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Everyone looks forward to their summer holidays – sun, relaxation and usually a healthy dose of alcohol! There aren’t many things that sound better to me personally.

However, while holidays abroad are all well and good, if something goes wrong and you are a long way from home, what can you do about it?

If you have booked a package holiday in the UK and have suffered an injury in your accommodation or in a place where the company that you booked with were looking after you then you may have a right to compensation through the Package Tour Regulations 1992.
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Last month the Government has been advised by the Transport Select Committed that there has been a rise in fatal deaths from road traffic accidents for people aged 18-25 years old. This has been the first increase of death in over 10 years and has therefore put the issue in the media.

Fatal road traffic accidents are the main killer amongst the 16-24 year old bracket. The rise of deaths has been shocking – an increase of 12% in pedestrians and a rise of 6% of cyclists and motorcyclists.

The rise in figures has been blamed on the current Government for scrapping the national targets and comments have gone so far as to say that the Government is not dealing with road safety as a top priority.  As a result of these comments the Government has announced that they will publish their road safety strategy later this year.
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The two words in the title of this blog are often used by insurance companies in personal injury claims; they can be seen as accusatory and are often misunderstood, and many people bringing a claim see them as two very big words.

Contributory Negligence is often used by insurers or Defendants (any person who a claim is brought against) in order to try and reduce the damages that they will have to pay to the innocent victim.

The way it works is that the Defendant will admit that they were at fault for the accident BUT allege that the Claimant (the injured person bringing the claim) was at least partly responsible for their injuries. To clear a common misunderstanding a Defendant cannot use this to say that the accident was the Claimants fault – there is no such thing as 100% Contributory Negligence. In fact the law was altered as long ago as 1945 to stop this happening.
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We all know how unpredictable life can be and that – especially with accidents – it is very difficult to know what is going to happen next. This doesn’t mean that we can’t try and prepare though and we should all take care to minimise the potential effects of any accident; this is especially true in the workplace.

If your job involves any type of risk to your health then your employer should issue you with items that will minimise the risks where possible – these items are known as Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE. Types of PPE include: Respirators, Protective Gloves, Protective Footwear, Goggles, Hi-visibility clothing and any other item designed to be worn or used for your health, safety and protection.

In cases where the risks to your health and safety cannot be adequately controlled through other measures then PPE becomes a legal requirement under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992. These regulations say that employers are responsible for providing, replacing and paying for personal protective equipment as well as training you in how to use it safely and effectively.
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In this blog I will attempt to explain the claims process for general personal injury claims. By general personal injury claims I mean tripping/slipping accidents (whether in a public place or in the supermarket for example), work accidents, injuries involving animals etc.

These are all accidents that come under the scope of the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims. Road traffic accidents do not initially come under this protocol and are processed in a different way and are subject to different time limits. Road traffic accidents come under the scope of the Road Traffic Accident Protocol.

However a case can “fall out” of the road traffic accident protocol (such as if the insurers fail to respond to the claim in time). If a road traffic accident claim falls out of the Road Traffic Accident Protocol then that claim continues under the Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims by default.
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Manual Handling and the techniques involved in moving loads from one place to another has become a mainstay in almost all companies’ health and safety folders. These are techniques designed to reduce the risk of employees injuring themselves and make everybody’s lives easier; but who has the responsibility when it comes to employees’ education in these techniques?

The answer can be found in the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. These say that under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 it is an employers’ responsibility to provide employees with the proper information and training on health and safety matters – this can look like quite a complicated statement as it contains a lot of different pieces of legislation but the message is the same – it is your employers responsibility to make sure that you know what you are doing at work when it comes to manual handling, and the best way to do it.

However, putting this into practice requires a two-way flow of information between you and your employer and means that both of you have roles to play in making sure that injuries are not suffered in the workplace.
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Back in the days before Health and Safety was invented a fall in the workplace due to a trailing cable or wet floor was probably met with a response of “pick your feet up” or “watch where you’re going” or sometimes even laughter.

Even now some employers try and adopt the culture that falling over isn’t so serious (some comedians even make a whole career out of it) but for employees on the receiving end of these accidents it is no laughing matter.

Slips and trips in the workplace can result in anything from bruises to serious injuries. The fact of the matter is that your employer has a responsibility to keep you safe at work and if they have failed to ensure that there are proper procedures to look after your safety then they are at fault.
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IMPORTANT: the advice in this blog is for general information only. Do not use this guide for confirming exactly when your limitation date is. You should speak to a qualified expert injury lawyer to confirm when the limitation to claim will expire.

When thinking about bringing a claim for personal injury the first thing on your mind may not be, “how long ago did this happen?”

However, personal injury claims in the UK are subject to strict time frames as outlined by the Limitation Act 1980. Failure to bring a claim within the time limits set out by this Act may mean that the only way around the rules is to get special permission from the courts – easier said than done!
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The legal duty of an employer is take reasonable care for the health and safety of employees and to reduce the possibility of accidents and injuries at work – including scaffolding accidents if you work with scaffolding.

In respect of scaffolding accidents, some of the main risks are if the scaffolding is on poor foundations, if boards are missing from the platform, or if boards are uneven or of poor quality etc. Of course there are many other risks with scaffolding and it is imperative that scaffolding is erected properly and safely.

The building industry has proven to be a dangerous environment for workers and for the general public. If you are the victim of a scaffolding accident then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.
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As insurance policies become more expensive, more drivers are likely to take to the road without insurance. Although I understand that sometimes the insurance is just too much to pay, what some of these drivers fail to realise is that uninsured drivers are one of the main culprits for pushing up insurance premiums in the first place – aside from the fact that it is illegal!

If more motorists are driving without insurance then surely that means more people will be involved in a Road Traffic Accident with an uninsured driver? The answer is yes – Here at The Injury Lawyers, we have seen an increase in the number of client’s coming to us to request advice about claiming for injuries they have sustained at the hand of an uninsured driver.

Most client’s do not believe you can make a claim for compensation against an uninsured driver –the great news is that you can.
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