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Whiplash can be an extremely debilitating condition, which can leave the sufferer unable to carry out their life as they normally would do.  This can mean that they may not be able to work, socialise with friends, or carry out their normal daily household tasks.  All this can be due to the fault of someone else – at The Injury Lawyers, we tend to see whiplash more as a result of a road traffic accident than any other accident.

Symptoms

The symptoms of whiplash can be widespread, and differ from person to person. I have listed some of the main symptoms below:
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If you have been involved in an incident which has left you injured through no fault of your own, or where you are only partly to blame, it is likely that you could be entitled to receive compensation for your injuries and any related losses.  If you think that you are due compensation, the best course of action is to seek the expert advice of an injury lawyer who has considerable experience in dealing with personal injury claims.  They will be able to tell you whether you have a potential claim for compensation, and how to progress your claim in the right way.

At The Injury Lawyers, we have our own dedicated claims team who are on hand between 9am and 10pm each day to provide you with free legal advice on your potential claim.  If you give us a ring today, there are no obligations for you to instruct us, and you will be expertly advised.  Should you instruct us, you will be pleased to know that we will not charge you for our work.  Under our genuine no win, no fee agreement, we actually cannot charge our clients, meaning that you get 100% of the compensation you are awarded – guaranteed.

How we progress your claim:
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If you have been injured as a result of an accident that was not your own fault, you may have a strong claim for personal injury. With so many law firms out there, it can be a difficult decision as to who to choose to fight for your claim.

A first point to note is that many firms out there are not actually personal injury law firms. Many simply act as referral agents. These agents can sell your claim on for as much as £800 to a law firm. Logic tells us that if a law firm spends £800 on your claim, they have decreased their margin for profit, and so to balance this reduction out, they may work less on your claim, and provide you with a lower level of service. We firmly believe this is crazy!

So, the first useful point has been made – go to a law firm direct.  Once approaching a law firm directly, there are other factors which you may also need to research before instructing them. Firstly, you may want to know how much experience they have with personal injury claims such as your own – whether it is an accident at work, or a product liability claim, or a road accident, for example.
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In 1946 the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, or the ‘MIB’ as it is more informally known, was set up to fund the compensation claims of those innocent victims of uninsured and untraced drivers.  In other words, if you have been injured in a road traffic accident involving an uninsured driver, or where the other driver has not stopped and you do not have all their details, you can make a claim for compensation for your injuries and related losses from the MIB’s compensation fund.  Each year, within our vehicle insurance policies, roughly £30 of this goes to the MIB compensation fund so that victims of negligent third party uninsured and untraced drivers are not left without compensation.  Each year over 50,000 claims are made through the MIB.

The point of this blog is to demonstrate to you that if you have been involved in a road traffic accident, or know somebody who has been involved in a road traffic accident which was not their fault, and the negligent third party driver was uninsured or did not stop and cannot be traced, you are still entitled to compensation for any injuries and losses just like those who have been involved in a road traffic accident with an insured driver.  It would simply be unpalatable if the victims of untraced and uninsured drivers were unable to recoup their losses.

Now that you know you can still receive compensation where the other driver is uninsured or untraced, the best thing you can do next is to seek the advice of a quality injury lawyer with a vast amount of experience in dealing with MIB claims.  This is because they know exactly how the MIB works, can guide you through the process of completing an MIB claim form, and can take you through the entire compensation process meaning no stone will be left unturned.
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Whiplash is becoming a condition that we hear more and more about, whether it be on adverts for injury companies, or from people we know others who have suffered with it. If you are suffering with it, or know people close to you that have suffered with it, then you will probably know how painful it can be to the sufferer, as well as the devastating effect it can have on a person’s life.

Causes

Whiplash is caused by a sudden jolt to the head which causes the neck to move beyond it’s normal range; this in turn can cause damage to the muscles and tendons around the neck, back, and shoulder areas. At The Injury Lawyers, we tend to see whiplash more commonly arising from road traffic accidents; however, it can be caused by other accidents such as a fall from a height or a slip on a wet floor. Basically, anything which causes this jolt to the neck can lead to a whiplash injury.
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Manholes are essentially needed to run and maintain our underground systems – hence why they litter our pavements and roads. Many people try to avoid walking over manholes and utility covers for reasons of superstition; that, however, is not the reason why I avoid them. I avoid them as I see the numerous claims that come into The Injury Lawyers for personal injury arising from them!

If you have been injured due to a defective manhole or utility cover, and it was through no fault of your own, then you may have a claim for personal injury. There can be many reasons why you have an accident as described above – a couple of which I have gone on to detail:

1. Falling down an uncovered manhole – if this has happened to you then you may have a strong claim for personal injury. If a manhole is left uncovered, there should be adequate warning signs as well as the area being cordoned off satisfactorily.
2. Tripping or stumbling over / on an unsecured manhole cover – if you walk over a manhole cover and it collapses, tilts with your weight, or is already raised due to it being defective or unsecured, which causes you to have an accident and subsequent injuries, you may have a claim for compensation.

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Where the victim of an accident and has been injured and is under the age of 18, i.e. a minor, or is considered a ‘protected party’ under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, they will require a ‘litigation friend’ to bring a claim for compensation.  A litigation friend can be defined as a responsible adult who will act on the minor’s or ‘protected party’s’ behalf to bring their claim for compensation.  In the majority of cases a litigation friend will be a child’s parent or guardian, but at the same time it could be a close family friend, a social worker, or another trusted adult.

