Your free initial call

We ask what happened, when, what injuries you suffered, and where things stand with the insurers. No paperwork, no obligation, no cost. By the end of the call you will know whether you have a claim worth pursuing. If you do not, we will say so.

Who you will actually speak to

You are told at the outset who is running your file and how to reach them directly. You will not be passed between handlers or asked to explain your accident again every time you call. We update you when something moves, and we tell you when nothing has. That second part is what clients say they never got elsewhere.

What we need from you

Less than you would think. Your account of the accident, the other driver’s insurance details and contact details if you have them, and access to your medical records. We handle the insurance company, gather the evidence and arrange your medical examination. If you are reading this days after a crash, our road traffic accident claims page sets out what to keep from the scene.

How long your claim will take

An honest answer, because vague reassurance helps nobody.Straightforward claims for minor injuries where liability is admitted: four to nine monthsClaims involving broken bones or a longer recovery: twelve to eighteen months, because we cannot value the claim until your prognosis is clearSerious injury claims: longer, and we hold off settling deliberately until the long term picture is knownDisputed liability or court proceedings add time. We will tell you when that becomes likely, not after the fact

What it costs you - No Win No Fee claim

We work on a no win no fee basis. No upfront legal fees, and nothing to pay if your claim is unsuccessful. If it succeeds, a success fee comes out of your compensation, and we agree the percentage with you in writing before any work starts. No hidden costs and no surprises. We will also spell out the narrow circumstances in which costs could arise, such as ending the agreement and then pursuing the same claim through another firm.

Treatment while your claim runs

Recovery matters more than the claim. Where it helps, we can arrange specialist doctors, physiotherapy and psychological support while the claim is running, instead of leaving you on a waiting list. Early treatment is better for you, and it produces the medical evidence your claim depends on.

Can I change solicitor part way through my claim?

Yes, at any point before your claim settles. Your file transfers to us and the claim continues from where it reached. You do not need your current firm’s permission, and moving does not affect your time limit.

Will making a claim increase my insurance premium?

Your premium responds to the accident being recorded, not to whether you claim for your injuries. Your insurer knows about the collision as soon as you report it. Where the other driver was at fault and their insurer meets the cost, the effect is usually smaller than people fear.

Do I need my own solicitor if the other party admits liability?

Admitting fault settles who pays, not how much. The figure is still negotiated, and it is still calculated by the insurer paying it. That is the stage where representation makes the most difference.

Will I have to go to court?

Most claims settle without a hearing. Court proceedings are sometimes raised to apply pressure or protect the time limit, and even then the case usually resolves before it is heard. If a hearing becomes likely, we will tell you well in advance and prepare you for it.

What if I have already accepted an offer from the insurance company?

Settlement is normally final, but it depends what you agreed and what you signed. Tell us what happened and we will tell you whether anything can be done. Do not assume the door is shut without checking.

Can I claim if the other driver was uninsured or drove off?

Yes. Claims involving uninsured drivers, and drivers who cannot be traced, go through the Motor Insurers Bureau. The accident has to have been reported to the police, so do that as soon as you can. The process differs from a standard claim and we will guide you through it.

Can I claim on behalf of someone else?

Yes. A parent or guardian can claim for an injured child, and a family member can act where an injured person lacks the mental capacity to run a claim. Different time limits apply in both cases, so ask early.

How long do I have to make a claim in Scotland?

Three years from the date of the accident, or from the date you became aware of your injuries, under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. Children have three years from their sixteenth birthday. Our road traffic accident claims page explains the exceptions in full.

Are lower value claims dealt with differently in Scotland?

Yes, and this is where English guidance misleads people. Scotland uses simple procedure for lower value actions rather than the small claims track. The Official Injury Claim portal used in England and Wales does not apply here at all.

Road Traffic Accident Solicitors in Scotland

If an insurance company has already put you in touch with a solicitor you did not choose, you do not have to stay with them. Choosing your own road traffic accident solicitors is your decision, and it can change what your claim is worth.

