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The workplace can be a pretty dangerous place to be in; particularly if you work in a factory or on a constructions site. The dangers we could potentially face in the workplace are minimised or cleared by the numerous amounts of Health and Safety rules and regulations that all employers and employees are legally required to adhere to. In theory, if all employers and all employees stick to these rules, the amount of compensation claims being made would be very small.

When your employer fails in the important duty of care they have for your health and safety, and you are injured as a result, you are entitled to make a claim from the insurance your employer has a legal responsibly to have in place.

So – what can they fail you on, and when can you make a claim?
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Recently there has been much discussion in the news regarding the state of our highways – this has mostly been about potholes. An article on Sky News states how councils cannot afford to pay the 10 billion pounds needed to get our highways back up to a good state of repair. Furthermore, a report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance states how councils in many instances have been unable to repair potholes caused by the cold weather at the end of 2010 before the cold snap hit again in 2011. So, we can see from the media there is a problem with the state of our highways, and these funding issues may remain for some time. So, it seems like a good time to discuss potential personal injury claims that come as a result of pothole damage.

A pothole can be a tripping hazard to pedestrians, or a hazard to any vehicles driving over them. Vehicles such as motorbikes, mopeds and bicycles are particularly vulnerable when it comes to defects on the road surface; potentially causing catastrophic accidents.

If you have suffered an injury as a result of a pothole, and it was not your fault, then you may have a claim for compensation. It is advisable to get the advice of a specialist personal injury lawyer with pothole related claims, as many of them can be complex.  It can firstly be a complex issue to ascertain who has responsibility for the land – i.e. does the council have responsibility for it? If so, which council? Is it a private owner? Secondly, it can be difficult to actually get the council to admit fault.
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We all know that you are far more likely to be seriously injured in a motorcycle accident than you are in a car accident. Unfortunately, despite numerous campaigns to maintain awareness of motorcyclists for road users, accidents are still happening.

It’s an obvious statement to make – motorcyclists are far harder to spot on the roads than cars / vans / lorries. People are often looking out for cars and any other larger vehicles when emerging from a junction, changing lanes, or entering on to a roundabout. Drivers often fail to consider the presence of a motorcyclist, or even fail to spot one. We have the “look, look, and look again” rule – personally its “look, look, look again, then look again for good measure” with me; and I’ve not been in an accident in my years of driving so far! (Touch wood).

But more to the point – what can be done if you become the victim of an accident as a motorcyclist, or even cyclist?
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Many clients that approach The Injury Lawyers are aware of their right to claim compensation for their injuries. However, upon beginning to advise or clients regarding the other losses they may be able to claim for, there seems to be a lack of knowledge and understanding. We believe that all our clients, as well as any potential claimants out there, should have a good understanding of what they are entitled to claim for.

Claiming for losses in a claim for personal injury can be a complex issue – so it is always advisable to seek advice from a specialist personal injury lawyer. A lawyer should be able to fully advise you regarding your losses. Once a lawyer has gained information about your losses, they should collate these in a document known as a Schedule of Loss. This document will only contain your financial losses as a result of your accident; the compensation for your injuries alone will be dealt with separately.

Below, I have listed many of the more common items you see on a Schedule of Loss. This list is by no means exhaustive – full advice regarding losses should be gained from a specialist personal injury lawyer.
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So, you have been involved in a minor road traffic accident, and as result your vehicle has been damaged, and you have been injured.  Well, in all likelihood, if the road traffic accident was not your fault, or even if it was only partly your fault, you are entitled to make a claim for compensation.  After all, you have suffered an injury at the hands of a negligent third party driver.

