury with a 9–12 month prognosis is tariffed at £1,320. The accuracy of your medical report's prognosis period is therefore directly linked to the value of your tariff award. See the Offer Stage page for the full reference table.

Payment is typically made by bank transfer within 7 to 14 days of the agreement being confirmed through the OIC portal. Most claimants receive payment within this window. If 14 days pass without payment, contact the insurer through the portal directly and keep a record of that communication.

A solicitor is particularly useful in certain situations: if liability has been denied, if the accident involved serious injury, if your claim includes significant financial losses, if the insurer is unresponsive or behaving unreasonably, or if you simply find the process confusing and want professional support.

For straightforward OIC claims where liability is accepted and injuries are minor, many claimants manage the process themselves. The portal was designed with that in mind. But there is no shame in wanting representation — the decision should be based on your circumstances and comfort level.

In most cases, yes — if you use a solicitor through a Conditional Fee Agreement (commonly known as no-win no-fee), their fee is taken as a percentage of your settlement rather than charged upfront. For OIC portal claims, the amount they can deduct is capped — currently at 25% of your damages, excluding any future care or losses.

It is worth understanding the fee arrangement clearly before you agree to it. A good solicitor will explain this to you upfront.

Absolutely. Understanding your own claim is always in your interest, regardless of whether you have representation. Knowing the stages, the timescales and what the decisions mean puts you in a better position to ask the right questions and understand the advice you're given.

ClaimTalk is designed for exactly this — to give claimants the context they need, whether they're proceeding alone or with professional support.

Solicitors in England and Wales are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). You can verify whether a firm or individual solicitor is authorised on the SRA's website. This is worth checking before you instruct anyone to act on your behalf.

Claims management companies are regulated separately by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). They are not the same as solicitors and the protections and oversight differ.