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Had an accident in a taxi? Perhaps you were being taken to work, or dropped off after a good night out on the town, and you’ve ended up in a crash! Well, you may not know that as a passenger, you more than likely have a successful claim for compensation – so here’s why.

Road traffic accidents are straight forward enough; normally it’s relatively simple to establish which of the vehicles involved was responsible for the accident. If someone drives in to the rear of your car – they’re at fault. If someone pulls out of a side road and hits your car – they’re at fault. But as a passenger, there is normally very little you can do to contribute to prevent an accident – and in the vast majority of cases, you are an innocent party!
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Accidents happen on a daily basis and are often unpredictable. If an accident occurred when you were travelling on a train and the accident was in no way your fault, you may have a potential claim for compensation. In the eyes of the law, passengers are seen as innocent parties as usually they have not contributed to the accident.

If you or a family member has been involved in an accident on a train line, first of all it would be very useful for the accident details to be recorded. For example: try to record the time and location of the accident and also the circumstances of the accident. In all accident situations it is always advisable to attend hospital or visit your GP no matter how minor your injuries may seem. This also means that a log of details will be kept on your medical records which could prove to be very useful should you choose to pursue a claim for compensation.

It is advisable to place a complaint with the train company so that the circumstances of the event can be investigated and hopefully prevented from occurring again. It also provides a record for the insurers to investigate.
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Have you ever been to a beauty salon or hairdressers expecting to receive a professional treatment but actually the results you got were very different from what you thought you would receive? If you have been harmed in any way i.e. you have been burnt, you have had a chemical reaction etc.. you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation. You should not have to suffer at the expense of someone else’s mistake or unprofessionalism.

All beauty salons should have insurance which covers them for any type of accident that may occur; if something has gone wrong when you have had a treatment, this insurance policy should cover you for any loss or injury you may have sustained.

Depending on the severity of your injury you may be entitled to a sum of compensation. Always seek medical advice first of all – this will provide evidence that you have sustained an injury and it may later be relied upon. It’s a good idea to record in your own words exactly what happened; that way if you choose to pursue your claim you will have all the details to hand and there will be no risk of forgetting any of the events. Try to take some photographs to show the extent of your injury. Again, the photographs can be very useful evidence as the extent of your injury will be easier to assess.
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It has been released recently that NHS hospitals could face financial penalties if a patient is readmitted as an emergency within thirty days of leaving hospital. These changes have been unveiled by the new Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley. Hospitals will receive payment for initial treatment but not for any related problems if the patient is brought back within 30 days, sources from the BBC have confirmed ( source). This seems to be in an attempt to stop patients from being released from hospital early in an attempt to free beds, as figures show that between 1998 – 99 and 2007 – 08 readmissions increased from 359,719 to 546.354.

If you have ever felt that you have been negligently treated by an NHS hospital, you could potentially have a claim for compensation. Depending on the circumstances of the incident, you may be entitled to claim for an amount for any suffering caused by a hospitals negligence. Hospitals have certain procedures that are in place to ensure that the patient is given adequate care and treatment. If something has happened to you because a member of the NHS hasn’t completed their job properly, they are negligent, and you are within your rights to pursue a claim against them.
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If you have recently been involved in a taxi accident you might be entitled to make a claim for compensation. This is because as a passenger in a taxi, it’s most unlikely that you did anything to cause the accident and so you are seen in the eyes of the law as an innocent party.

Thousands of people use taxi’s everyday and although most taxi drivers are experienced, accidents still happen. Most taxi accidents involve one or more passenger who may have sustained injuries.

At the scene of the accident, if possible, you should: Take details from the taxi driver – his/her name, the name of the firm he/ she works for, their registration number, and their vehicle registration number. Take the names and vehicle registration numbers of any other parties involved. Take names and addresses of any witnesses. Try to sketch a drawing of the scene of the accident or take photographs if possible. All this information will be very useful for the police and also if you choose to make a claim for compensation. It is easy to forget things like the positions of the vehicles and this can be crucial when determining liability so photographs are an excellent source of evidence.
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Dog attacks can be unprovoked incidents that can be extremely traumatic both physically and psychologically. If you or your child has suffered injuries as a result of a dog bite, you could be entitled to claim for compensation with the help of a personal injury solicitor.

Dogs can often attack when they are frightened or feel threatened; after all, they are animals and their behaviour can be hard to predict. If you wish to pursue a claim because you have been bitten by a dog, it would be most advisable for you to seek the help of an independent firm of personal injury solicitors. This is because they will seek to recover the maximum compensation for you – only the experts will never charge you for their work under a genuine no win no fee agreement.
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Every year thousands of people are injured when they are involved in road traffic accidents with uninsured drivers, or worse, drivers that are untraceable because they don’t stop at the scene of the accident. Uninsured and untraced drivers cause many problems to normal law abiding road users, such as the loss of their no claims bonus and increased insurance premiums, and to many, particularly in today’s financial climate, this can put them under a lot of financial pressure.

So what happens if you are involved in an accident with an uninsured or untraced driver? What can you do? Well, first of all do not despair because you can claim back compensation through the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB). The MIB is a non-profit making organisation set up and funded by all motor insurance companies and the UK Government to compensate victims of uninsured and untraced drivers for injuries and financial losses sustained as a result of an accident. The MIB typically deal with around 50,000 claims every year involving untraced or uninsured drivers.
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If you have had an accident at work that wasn’t your fault, you may have a potential claim for compensation. This is because whilst you are at work, your employer had a duty of care to ensure that you are not exposed to dangerous working conditions. There should be health and safety measures in place to stop a work related accident from happening.

If you are unsure if you have a valid claim, we suggest you try speaking to an independent firm of personal injury solicitors. A personal Injury solicitor will be able to assess your situation and advise you accordingly as to whether you have a successful claim or not.
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Acute appendicitis is sudden inflammation of the appendix, usually caused by an obstruction. It is the most common cause of acute abdominal pain in the UK, meaning that about 10% of the population will develop appendicitis at some point – most commonly between the ages of 10-20. If it is not suspected, or diagnosed promptly, it can rupture and cause a severe, life threatening infection. For this reason, it should always be at the front of any physician or surgeon’s mind.

In one recent case, a patient was admitted to an A+E department with a short history of diarrhoea and vomiting. He was promptly and thoroughly assessed and was diagnosed as having a case of gastroenteritis, with the warning that if his symptoms deteriorated, he should seek further medical advice.

Unfortunately, by the next day, the patient’s symptoms had worsened and he was feeling feverish and had developed severe abdominal pain. When he saw his GP, and informed him of the diagnosis, the doctor was falsely reassured by the previous findings and recommended analgesia and to drink more fluids. A urine test showed blood which may have indicated a urinary tract infection, so antibiotics were also prescribed. At no point did the doctor repeat the abdominal exam which may have provided valuable information.
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It’s no secret that in many areas the state of Britain’s roads are substandard. The cold snap we endured this winter probably didn’t help! Most pot holes are created by water seeping in to cracks in the highway surface. If the water freezes, it subsequently expands, putting pressure on the concrete and causing it to break.  But who is responsible for it all, and what are the duties they have?

Most public highways are the responsibility of the local council to regularly inspect and maintain them, and ensure they are not a potential hazard people using them. If the local authority fails to do this, then they are liable to pay compensation to anyone suffering an injury through the state of the highways. So here are a few examples:
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