Lorry & Truck Accident Claims

How much compensation you can expect from a lorry accident compensation claim depends on two things: how serious your injury is, and the financial impact it’s had on your life. Every case is assessed individually, so two people with a similar injury can end up with very different awards.

Lorry accident compensation in Scotland has two parts, and most people underestimate the second:

• General damages — compensation for the injury itself — the pain, the suffering, and the loss of amenity (the things you can no longer do or enjoy).

• Special damages — compensation for your financial losses — lost earnings and future loss of earnings, care costs, treatment and rehabilitation, and travel to appointments.

So the financial compensation covers far more than the injury on paper — it reflects the full knock-on effect on your life and your finances.

If you’re seriously injured and off work, the wait for a claim to conclude can be the hardest part — the bills don’t pause while you recover. Where liability is reasonably clear, interim payments may be possible: staged amounts paid before the claim is finalised, to ease the pressure. We’ll always check whether that’s an option.

Compensation for your injury is guided by published brackets for different injury types — but in Scotland there’s an important difference most national firms skip over:

Scottish courts are not bound by the Judicial College Guidelines. They’re written for the courts of England and Wales. In Scotland they’re persuasive, not prescriptive — a useful cross-check, but Scottish awards can and do differ, based on Scottish case law.

The whiplash tariff doesn’t apply here either. The fixed tariff under the Civil Liability Act 2018 applies in England and Wales only, so a Scottish whiplash claim is judged on its merits — not squeezed into an English table.

You generally have three years to make a lorry accident claim in Scotland, under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. The time limit usually runs from the date of the accident, or from when you realised your injury was linked to it. Exceptions apply for children and where mental capacity is affected, so it’s best to get advice early.

If you’re able to, take these steps after a lorry accident:

• Seek medical attention — for your health, and to create a medical record of your injuries.

• Report it — report it to the police (police reports are useful evidence) and note any emergency services that attended.

• Gather evidence — the lorry’s registration and company name, the driver’s and insurance details, witness statements, and photos of the accident scene.

• Keep records — keep your medical records and note your losses and expenses.

Missed something in the shock of it? That’s normal, and rarely detrimental to a claim.

Yes. Because of a lorry’s weight and force, the injuries sustained tend to be more serious than in most road accidents, and liability can involve multiple parties — the driver, operator, employer, manufacturer, or loading contractor — rather than the single other party in a typical car accident. That added complexity is why specialist handling matters.

There’s no fixed timescale. Straightforward claims can settle in a matter of months; serious-injury claims take longer, because it’s usually best to wait until your long-term prognosis is clear before settling. Timing also depends on whether the other side accepts responsibility.

In Scotland, close family members can usually bring a fatal accident claim — for the loss itself and for the financial support the person provided. Our fatal accident and bereavement team can guide you gently, whenever the time feels right.