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If you have been involved in a road traffic accident that was not your fault, you may have a claim for compensation. The key phrase in this sentence is that ‘the accident was not your fault’.  Many people that have been involved in a road accident that was due to the other driver not using the necessary care and attention and was badly injured as a result, may feel the injustice of it, and also the frustration of the whole ordeal. These feelings are further amplified if the other driver either does not have insurance and / or speeds off into the distance neglecting to leave his / her details, or even to check if you are ok.

If this happens, you may think “well, how can I possibly have a claim?” – at The Injury Lawyers, we are happy to tell such claimants that they may indeed have a claim through the Motor Insurers Bureau; or MIB for short. The MIB are an organisation funded by motor insurers. The MIB have calculated that between £15 and £30 of our premiums go to funding them.  The MIB will not only consider compensation payouts for injuries, but also the cost of repairing your vehicle damages caused by the accident.

If you have been involved in such an accident where they other party is not insured, or has fled the scene, taking some actions to strengthen your claim is made all the more important. I have set out a few key actions which could be taken:
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Whiplash is one of those conditions which can get a bad press, as it is not so plain to the naked eye as a broken bone or laceration, for example. So, much of the time we are relying on the sufferers reports of the effect the injury is having on their lives and the level of pain they are in. At The Injury Lawyers, we hear day in day out of the devastating effect whiplash can have on a sufferers’ life; so we treat the condition with the utmost seriousness and respect that it deserves.

Symptoms

Whiplash is a condition which can be highly unpredictable. By this I mean that a doctor could advise that you will recover in 6 months, when one year down the line you are still in pain.  This is why it is advisable to seek the advice of a specialist injury lawyer as soon as possible. The symptoms of whiplash are wide ranging, and people can suffer from any one of the symptoms outlined below; if not all:
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I read today in the ‘Hartlepool Mail’ that Skanska Rashleigh Weatherfoil have been fined £120,000 and been forced to pay costs of £81,927 having pleaded guilty to breaches of health and safety regulations after a man was paralysed having been involved in an accident at work.  The horrific accident happened in Crawley back in January 2007 when an employee who was installing cable was working on a scissor lift when the trays supporting him collapsed: he fell 24ft.

As a result of the accident, the unfortunate man, who does not wish to be named, was unsurprisingly knocked unconscious and suffered paralysis from the waist downwards, as well as horrendous spinal injuries.  The Health and Safety Executive have since found that Skanska Rashleigh Weatherfoil failed in their duty to ensure the safety of its employees.  In particular, Skanska Rashleigh Weatherfoil admitted breaching section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety Act 1974.

The HSE inspector who carried out the investigation had the following to say:
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Wearing a seat belt is important for all sorts of reasons – the most important being that it minimises the harm to both you and others in a vehicle if the worst happened and you were involved in a road traffic accident. By not wearing a seat belt, you are also falling foul of the law – and as a consequence you could be pulled over by the Police and suffer serious consequences.

In consideration of the above, it is rare that we have clients here at The Injury Lawyers who were not wearing a seat belt when they were involved in a road traffic accident. However, in saying this, there is always a small minority of people which may continue to flout the law and neglect to belt up.

The consequences of not wearing a seat belt can go further then what is discussed above. If you were not wearing a seat belt whilst in a vehicle involved in a road traffic accident, and you are making a personal injury claim as a result, whatever compensation you are entitled to may be reduced by up to 25% – for large compensation payouts this can add up to a lot of money lost.  The reason for this reduction is a term known in the legal world as contributory negligence – i.e. by not wearing your seatbelt, you may have increased the severity of your own injuries.
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Have I got a claim?

This is the first question that people tend to ask when they first approach The Injury Lawyers for a free claim assessment. In accidents involving buses, we are often able to advise that they have got a claim, and not only that, but that they have a good chance of succeeding with the claim. If you are on a bus and the bus crashes, it doesn’t matter whether it’s the bus or the other driver at fault: you have a claim. If fault lies with the bus driver you may be able to place your claim against the bus company who are vicariously liable for the actions of the driver (they are responsible for his actions up to point). If fault lies with the other driver, then you may place a claim against them.

