Your Rights as a Claimant
The things you are genuinely entitled to — that most people only discover too late.
The claimant holds more
power than they realise
The personal injury claims process can feel weighted against the individual — complex, slow and full of jargon designed for professionals. But claimants have significant rights at every stage. Knowing them changes the dynamic entirely.
You are not required to accept, reject or respond to a settlement offer under pressure or at speed.
A settlement offer is a proposal — not a conclusion. You are entitled to consider it carefully, question it, negotiate it or decline it. The portal is structured to allow multiple rounds of discussion. Negotiation is part of the design, not a disruption of it.
Before your report is submitted to the portal, you receive a draft copy. You are entitled to read it carefully, query inaccuracies and request amendments.
The medical report is the single document that determines the value of your claim. It should reflect your actual experience — not a snapshot from one appointment. The examiner sees you once. The report is submitted once. The review window between those two events is the only point at which the document can be shaped by the person whose experience it describes.
The tariff figure compensates for pain and suffering. It does not automatically include financial losses caused by the accident.
Travel costs, lost earnings, prescription charges, physiotherapy and other reasonable out-of-pocket expenses may be claimed separately where supported by evidence. These sit on top of the tariff — they are not absorbed by it.
If the insurer denies liability, they are required to provide written reasons. That decision is not final. You may respond with evidence — witness statements, photographs, dashcam footage, police reports — and the matter can proceed to the small claims court if the dispute cannot be resolved through the portal.
A denial at this stage is a position, not a verdict.
The OIC portal was specifically designed so that claimants can manage their own claim without legal representation. You are entitled to proceed alone, at every stage, without this affecting the validity of your claim.
Many people choose to use a solicitor — particularly where liability is disputed or the claim is complex — but it is a choice, not a requirement.
No stage of the OIC process requires you to make uninformed decisions. You are entitled to understand what is happening, what your options are, and what each decision means before you take it.
That is the founding purpose of this site. The information has always existed — it was simply never written for the person who needed it most.
Things worth knowing
before any decision
These are not rights — they are facts about how the process works. Claimants who know them make better decisions at every stage.
Once you accept a settlement offer and it is confirmed through the portal, the claim is closed. It cannot be reopened — even if your symptoms continue or return.
The most important question before accepting any offer is not whether the figure seems fair — it is whether your symptoms have fully resolved.
The prognosis period recorded in your medical report determines which tariff band applies — and therefore what your compensation is based on.
If the report understates how long you were affected, your offer will reflect that understatement. This is why reviewing the draft carefully before approval matters so much.
Insurers sometimes make contact — or even offer settlements — before a formal claim has been submitted or before medical evidence has been gathered.
Without an independent medical report, there is no objective basis for valuing the claim. Accepting an early offer almost always means accepting less than the process would otherwise produce.
In most cases, a claim must be started within three years of the date of the accident. For those who were under 18 at the time, the period runs from their 18th birthday.
Understanding your exact deadline removes false urgency. Use the Limitation Calculator to know precisely where you stand.
ClaimTalk provides general guidance only. Not legal advice. Not affiliated with the Official Injury Claim portal or any government body.