Do you have to use the solicitor your insurance company recommends?

No. The choice is yours. You can instruct any firm to run your road traffic accident claim, whether or not your insurer has suggested someone, and whether or not a claim has already been started. Holding legal expenses insurance does not change that. Cover does not oblige you to accept the personal injury solicitors your insurer nominates.

When you report a car crash, your insurer often passes your details to a firm on its panel. Those arrangements are commercial. Claims are referred on for a fee, so the firm now holding your file was chosen by your insurance company, not by you, and may sit hundreds of miles from where the accident happened.

That distance matters more in Scotland than most law firms admit. Road traffic accident claims here are raised in the Sheriff Court or the Court of Session, run under the compulsory Scottish pre-action protocol, and decided under Scottish law. A firm built around claims in England and Wales is working to a different system.

Moving your claim to us

You can change solicitor at any point before your claim settles, including after it has been intimated. Your file transfers, the work already done is accounted for, and the claim carries on.

You do not need a reason, and you do not need to justify it to your insurer
Moving does not restart your claim or affect the three year time limit
If you are unsure whether it is worth it, tell us where the claim has reached and we will tell you honestly

Road Traffic Accident Solicitors

At Jones Whyte, our experienced Personal Injury Solicitors pride themselves on responding quickly, resolving your needs and providing you with ongoing help and support.

Find your Lawyer

Michael McLean

Partner and Solicitor Advocate

Greg Whyte

Managing Partner

Speak to our road traffic accident solicitors

Book a free initial call. Fifteen minutes, no paperwork, no obligation, no cost. You will come off the call knowing whether you have a claim, roughly what it may be worth, and what happens next.

0141 674 4359

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Our Fee Structure

Success Fee: If your claim is successful, our success fee is charged as a percentage of compensation awarded to you. This fee covers our legal services and includes the cost of After the Event (ATE) insurance to protect you against having to pay the other side’s costs if your claim is unsuccessful.

No Win, No Fee Explained: You will not pay any legal fees if your claim is unsuccessful. However, if we secure compensation for you, our success fee will be deducted from your compensation award before payment to you.

When You Might Be Liable for Costs:

If you choose to terminate your agreement with us but later succeed with your claim through other means, such as through another firm of solicitors, you may be liable for the cost of the work we have completed on your behalf.
In other exceptional circumstances as detailed in our instruction agreement and terms of business, such as if you have misled us or falsely represented part of your claim.

These terms will be fully outlined in your instruction agreement and Terms of Business with us, and are available for you to review before you make any binding commitment. You are under no obligation to these terms by making an initial enquiry.

What a road traffic accident solicitor does that you cannot do yourself

You can deal with the other driver’s insurer yourself. Most people who do settle for less than their claim was worth, because a personal injury claim is valued on evidence they have no way to gather or test. Four things decide the outcome, and all four sit outside what an injured person can do alone.

Proving the other driver was at fault

Where the other party admits liability, the claim moves quickly. Where they do not, it turns on witness statements, dashcam footage, police reports, vehicle damage and inspection of the locus. Insurers dispute liability far more often than people expect, particularly in cycling accidents and pedestrian accident claims where nobody independent saw what happened.

Getting the medical evidence your claim is valued on

Your claim is valued on medical reports, not on how you describe your symptoms. That means an independent medical examination with a specialist in the injuries sustained, and sometimes a second where a road accident has caused psychological harm as well as physical. Anxiety about driving after a car accident is a recognised injury. Claims handled without a solicitor routinely miss it.

Counting the losses that come later

People undervalue the future, not the present. Earnings you will lose, treatment you will still need, help you will rely on at home. This is where the gap between a quick settlement and a properly evidenced one is widest, and it is the part an insurer will never calculate for you.

Negotiating, and going to court if we have to

The insurance company negotiating against you does this every day. Most road traffic accident claims settle without a hearing, but court proceedings are sometimes the only way to move a defender who will not offer a fair figure. Being ready to raise proceedings changes what gets offered long before you need them.

