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Air accident claims

Air accidents are thankfully few and far between, indeed statistics show a consistent decline in the number of crashes of any kind.  There has never been a safer time to fly.

Nonetheless, accidents do happen when you are travelling by plane.   Individuals can be injured as a result of being involved in an accident while on board an aircraft or while embarking or disembarking a plane.

Aviation law is a complex area but the Foreign & Travel Law Department at Digby Brown can provide expert advice in relation to aviation accidents.

If you have been injured in an accident on board an aircraft or, in certain situations, while embarking or disembarking from an airplane, you can claim compensation from the airline.

Air accident claims

Given the complexities in this area, successfully pursuing a claim requires the input of a Solicitor with specialist experience in this field.

Under the Montreal Convention an airline is liable to compensate an injured passenger, even without proof of fault on the part of the airline, up to a limit of approximately £90,000.

If it can be shown that the airline was at fault for the accident, it may be liable without financial limit.

What is the time limit?

It is important to note that time limits for making a claim after an air accident vary – the period for making a claim under the Montreal Convention is 2 years from the date of the airplane accident.

This is different from the 3 year time limit which applies to personal injury accidents in the UK.

Aviation expertise

At Digby Brown, we have acted for a number of clients in relation to aircraft accidents including the Air France Disaster and Super Puma Helicopter crashes in the North Sea. 

Digby Brown is today Scotland’s largest specialist personal injury practice with lawyers specialising in aviation law. We are top ranked for our work in personal injury by both leading independent guides to the profession, Chambers and Legal 500.

With offices in GlasgowEdinburghDundeeKirkcaldyInvernessAberdeen and Ayr we represent people across Scotland who have been injured in aviation accidents.

Funding your case

We are able to offer a complete no win no fee funding and insurance package through our  funding company, Compensate.

This arrangement means we can do everything needed to put our clients in the strongest possible position in complex cases involving international law such as aviation accidents.

No win no fee personal injury solicitors

The expression “No Win – No Fee” is often used in personal injury cases.  It is used as a way of funding a compensation claim where the accident victim does not have the means to pay for the costs involved as the case progresses. 

A number of solicitors are prepared to handle personal injury cases on a “No Win – No Fee” basis but very few are able to offer their clients complete protection if the case is unsuccessful. 

In that event, the client could end up being liable for many thousands of pounds in legal expenses or the case won't be fully investigated and therefore likely to under-settle.

Compensate 'no win no fee' funding

Digby Brown has its own funding company, Compensate, which provides the funding to allow the case to be fully investigated, employ the best experts surrounding the circumstances of the accident and/or injuries sustained and where and if necessary go to court.

If for whatever reason the case is unsuccessful, Compensate pays all your legal expenses and those of your opponent – you pay nothing

On average our clients receive over 3 times the pre-litigation offer

Because of Compensate funding Digby Brown's success rate is extremely high and on average our clients receive three times the pre-litigation offer.

In the event the case is successful, a small percentage of your damages will be deducted with VAT to pay for this service. The percentage which Compensate will charge depends on the degree of risk involved. We believe that this is the fairest method of giving clients access to justice whilst ensuring their cases are fully investigated, prepared and funded.

Don’t take our word for it, just read many of the court decisions and case studies on our website, or watch Joanne's story.

Beware of compensation offers which may be too good

We know you will have seen many adverts offering 100% compensation or telling you that you will not lose any of your compensation, however we believe there are a number of problems with companies that do this.

  • How do they make their money if they don’t charge you anything?
  • If they aren’t taking any money from you, the client, what incentive do they have to ensure you receive the right level of compensation, appropriate to the injuries you have sustained?
  • Fully preparing a case, finding out exactly what happened and what the consequences of your injuries may mean in the long term, is expensive, how do they do this properly?
  • If they aren’t fully preparing these cases will they just accept the first offer they are given on your behalf by the Insurance company?
  • It makes simple business sense, the less work they do the higher their profit margin is - they simply have no incentive to work harder on your behalf.
  • These adverts in the main are from English firms on national television which operates in a different way and therefore wouldn’t apply to a Scottish person.

We know from the many client cases we mandate from other firms of solicitors (in the main at the request of the client who is extremely unsatisfied with the service received for the other firm) that many shortcuts are taken in preparation and that the first offer received is being recommended for acceptance, regardless of the value. 

Getting something for nothing is usually the first sign of poor service.

Correct level of compensation with Digby Brown

Our experience and statistics show time and time again we will achieve the correct level of compensation which will be substantially more than the insurer is initially prepared to offer.

Even after we have deducted our percentage as a success fee you will gain considerably more than you would have achieved using a 100% compensation model.

Contact Digby Brown's personal injury solicitors

We have offices across Scotland in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Inverness, Aberdeen and Ayr.

For further information about no win no fee, or anything else, call us on 0333 200 5925 or fill in our enquiry form below and someone will get back in touch with you.

0333 200 5926

Monday to Friday: 8am - 8pm 
Saturday and Sunday: 12pm - 4pm

(Please note, local rate, even from mobile)

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Complete our enquiry form and we will strive to reply within 24 hours

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Enquiry Form

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