Medical negligence claims vs personal injury claims

Need to make a healthcare related claim but not sure what type of claim you should be making? You generally have two options when looking to make a medical claim. These include medical negligence and personal injury claims.

In order to receive justice, it’s important to ensure you are making the right type of claim. Here, you will discover a brief overview of each type of claim and how they are dealt with in court.

What is a medical negligence claim?

A medical negligence claim applies when you or a loved one has received negligent care at the doctors, health clinic or hospital. It could be that you’ve experienced damage or loss because of the care you received. It could relate to both physical damages or psychological damages if being treated within the mental health setting.

What is a personal injury claim?

With personal injury claims, you’ll be suing any type of company or individual for an accident you experienced. It could be a slip or fall or shelving which wasn’t installed correctly which fell and caused injury. Or, you could have been a passenger in a car when you experienced an accident. These types of accidents can happen anywhere and don’t involve damages or loss specifically within the medical setting. They also tend to be very black and white in terms of blame.

How the two differ in court

With both clinical negligence and personal injury claims, you need to be able to prove that the person or company you are suing, caused your injury or damages. Personal injury claims tend to be straight forward, whereas medical negligence claims can be complex. If the medical professional can show that they did what ought to be done, it can dismiss the entire case.

For this reason, you’ll typically need a much more experienced and specialised lawyer for a medical negligence claim. Although it is also worth noting that the majority of medical negligence cases get settled before they even reach the courts. That being said, a good lawyer can help you get the best settlement deal if you can prove any wrongdoing.

As you can see, there are clear differences between personal injury claims and medical negligence claims. The above are some of the main differences and how they differ in the courts. Remember, it is crucial you get yourself a good lawyer, particularly if you are filing a medical negligence claim.