Why the insurance company’s first offer is usually low

An early offer costs an insurer less than an investigated claim. It arrives before your medical reports exist, often before you know how long recovery will take, and it is calculated on what you are likely to accept rather than what your claim is worth. Accepting closes the claim for good.

If your injuries turn out worse than expected, or you are off work longer than anyone predicted, you cannot go back for more.

An offer made before a medical report exists cannot be an informed one
Early offers rarely include future loss of earnings, private medical treatment, or care given by a family member
If you have received an offer, take advice before accepting. If you have already accepted, tell us anyway, because it depends what you signed

To judge any offer, you need a sense of what the claim is actually worth.

How much compensation could you receive for a road traffic accident?

Nobody can give you a figure without seeing the medical evidence, and any firm that does is guessing. What we can give you is the framework the courts use, so you can measure an offer against something real. Compensation comes in two parts: the injury itself, and the money the accident has cost you.

What your injuries are worth

These brackets come from the Judicial College Guidelines, adjusted for Scotland. Scottish courts are not bound by them. They are guidance and a sense check, not a promise.

Neck injury, full recovery within three months: up to £2,950
Neck injury, full recovery within one to two years: £5,230 to £9,470
Neck injury with protracted recovery and lasting nuisance symptoms: £9,470 to £16,500
Back injury, full recovery between three months and a year: £2,950 to £5,230
Back injury recovering without surgery over two to five years: £9,470 to £15,020
Shoulder injury with symptoms persisting beyond two years: £9,470 to £15,330
Fractured collarbone, depending on displacement and residual symptoms: £6,180 to £14,700
Severe back injury leaving continuing pain and disability after surgery: £46,570 to £83,750

Life changing injuries such as brain or spinal cord damage run far beyond these brackets, and are assessed alongside a full account of future care and adaptation costs.

One point specific to Scotland is worth knowing. The fixed whiplash tariff introduced by the Civil Liability Act 2018 applies in England and Wales only. If you have been reading tariff figures for whiplash claims, they do not govern your claim. Neither does the small claims track or the Official Injury Claim portal, which do not exist here.

What else you can claim back

Financial losses are calculated separately and added to the injury award. They are often the larger figure.

Lost earnings, and future earnings where you cannot return to the same work
Private medical treatment, physiotherapy and psychological support
Care and assistance, including help given unpaid by a family member
Travel to appointments, prescriptions, equipment, and adaptations to your home or vehicle
Your policy excess, replacement vehicle costs, and damaged clothing, helmet or bicycle

Money before your claim settles

Where the other party admits liability but the final figure is still being argued, we can often secure interim payments. They matter most when your income has stopped and treatment cannot wait. Interim payments come out of your eventual settlement rather than on top of it.

What happens after you get in touch

The solicitors who will run your claim

Jones Whyte is a Scottish firm. We started in Glasgow in 2013, we now have more than 240 people, and we work from offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness. Our road traffic accident lawyers run Scottish claims under Scottish law, in Scottish courts.

Our personal injury team, led by Michael McLean, Partner and Solicitor Advocate, includes solicitors accredited by the Law Society of Scotland. Our firm belongs to the Motor Accident Solicitors Society, the national body for solicitors specialising in road traffic accident claims.

We are rated 4.8 on Trustpilot across 2,600+ reviews. The theme clients return to is not the settlement figure. It is being believed, and being kept informed.

Types of road traffic accident we handle

The principle is the same whatever kind of traffic accident you were involved in. If you suffered injuries because of someone else’s negligence on the road, you can claim compensation.

Car accident claims, for drivers and passengers
Motorcycle accidents
Cycling accidents
Pedestrian accident claims
Bus, van, lorry and truck accidents
Public transport accidents
Whiplash claims
Uninsured drivers and untraced drivers, pursued through the Motor Insurers Bureau
Fatal road accident claims

Frequently Asked Questions

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