Personal injury claims can be quite confusing so it is always best to use a personal injury solicitor or lawyer, who will know exactly how conduct personal injury claims and what settlement compensation you are entitled to.

If you have had an incident and sustained personal injury within the last three years which was caused through no fault of your own, you may be able to use your basic homeowners insurance policy to fund the cost of instructing a personal injury lawyer to bring claim for compensation.

There are many different types of personal injury, for example, slip or trip claims, accidents whilst on holiday, assaults or even injuries which occur as a result of an industrial accident to name just a few.

The normal time limit for making personal injury claims is three years from the date of the incident although there are some exceptions to this.

It is important to preserve any evidence or information which may be used to support your personal injury claim.  Here is a short list of some things you should think about doing if you have recently suffered a personal injury.  This list is not exhaustive and depending on the circumstances there may be much more information to gather.

•    It is useful if you are able to keep a diary of the events surrounding the incident.  (i.e. exactly what happened, the date, place and time, what happened straight after the incident, medical treatment provided with and so on.)
•    Make sure you record the names and addresses of any witnesses.
•    Keep a note of the details of who was responsible for your accident.
•    Obtain photographs of the area in which your incident occurred.
•    Keep list of all the expenses you have incurred as a result of the incident (i.e. taxi fares, loss of earnings and so on.)
•    Be certain to record the incident in any available incident book.

Most people may not be aware that even cheap homeowners insurance will usually have legal expenses insurance attached to it.  The amount of legal expenses cover varies depending on the policy. If you are unsure as to the exact amount you can easily check by contacting your insurer or if you have a copy of your insurance schedule it should state the amount on there.

Legal expenses insurance is not always automatically attached to a basic or cheap homeowners insurance policy.  Again if you either contact your insurer or check your policy schedule you will be able to ascertain whether you do in fact have legal expenses cover or not.

Once you have discovered that you do have potential legal expenses cover you will need to telephone the provider and request a claim form.  It is worth noting that the legal expenses provider is normally a different company to your insurance company.  You will find details of how to lodge a claim for personal injury and who to contact in your homeowners policy.

The claim form itself is normally very straightforward and requires some personal information, such as your name and address.  It will also ask for details of the events surrounding your personal injury claim.

It is normally a good idea to provide copies of any witness statements and photographs together with any other evidence you may have available. Once you have completed your claim form you need to send it to your legal expenses provider and not your homeowners insurer.

If your claim is considered to have merit the legal expenses company will appoint or discuss with you, a personal injury lawyer to pursue your personal injury claim for compensation.