Under English law, victims negligently injured in an accident can in principle claim compensation from the `person at fault' under the tort system of compensation. About a third of all people seriously injured in road accidents in England embark on a compensation claim. This chapter describes the legal process for pursuing such a claim. It draws on a large survey of accident survivors, conducted by the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies in the 1970s, and a prospective study of road accident survivors in the 1990s. Unfortunately, there is a large gap between the principles underlying the tort system and how it actually works in practice. This system is widely acknowledged to be inefficient, costly, and something of a lottery; it has been estimated that it spends as much money on legal expenses as on payments to victims. The chapter considers: (1) factors that lead an accident victim to pursue a claim; (2) beliefs about fault and who should compensate; (3) the costs of blaming and claiming; (4) the reasons for uncertainties and delays in the claiming process; and (5) the role of compensation in meeting the needs of those injured in accidents. Although most people who embark on a claim eventually obtain some compensation, many social, psychological, and financial costs are likely to have been met while pursuing it.
Samenvatting