Deciding if a claim should fall into the process dealing with personal injury claims in road traffic accidents valued between £1,000 and £10,000 will be determined by the level of general damages and special damages claimed (excluding damage to the vehicle and hire costs).
If you wish to make a claim for a road traffic accident, detailed information is available within the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claim in Road Traffic Accidents
Pre-Action Protocol

Litigants in person

The pre-action protocol will require you to make the first offer to settle the claim by assessing how much you believe that your claim is worth and negotiating with the defendant’s insurance company.

You are advised to seek independent legal advice before undertaking this process.

The process

Stage 1 requires the claimant or claimant’s solicitor to gather information about the accident and complete the Claim Notification Form to be sent electronically to the insurer to admit or deny liability. A similar but separate Defendant only Form will be completed by the claimant or claimant solicitor and sent by first class post to the defendant at the same time or as soon as practicable after the Claim Notification Form is sent.

Stage 2 involves the claimant or claimant’s solicitor obtaining a medical report Medical Report Form, preparing a Stage 2 Settlement Pack Form and sending this electronically to the insurer.  An interim payment can also be requested using the Interim Settlement Pack Form A period of negotiation will take place and where settlement is not reached the claimant or claimant’s solicitor will complete a Court Proceedings Pack Form (Part A and B) and send it to the defendant to check. This will then be submitted to the court once the claimant issues proceedings.

Stage 3 will be for the court to determine to level of damages to be awarded. The claimant applies to the court to determine the amount of damages by following the procedure set out in Practice Direction 8B of the Civil Procedure Rules. The defendant must file an acknowledgement of service using Form N210B. Form N209A Notice of Issue will be sent by the court to the claimant or claimant solicitor as appropriate.