Only a quarter of people who have suffered a personal injury are likely to claim, a new study has revealed. A poll by YouGov found the proportion of injury victims willing to claim had fallen since 2013, when it stood at 29%.

Just over a third (35%) who had had an accident or illness, decided not to claim as they did not believe their ailment was bad enough to warrant compensation. A further 22% said they do not believe in claiming compensation and 9% believed their case was not strong enough to win.

The results are based on a survey of 2,212 adults carried out in April, one year after the implementation of the Jackson reforms on personal injury claims.

Around two-thirds of people (67%) said they had been approached or contacted by personal injury companies in the past year – a 5% rise on 2013.

Unsolicited phone calls are now the most common way for PI companies to make contact, with 47% of people polled saying they had received a call in 2013 – a yearly rise of 7%. This was in contrast to the proportion of people reporting unsolicited text messages or emails, which dropped by around 5%.

Of those contacted who made a claim, 13% had originally decided not to but were persuaded to change their mind. Around a third (36%) ignored the marketing and opted against making any claim.

Tom Rees, research manager at YouGov, said it was too early to say whether the Jackson reforms had made a difference to the number of people making claims.

However, he said that subtle changes have occurred over the past two years that show how the personal injury landscape is evolving. ‘While there are fewer claims being made, the level of contact from personal injury companies has been pretty steady.

‘The type of contact is changing, though, with fewer people receiving unsolicited texts and emails but more being cold-called. Direct approaches do seem to be working, however, with a notable number of people choosing to pursue a claim after contact from a personal injury company.’