I think that most of you reading this would agree that a child of four or five years of age would struggle to bring their genuine claim for compensation on their own!  Imagine the scenario where your five year old son is dealing with lawyers on a regular basis to progress a claim for compensation!  At the end of the day, just like an adult being injured, a child or ‘protected party’ may suffer the same injury or worse, and have just as good or a more valuable claim for compensation, and should not miss out on the compensation they deserve because of their ‘legal capacity’.

Having a litigation friend does not change the way in which the claim is run, and does not make it any harder.  As long as the litigation friend is able to provide all the circumstances to an accident, and be on hand to provide the persons’ injury lawyers with the information they require, the claim for compensation will run just as smoothly and efficiently.  The only real difference is that the litigation friend will be required to fill out a form called a ‘Certificate of suitability of litigation friend’ which is very straightforward, and just confirms that you are rightly able to act on the injured party’s behalf.
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It is an unfortunate fact that victims of motorcycle accidents are often left with serious injuries. This is due to the fact that motorcycles are generally the more vulnerable road user as they do not offer the various defensive features that a car can offer – features such as crumple zones, and airbags. They can also be difficult to see due to their size and speed; hence the need for campaigns such as Think Bike!

As the victims of these accidents can have more serious injuries, this can unfortunately mean that a claim for personal injury can take longer, as well as some of the issues involved being more complex. This is why is it important to get a specialist personal injury lawyer involved as soon as possible.

It is shown statistically that motorcycle users are commonly between the ages of 30 – 39 – this means that having an accident could mean that they are absent from work, and not bringing in any money, or are on a reduced rate of pay. In addition it is this section of the population who are likely to be coming up to the peak of their careers, and may have a young family to support.
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STV has reported that a clubber has received nearly £30,000 in compensation having broken her wrist on a night out back in 2007.  It is stated that Angela Spading fell to the ground at Love2love nightclub in Inverness having been knocked by a fellow clubber and slipping on a floor covered in drinks. 

At first, Ms Spalding had tried to obtain £100,000 compensation having been unable to return to work, suffering anxiety and depression, as well as breaking her wrist; but in the end she received £28,000.  The matter settled out of court despite the Defendant, CFG Leisure, suggesting that Ms Spalding should have taken more reasonable care in looking where to place her feet.  After the settlement was reached, Mr Brash, lawyer for Ms Spalding, commented that in his experience ‘slips on wet floors in nightclubs are a fairly common type of accident, often leading to serious injury with long-lasting consequences…It is easy to criticise people who fall over in nightclubs for having ‘had a few’ but the clubs have a responsibility to their customers…’

At The Injury Lawyers we realise that people like to let their hair down on a weekend and go out for a few drinks down the local, or to a nightclub.  We also note that accidents on nights out do happen, and that in some cases, they could have been avoided.  You may or may not be aware that those who own nightclubs and other establishments owe their customers a duty of care to ensure their health and safety is maintained.  In doing so, they must abide by stringent health and safety regulations, and do as much as they practicably can to ensure that any risks to you are limited.  If you have an accident on a night out in a club that was not your fault, or where you were only partly to blame, it may be the case that you have a potential basis to make a claim for compensation for your injuries and other losses resulting from the accident.  If it can be established that the owner of an establishment has breached their duty of care for you – i.e. the owner was responsible for your injuries – then a claim for compensation can be made.  If you have been injured on a night out, it is a good idea to give an injury lawyer a quick call so that they can advise you on any potential claim you may have.
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The Northern Echo has reported that a motorist is being pursued for £300,000 in compensation by a motorcyclist for an accident occurring back in June 2008.  Robert McPherson of Pudsey, West Yorkshire, has asserted that Michael Kitching of Northallerton pulled out of a junction, knocking him off his motorbike and causing several injuries; notably a fractured hip, arm, shoulder, ribs, an injury to his pelvis, and causing a pulmonary embolism.  At the High Court in Leeds it has been contended that the accident was ‘caused by the negligent driving’ of Mr Kitching.  Indeed, Mr Kitching has admitted liability for the accident.

It is worth noting that it is not purely his injuries that Mr McPherson is trying to claim for – he is also attempting to claim a significant loss of earnings.  As the Northern Echo reports, the court papers note that ‘At the time of the index accident, the claimant was a self-employed electrician fulfilling a handsome role as a director of his own business.  Following the accident, and because of the injuries sustained, the claimant is now less able to complete the duties required within his business and as such is disadvantaged when compared to others undertaking work of a similar nature to the claimant who has not suffered such injury.’  In essence, Mr McPherson will not be able to carry out the job role he did previously because of the injuries sustained in the accident with Mr Kitching – he has therefore suffered a significant loss of earnings.

This accident demonstrates two things.  Firstly, if you have been involved in a road traffic accident that is not your fault and have sustained an injury as a result, it is likely that you will be entitled to compensation.  You should therefore instruct a quality injury lawyer, like those at The Injury Lawyers, to fight tooth and nail for the maximum compensation you deserve.  And secondly, when making a claim for compensation, it is not purely your injuries that you may be entitled to compensation for.  If you have other losses which stem from your accident, a professional injury lawyer can make a claim for those on your behalf.  This is another reason why you should get an experienced injury lawyer like those at The Injury Lawyers on your side.  They know what the heads of losses you can obtain compensation for, and know how to go about doing this the right way.
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