The Official Injury Claim portal is aimed to be as universal as possible for users, accessible on a range of devices. To have the best user experience for the portal, the minimum device requirements to access our service include: 

• Windows 7 devices 
• Windows 10 devices 
• Android Phones and Tablets (Samsung Galaxy S6 onwards) 
• Apple iPhone 7 onwards 
• iPad Mini 
• Apple iPad Pro 

The portal works best on the following web browsers and their latest versions: 

• Internet Explorer 11 
• Microsoft Edge (latest versions) 
• Google Chrome (latest versions) 
• Mozilla Firefox (latest versions) 
• Safari 12 and later 
• Safari for iOS 9.3 and later 
• Google Chrome for Android (latest versions) 
• Samsung Internet (latest versions) 

*This information is accurate as of June 2022* 

Official Injury Claim is free for you to use. If you have chosen to use a claims professional such as a solicitor or claims management company to make the claim on your behalf, they might charge you for their help. They must also explain the details of any charges. 

The vast majority of whiplash claims (neck, back and shoulder) and most other soft tissue injuries (such as cuts and bruises) will be valued at less than £5,000 and are suitable for Official Injury Claim.  

Additional losses, costs, and expenses (other than damages for injury) can also be claimed for up to a value of £5,000. 

If the amount you wish to claim for is more than £10,000 in total (£5,000 for your injuries, and £5,000 for your losses) then the Official Injury Claim portal is not suitable for you and you will need to follow a different route, and may benefit from seeking the advice of a legal adviser who can explain your options to you. 

You can find out more about the types of injuries and losses you can claim for through Official Injury Claim here. 

Remember: you may wish to seek further advice or guidance on the value of your claim. There are various sources of advice you could use. These include your own insurer or legal adviser, although you may need to pay for a legal adviser’s services. Your adviser will be able to guide you on whether you can recover any of your legal costs from the other party. 

Before you start your claim you should have the following available:  

• the first and last name of the driver responsible.  
• the registration number of the vehicle you feel is responsible for the accident and any other vehicles involved.  
• the registration number of the vehicle you were in or it's make, model and colour.  
• the name of any witnesses and, if available, their phone number, email and address. 
• if a bus passenger, and you feel the bus driver was at fault, you will require the first and last name of the bus driver, and the vehicle registration of the bus. 
• an estimate of the value of any losses or fees you would like to claim back.  
• your National Insurance number. 
• if the police attended the scene, the name and address of the police station, name of the reporting officer and Police Reference Number if available. 
• any supporting documentation to upload (for example receipts or reports). It's important to remember that you won't get any compensation for damages or losses that don't have any supporting documentation.  

Not all road traffic accidents.  

Official Injury Claim is for use if you were inside a vehicle as a driver or passenger and you feel another person is at fault. 

If you were involved in an accident as a cyclist, motorcyclist or a pedestrian, this service is not for you, you will need to seek advice.  

There are various sources of advice you could use. These include your own insurer or legal adviser, although you may need to pay for a legal adviser's services. Your adviser will be able to guide you on whether you can recover any of your legal costs from the other party.  

We have tried to make Official Injury Claim as easy to use as possible, and there are lots of materials to help you: 

• a ‘claim overview’ screen will keep you informed on your progress and lets you know what to do next.
• the ‘Key Information’ side bar explains difficult terms at each point of the claim process. 
• a ‘Guide to Making a Claim’ is available here. This explains some of the legal terminology used.  

There is also a dedicated Official Injury Claim customer contact centre you can call: 0800 118 1631. It is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. You can message the team here.

The Official Injury Claim website is available in English and Welsh language. Translation services are available for those who are unable to read English and Welsh in the top 10 most requested foreign languages. The customer contact centre will help. If you are unable to complete the process online call 0800 118 1631. 

There is no fixed time for completing your claim. The time it takes for your claim might depend on how quickly fault for the accident is established or agreed and how quickly you recover from your injury or injuries. Here is an idea of how long each stage may take:  

- start your claim - 20 to 30 minutes .

- investigations – Once a compensator has been identified and confirmed the compensator has up to 30 business days (6 weeks) to consider their position on fault for the accident although they may do this much more quickly.  

- medical - it might take a few weeks to organise your medical examination and receive a report. Most claims will only require one report, but some might need more which will take longer.  

- offer - once you are in a position to ask for an offer, the compensator has 20 business days (3 weeks) to make a first offer.  

- close claim - once you have agreed a final settlement, payment should be made within 10 business days (2 weeks).  

Official Injury Claim are not a legal service or compensator, and as such do not make any decisions on your claim, all decisions made on a claim are made by the compensator handling your claim.  

Official Injury Claim are unable to give advice on what actions should be made on a claim, as an unrepresented claimant this is up to yourself. 

The role of Official Injury Claim is to assist you if you have any difficulties in using the portal or any queries when using the portal during your claim journey and answer any questions you may have about the claims process.  

To use the service, you must make and manage your own claim. The Portal does not permit the submission of claims by McKenzie friends or personal representatives. As an alternative to making and managing your own claim, you may wish to seek the assistance of claims management companies or legal representatives who are authorised to submit a claim on your behalf. 

The Official Injury Claim portal is also compatible with screen readers and has a range of inclusion resources for those that require accessibility options when navigating through the portal and the claim journey. More information on the accessibility options which the portal is compatible with can be found here.

If the compensator does not accept liability for your claim, reasoning should be provided by the compensator why the claim was not accepted. You can challenge their decision through the portal. You can also attempt to contact the compensator through the portal messaging system prior to any resubmissions or you can seek independent legal advice. 

If you do not accept the compensator's offer, you can make a counter offer up to a maximum of three times.  

If you and the compensator cannot reach an agreement. you have the right and the choice to start legal proceedings. Any legal proceedings would take place outside this service. 

As part of the Official Injury Claim journey, you will need an appointment with an independent medical professional so they can assess your injury or injuries and write a medical report that the compensator will use as a basis for any injury compensation offer. 

Once a medical provider is selected through the portal, the medical appointment and booking will take place outside of the portal, either in person or remotely.  

If you live outside England and Wales, you will have to arrange and pay for your own medical report. This can be claimed back as a fee. For further information please refer to a “Guide to Making a Claim” here.  

Official Injury Claim does not handle the court process, it can only guide you through the process of putting together your court pack and selecting the relevant documentation, as well as what actions need to be taken on the portal to start court proceedings. 

Further information on the court process can be found here (see pages 44-50).

A claim can be withdrawn from the system by you by selecting the option to “Withdraw this claim” under “my other actions” on the claim overview page. If this option isn’t available, contact the compensator.  

If a duplicate claim is submitted by the same claimant for the same accident, one of the claims will need to be withdrawn, as you are unable to have two claims under your name for the same accident.