Alternatively, it may be the case that the driver broke suddenly causing you to fall over or jolt your neck.  In this instance you may also have a claim against the bus company for the actions of the driver if they are negligent.

What should I do next?
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There are so many workplace health and safety rules and regulations your employer must abide by. Risk assessments need to be completed, workplace areas need to be regularly inspected and maintained, and your employer has a duty to minimise risks to your health as far as is reasonably possible and practical.

So – what happens if your employer fails in this important duty they have for you, and you end up injured? You can make a claim for compensation from their insurance.

In any event, a regular system of inspection and maintenance should be carried out to make sure there are no slippery surfaces or defects on the floor waiting to trip you up. Any hazards spotted should be either rectified, or cordoned off and appropriate signage put in place to warn you of the hazard. If you are not advised of a hazard, or are unaware of its presence, you can make a claim.
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I fear that there are many potential claimants out there taking the decision to not follow through with their potential personal injury claim. This may be for fear of the hassle it would cause, or for fear or what it may cost you financially. Well, I am here to give you reasons why you should take the leap and begin your claim for personal injury compensation.

Claiming can be straight forward and hassle free

With the right firm on board, your claim can be entirely hassle free. Good law firms will have strict service standards in place; these standards should be checked before your decide to proceed with a law firm. Service standards can include regular client updates, such as every 14 days as a minimum, and returning calls and e-mails within a certain time frame; perhaps 24 hours maximum.  These service standards mean you are not chasing your solicitors for updates, and it’s your lawyers that are rightfully doing all the work; being kept ‘out of the loop’ on your case can often be a prime basis of stress for a claimant.
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Many potential claimants out there may be aware that they are entitled to compensation for their injuries – it may be advertising for personal injury claiming that is responsible for that, or just the increased awareness of your right to make a claim. However, many claimants that approach The Injury Lawyers remain unaware of the financial losses they may be entitled to claim as l a result of their accident.

In order to discover what losses you may be entitled to, the simplest question to ask your self is ‘if I had not had the accident, would I be in a better position financially?’ If the answer to this is yes then you should ask yourself why that is – I have set out below a few possible suggestions as to areas of loss you may have incurred due to your accident:

1. Loss of earnings – if you have been absent from work as a result of your accident, and been on reduced pay or been left unpaid, then you may have a claim for lost earnings.  Your loss of earnings claim is calculated from an average of 13 weeks pay slips prior to the date of the accident – so these would need to be kept safe or requested from your employer. If you are self- employed, the average is calculated from 3 years profit and loss accounts.

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When you’re in charge of around 10 tonnes worth of metal, seats, and engine, you’d like to think that the driver of the bus you’re in has the passenger’s health and safety at the forefront of their mind. Sadly, this is not always the case.

I am in no way slating all bus drivers – but even when I was learning to drive I was warned about taking extra care around them as the drivers can, on occasions, be a little unpredictable. In all honesty, we have taken on a huge number of claims involving buses that we have successfully won thousands of pounds in compensation for our clients.

So – did it come as any surprise when I myself ended up in a bus incident? Not particularly…
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Prior to April 2010, if you had been involved in a road traffic accident and you were pursuing a claim for compensation, the other side were allowed a period of 21 days to acknowledge your claim, and a further three months in which to investigate it. 

What this meant was that a straightforward low value road traffic accident could potentially take 9 months or more, when in truth, it could be resolved far sooner – possibly within a month to 6 months.  The Ministry of Justice acknowledged this, and in April 2010, introduced a new system to deal with low value road traffic accident claims with a value below £10,000.  The new protocol means that the negligent third party’s insurer must now admit or deny liability within 15 days of you making your claim – once the final claim pack is submitted to the insurers, a period up to 35 days is the normal amount allowed for the claim to be settled.  Ultimately, claims that were taking up to 9 months to finalise can now be settled in around four to six.

A year on from the inception of this new protocol for low value personal injury claims, it has become apparent to us at The Injury Lawyers that we are seeing earlier admissions of liability and we have been able to settle our clients claims much more swiftly.  So, if you have been involved in a road traffic accident, this should be encouragement enough should you be having any doubts about making a claim for compensation.  Here is a brief guide to the process.
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