So – how do you go about this? The first thing you should do is get all the other drivers details and then attend your GP or hospital so that they can check you over and make sure that you are okay, and provide any medical treatment if needed.  Then, once all this is done, you should get in touch with an independent, quality personal injury lawyer, like those at The Injury Lawyers, with plenty of experience in this area of law and who can provide you with legal representation at no cost to you.  Once you have done this, your professional injury lawyer will be able to guide you through the claims process which I will now outline:

On the 30^th April 2010 the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents deals with your compensation claim.  Where your injury is likely to be worth less than £10,000, this Protocol outlines the process that your lawyers must carry out to help you get your compensation as fast as possible!  You will firstly be asked to fill out a Claims Notification Form (‘CNF’).  It is a straightforward form but do not worry if you get stuck at any point – The Injury Lawyers are just a phone call away from being able to happily assist you.  We always review your form in any event so you have nothing to worry about.
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I would hazard a guess that many of you reading this blog may think you know what ‘no win, no fee’ means. The title seems fairly self-explanatory – i.e. if you do not win your case then you do not have to pay a penny.

Well, I suggest that you consider the following scenarios:

What do you have to pay if you win?
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A common problem with road traffic accidents is that neither party wish to accept fault for the accident. I know of many clients who after a car accident which may be obviously the other drivers fault but upon speaking to them they not only say it was not their fault but also try and pass the blame onto you. This can often lead to lengthy negotiations in personal injury claims and sometimes fault may be split in terms of a ratio say; 70/30 or 60/40.

Obviously we want to prove that the other is 100% at fault for the accident, and in many cases this can be a straight forward and relatively simple process. The topic of this blog is Rear – End Shunts – the reason being that liability in rear end shunt cases is usually easy to establish. A rear end shunt is a term used to describe a car hitting another car from behind. In these cases, it is highly likely that liability will be admitted by the other side, as it is often fairly apparent that fault lies with the driver who came from behind and hit the car in front.

Because of the straightforward nature of these types of cases, most of our clients who have been involved in rear end shunt accidents have a speedy and successful conclusion to their case.  Accidents that happen after the 30^th April 2010 are in a simpler more streamlined system which means that insurers have to respond with their liability decision within 15 days of the claim notification form being sent. This is opposed to the nearly 4 month period they had under the old system. This means that many of our clients who have been in rear end shunt accidents after the above get their claims concluded in a much quicker time frame.
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At The Injury Lawyers, many of our clients suffer from the painful and frustrating condition known as whiplash.  Whiplash is a condition which is not so plain to see a scar or a broken bone, and so many people may discount it or devalue it in their minds. At The Injury Lawyers, we know the pain our clients suffer through whiplash and the destructive effect the condition can have on their lives; we therefore treat the condition extremely seriously and with the importance it deserves.

Symptoms

The symptoms of whiplash can be felt differently by different people. However, for most, the symptoms do not become apparent until around 6 – 12 hours after the accident – they may then increase in severity for up to one week. A sufferer may feel tenderness, stiffness, and/or numbness in their neck which may radiate to other areas such as in the shoulders or back. Sufferers can have decreased mobility in their neck, or in more extreme circumstances, have no mobility at all.
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I think it’s obvious to understand that if you are injured due to a faulty product, you are entitled to make a claim for compensation; but what about services that have caused your injuries?

Britain’s industry is primarily comprised of services – so there’s a lot that could go wrong. As long as your injuries were not your fault, but caused through the negligence of a company or another person, you can make a claim under the Sale of Goods and Services Act 1982.

I personally have seen an increase in claims related to beauty clinics and beauty treatment recently. We are seeing burns, rashes, and even scarring from laser treatment that has gone wrong, or chemicals that have caused a reaction. Ultimately, the clinic or practice where the treatment was performed has an important duty of care to ensure you are not harmed through the use of their service.
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We have many clients approach us after tripping on a defect on a public highway. After a harsh winter and the coming of Spring, I feel it is a good time to address the issue of claims against the Council for accidents stemming from a defected highway. Potholes can occur for a multitude of reasons – but after a long harsh winter, it is highly likely to be due to frost. The frost and ice seeps into small cracks in the highway which then expands to form larger cracks which can further crumble away to form large pot holes. These pot holes can form a major hazard to pedestrians on the pavement, or to vehicles if on the road. Vehicles which are especially vulnerable to pot holes are motor bikes, mopeds, and bicycles, which can be easily knocked off course due to a defect in the road surface.

What to do

If you have had an accident stemming from a defect on the road and it was not your fault, then you may have a claim for compensation.
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