Personal injury claims in Glasgow
- Regulated by the Law Society of Scotland
- Free, with no obligation
- Email reply within 24 hours in office hours
Published by Rooney Family Law Limited, solicitors, regulated by the Law Society of Scotland. Last reviewed 20th September 2026.
If you were injured in Glasgow because someone else was careless, you may be able to claim compensation on a no win no fee basis, and you normally have three years to start a court action. Rooney Family Law Limited is a Scottish law firm with offices in Glasgow and across Scotland; we assess injury enquiries from our Hamilton head office and, with your consent, refer good claims to a specialist personal injury firm for its decision.
Straight answers first
We do not run injury cases ourselves. What we do is assess your enquiry honestly, at no cost, and refer it to a firm that does this work every day. You will be told which firm before anything is sent, and that firm decides whether to accept your case. Injury claims are mostly handled by email, telephone and video, and many people never need to visit a solicitor's office.
How a Glasgow claim runs, step by step
- Your account. You tell us what happened: at work, on the road, in a shop or on a pavement. We reply by email within 24 hours in office hours, ask the questions that matter, and tell you whether we think the claim is worth referring.
- The specialist firm decides. If it accepts your case it writes to whoever is responsible, or their insurer. For most claims up to £25,000 the insurer has 21 days to acknowledge and up to three months to say whether it accepts responsibility.
- Medical evidence. Your solicitor obtains your records from your general practitioner and, if you attended, the hospital. For most people in Glasgow that means NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, whether you were seen at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow Royal Infirmary or a minor injuries unit. An independent doctor then examines you, usually in Glasgow, and reports on the injury and how long it is likely to affect you.
- Settlement or court. Many claims settle by negotiation once the medical position is clear.
Which court, if it comes to that
Personal injury claims of £5,000 or less normally use summary cause procedure in the sheriff court, rather than the simple procedure used for other small claims. Larger claims are usually raised in the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court in Edinburgh, set up in 2015 to hear injury claims from anywhere in Scotland, where workplace claims of more than £1,000 can also go, or in Glasgow Sheriff Court. Claims above £100,000 can go to the Court of Session. Your solicitor will identify the right court and procedure. Raising an action does not mean a trial: most cases that go to court still settle before any hearing.
The most common Glasgow claims
Accidents at work in warehouses, distribution centres, construction sites, hospitals, care homes, shops and hospitality, which are among the city's largest employers. Road accidents on the M8, the M74 and the Clydeside Expressway, and in the city centre, where cars, buses, cyclists and pedestrians meet. Slips and trips on pavements, in supermarkets and in tenement common closes.
Two local points. A fall on a defective pavement or local road is usually a claim against Glasgow City Council as roads authority, and depends on showing the defect was there long enough that it should have been found and fixed; motorways and trunk roads such as the M8 are the responsibility of Transport Scotland's operating company instead. Injuries in a tenement close or stair may be claims against the owners jointly or the factor, and the title deeds decide which.
What it costs
Our assessment is free. If a specialist firm accepts your case it will decide whether to offer no win no fee funding. No success fee is payable if the claim fails, though the firm's written agreement explains any insurance premium and the circumstances in which other costs could arise. Ordinary outlays such as medical reports are not separately charged under a personal injury no win no fee agreement. If the claim succeeds the success fee, including VAT, is capped at 20 per cent of the first £100,000 of compensation. Since 30th June 2021 the law also protects injury claimants against paying the other side's legal costs if the claim fails, with the exceptions set out on our how we work and fees page. We receive a referral payment from the specialist firm, paid out of the fee that firm earns; under our agreement with the firm it must not increase the success fee charged to you. You pay us nothing.
Questions people ask
Is it better to use a Glasgow solicitor?
The court that hears most contested injury claims sits in Edinburgh and takes cases from all of Scotland, and most of the work is done by email and telephone, so location matters less than experience. Some of the firms we refer to have Glasgow offices; the firm will tell you.
I was injured in Glasgow but live elsewhere.
The claim is brought in Scotland, under Scottish law, wherever you live.
Can I claim for an assault?
Victims of violent crime can apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, which has its own rules and normally a two-year limit. Assaults at work may also give a claim against the employer. Tell us the circumstances.
Injured in Glasgow? Tell us what happened
We assess your enquiry free of charge and, with your consent, refer good claims to a specialist personal injury firm, which decides whether to take your case on. We receive a referral payment from that firm, paid out of the fee it earns; under our agreement it must not increase the success fee you are charged.
Sources for this page: Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014; Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, summary cause and simple procedure guidance; All-Scotland Sheriff Court (Sheriff Personal Injury Court) Order 2015; Act of Sederunt (Sheriff Court Rules Amendment) (Personal Injury Pre-Action Protocol) 2016; Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018, sections 6 and 8; Success Fee Agreements (Scotland) Regulations 2020; Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, section 17; Roads (Scotland) Act 1984; Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012.