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What do we mean when we say GENUINE lawyer? Surely anyone saying they are a personal injury firm must be one? Unfortunately not!

There are certain companies out there that simply gather claims and direct them to actual law firms for a price. These companies are known as Case Management Companies or claims farmers. Ensuring you have a genuine personal injury lawyer running your case is extremely important for 2 main reasons:

1. The service level you will receive
2. The settlement you may receive.

Basically, by going through a Claims Management Company, rather than instructing your own solicitor can affect both of these things and unfortunately in a negative way.
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To people who do not work in law, contributory negligence may be a challenging term to explain. Basically contributory negligence is an element of blame or fault. It is probably best explained by use of examples. Contributory negligence is important as it can greatly affect the compensation that you are entitled to.

The example I will use is actually for a work accident claim situation; but commonly this is something that is applied to motorcyclists or cyclists who do not wear a helmet. Essentially the same rule of thumb below can apply to motorcyclists / cyclists not wearing a helmet as well.

Say you are injured in an accident at work whereby a piece of metal falls from a ledge and hits you on the head. It is later discovered that this piece of metal should not have been left where it was. It should not have been left in a position whereby it could fall and injure and employee. However at the time of the accident you were not wearing your safety hat that had been provided by your employer, despite being in an area where it is compulsory to wear the safety hat. In this situation, you may be entitled to recover compensation but it is likely that you will be partly at fault (partly contributory negligent).
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Being hit by a falling object is more something you see on a traditional English slapstick comedy – but it does happen in the real world. There is a duty in certain circumstances which means you may have a claim for personal injury compensation if you are unfortunate enough to be hit by a falling object.

When you’re out and about and a fixture or fitting from a building falls on you, there is a duty on whoever owns or is responsible for that building to compensate you if there is blame on their part. Acts of God as they are often referred to in injury law, like the one that took my chimney off in the earthquakes a few years ago in Hull that got me my 15 minutes of fame as I was interviewed by the BBC about the whole saga, are not so easy to claim for. That, or perhaps a lightning bolt or a tornado or something similar that causes something to fall and hit you is not necessarily the fault of the person who owns or is responsible for the building. There’s not a great deal anyone can really do to control the weather! By the way, in case you were wondering, I wasn’t hit by the chimney – hence why I’m alive today writing this blog!
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With the inclimate weather we have been having recently (Flooding, snowing, black ice!)  it’s not surprising that there has been a lot of damage to the roads and the high street. Potholes caused by the heavy rains washing loose tarmac away and freezing water creating hazardous cracks as it expands can unfortunately lead to a rise in holes and a rise in accidents. So what is the procedure for pursuing a claim if you have been unfortunate enough to suffer an injury because of a trip, slip or fall?

Firstly, it is important to make clear that these types of claims can be quite difficult and therefore it is important that you seek the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer with extensive experience in the area.

If you are seeking to pursue a claim against the council there are a few things that you will have to do to ensure you have higher prospects of being successful. This is because the council can only be expected to have taken “reasonable steps” to ensure the safety of the area. This means that if they can show that they have maintenance regimes in place that ensure the area is checked to be safe at regular intervals, your claim may be difficult to pursue. This is simply because it would be unreasonable to expect the council to be able to know whenever any new defect is created immediately. For example: If the heavy floods create a hazard by washing tarmac away on the Monday and you have your accident on the Tuesday- is it reasonable to expect the council to have even known about the defect let alone fix it?
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Knee injuries – sometimes they can be like Marmite in the fact that you either get away with a minor strain or you end up needing surgery! The knee joint and the surrounding area is a complex structure of ligaments, muscle, cartilage and bone that can easily be pulled, torn, or worse of all, ruptured.

If you’re lucky enough to pull or strain something, you’re probably facing a few weeks or months of pain and possible limping, but overall you should be fine. If you tear something, it may require surgery; if you rupture something, you’ll pretty much defiantly be on the operating table and facing 8 or so weeks none weight baring and consequently needing months of physiotherapy to rebuild the strength of your leg and knee joint.

That’s why it is important to get the right lawyer for a claim for compensation. The brackets for awards can vary considerably given the huge difference between a comparatively simple strain and needing reconstructive surgery following a ligament rupture. The knock on effect from that is probably a great deal of time off work with possible lost earnings, needing a lot of care and assistance from family and friends (which can be claimed back at an hourly rate for the carer as part of a case), and a lot of misery and boredom!
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Accidents in sports centres are more common than most people realise. Unless you work in a law firm you probably do not realise the amount of accidents and enquiries that we receive to do with sports centres. Accidents in sports centres (and in particular at the gym) are fairly common. Perhaps one of the main reasons for the increase in accidents is the increase in people attending the gym.

It is the responsibility of the owners of gyms and leisure centres to ensure that the premises are safe for the public to use and to eliminate any potential risks. The owners leave themselves open to personal injury claims if they do not provide a safe environment for the public.

Gym injuries could occur for a variety of reasons. There are the obvious accidents such as people slipping on a wet floor or tripping over mats or equipment. Injuries can occur through use of gym equipment especially if the person was not given any instruction on how to use certain equipment. When you start at a gym, if you are not familiar with the equipment, then you should be given a formal induction whereby you are shown how to use all the facilities in a safe and proper manner. Most gyms will insist on a mandatory induction even if you have used previous gyms in the past. If you are lifting weights for example, you can easily sustain injury if you do not use the correct procedure or technique.
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Compensation is based upon the severity of your injuries and how long the injuries will affect your everyday life. As such, there is not really such a thing as a “standard” payout for any particular injury as everyone can be affected differently.

In law the defendant has to take the claimant as they find them – for example if your injury is an exacerbation of an existing injury this doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to claim as, of-course, if it wasn’t for the injury, your condition would not have been aggravated!

So how is a payout assessed? Well, put simply a payout is always assessed on the particular facts of each individual case. There is no such thing as one payout for this injury and another for something else – each case will have its own individual payout.
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The economic climate does have an impact on compensation claims and this area has been covered in the news on many occasions. Some say that work accident compensation claims are becoming more frequent due to the economic climate.

The argument is that, as businesses look for bigger profits, they will often leave their employees with greater exposure to health and safety risks. Another point is that people may be more inclined to bring a claim for compensation if they sustain injury. If the economy was better and people were more content with the money they were earning, it could be said that they would be less likely to bring a compensation claim.

Obviously if you sustain injury at work for example, then it is your right to bring a compensation claim. Whether you exercise the right to claim is entirely a personal choice.
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Being involved in any road traffic accident can cause stress, anger and inconvenience no matter how minor the accident may be. But being involved in an accident with a stolen uninsured vehicle makes the situation even worse.

I imagine being involved in a collision with a stolen vehicle is not a pleasant experience for anyone. There is the constant worry and concern about what you will do. Well to put your mind at rest, there is still action that you can take if you have been involved in a collision with a stolen uninsured vehicle.
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With a whiplash injury, you can often be left with limited movement which means that a lot of the time you have to have time off work. This is usually a few weeks until the acute stage of your injury has settled down.

However, for some, the whiplash injury can be more serious and result in a long time off work. Whiplash injuries vary from mild, to moderate, and severe; and they can affect people in very different ways.

Most whiplash sufferers are able to manage to go to work after a couple of weeks though the use of painkillers, heat rubs and heat pads etc but some are left debilitated and will need therapy, injections and sometimes even surgery in order to help them on their way to recovery. Therefore a longer period of time away from work is necessary.
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