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Everyone enjoys going on a night out.  It may be for a meal with your loved one, for a good dance with your friends, or for a few after work drinks down the pub.  Whatever your night out, you would hope that you have a good time, relax, socialise and let your hair down. The furthest thought from your mind is that you may have an accident causing an injury.

There are many possible injuries which can be caused on a night out.  If we take the example of a night club – there may be spillages on the floor causing a slip hazard, or even items such as broken glass on the floor which could compound a fall injury making it worse, or could cause a laceration to the foot.  Even if someone else slips on a spillage which has negligently been left untreated, and pulls you down with them, you may still have a claim for compensation.

Like anywhere else, pubs, bars, nightclubs and restaurants have to abide by strict Health and Safety Regulations in order to keep their customers safe from harm.  You may think that the accident was your fault as you had consumed too much alcohol – but before you come to this conclusion you have nothing to lose by calling a solicitor who can advise you, free of charge, whether you have a claim.
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How can a child bring a claim on their own? Can someone deal with my claim for me?  These are just a couple of the questions we face at The injury Lawyers on a daily basis.  So what are the answers? Well, as you might expect in the case of a child, they are unable to undertake legal proceedings of their own accord.  After all, the child may be three, four or five years old, and could not possibly be expected to do so.  The law recognises this and understands that those under the age of 18 do not have the ‘legal capacity’ to bring claims on their own.  It is therefore necessary where the person who has sustained an injury is under the age of 18 that they have what is called a ‘Litigation Friend’.  In other words a responsible adult who can act on their behalf.  In the case of children, this will usually be the child’s parent or guardian.  Equally, this could be a social worker or another adult.  Importantly, this is also applicable to those who, by way of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, are deemed to be a ‘protected party’ and would similarly require a Litigation Friend.

Okay, but what if I am an adult myself, but I am frequently in and out of hospital as a result of my injuries and therefore cannot frequently deal with my claim?  It is not that you do not wish to deal with your claim yourself; it is simply that it is not practicable to do so.  Or maybe you are elderly or feel too distressed by your accident and do not wish to deal with your claim yourself. This is not a problem either.  Like a child, you can nominate a Litigation Friend, or simply have another person with the written authority to act on your behalf.

At The Injury Lawyers, we always advise that those nominated to be a Claimant’s Litigation Friend should have the very best interests of the Claimant at heart.  The Litigation Friend must be someone who the Claimant can put their wholehearted trust in.  They must be reliable and able to address all issues raised, just as you would.  Naturally, the Litigation Friend must not have a conflict of interest with the Claimant.
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Today’s roads are busier than ever.  We may sit in traffic jams in rush hour going to work, in rush hour coming home from work, and even going to the shops on a lazy Saturday afternoon.  It seems we are always going the wrong way against the traffic!

It is the state of the roads being so busy which means road traffic accidents are simply becoming more common.  It may be a case of someone rushing and speeding which causes a collision, or it may be a matter of someone just not paying the necessary care and attention to the road, causing them to run into the back of your car.  Whatever the reason or type of accident, it may cause you to have an injury known as whiplash.

Whiplash can occur as a result of a car accident, or even from falling from a height.  It is an extremely common injury.  It can be mild in nature with symptoms being less acute for a short period of time, or it can be more serious with extreme pain for the sufferer, maybe lasting years.
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Many careers involve regular working at height situations.  I am talking about careers such as tree surgeons, scaffolders, or TV aerial installers.  However, it is in many other careers, careers that you may not expect, that accidents from working at a height could occur. These could be a receptionist changing a light bulb, or a warehouse assistant attempting to obtain an item from elevated shelving so it’s no surprise that working at a height accidents are extremely common.

There is legislation in place aimed at decreasing the amount of accidents occurring from working at a height – these are quite aptly called the Working At Height Regulations 2005.  This is a lengthy piece of legislation, and the whole detail does not need to be the subject of this blog; however, there are a few important details which should be noted.  These being that any working at height situation should be properly planned and supervised using safety equipment that has been checked prior to use.

If this piece of legislation is not properly known and enforced by employers, there is a high chance that a working at height accident could occur.  Some of the most common accidents being falls from scaffolding, roofs, and ladders.
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At The Injury Lawyers we work on a no win no fee basis.  You may hear this term a lot adverts whilst watching television, marketing people stopping you on the street, or whilst completing your research on which solicitor to instruct for your claim.

Well, it may sound simple and straight forward, but in today’s day and age, knowledge is power.  This is why we at The Injury Lawyers want to inform you of all the in’s and out’s of the ‘no win, no fee’ agreement.

It is our belief and commitment to ensure that our clients receive 100% of their compensation.  This compensation a claimant receives is meant to put them back in the position they would have been in before the accident, plus an amount for the pain, suffering, and inconvenience of the injury. If we took a proportion of this compensation for our own costs, then this would not be putting you, the claimant, back in that position.  Therefore, if you win your claim, you get 100% of your compensation and do not pay us a penny; and if you lose, you still do not pay us a penny for our time on your case.
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The roads today are busier than ever.  Most people have a car and a lot of families have two or more cars.  Not only are there more cars on the road today, but people are also much busier.  There are always places to go, and people to see; the rush hour in the morning going to work and the rush hour coming home, the school runs and the runs to the shops. People are rushing around, driving faster, with more things on their mind and therefore driving more carelessly.  It is therefore no surprise that road traffic accidents are on the increase.

If you have been involved in a road traffic accident and it was not your fault then you may be entitled to compensation.  However, if you were not wearing your seatbelt during the accident then your compensation can be reduced by up to 25%.  This is due to a legal term known as Contributory Negligence, whereby the court may deem that your injury symptoms may not have been as serious if you had been wearing a seat belt.

 The laws regarding wearing seat belts are simple for individuals over the age of 14 – the law being that all must wear a seat belt.  However, for children below this age they can be more complicated.  This is due to the fact that it depends on the child’s height as to whether an adult seat belt or child restraint should be used.  More information regarding this can be found at http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/index.htm.
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There are all sorts of weird and wonderful ways we can end up injuring ourselves – but there are also a lot of ways we can end up injured in an accident that was completely foreseeable! Employers have an important duty of care to ensure that their employees are safe and free from any hazard whilst at work. This goes down to the premises being safe, to the machinery being safe, and personal protective equipment being provided.

Having safe equipment and being provided with the right personal protective equipment(PPE) are two of the most important regulations an employer must adhere to. After all, the requirement for equipment is normally in place to prevent an obvious and unavoidable hazard in the work place. You wear hard hats on a building site, masks when using a welder, gloves when handling hot or dangerous liquids / chemicals – the regulations and the legislation in place are clear.

Equipment – In General

Equipment should be regularly inspected and maintained to ensure it remains safe and does not pose a hazard to those using it. Machinery and plant equipment should have sufficient guards to prevent accidental access to dangerous parts, and should always have a plentiful amount of emergency stop buttons within easy reach of your working position.
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Ultimately, if you have been in an accident that wasn’t your fault, it’s likely that you have a claim for compensation for any injuries and suffering. When to claim is entirely up to you. But we’d be doing you a diss-service if we didn’t let you know that there is a time limit for claiming – so, if you’re considering putting it off, you might want to think again!

In most common claims, you have three years from the date of the accident in which to make a claim. But realistically, the sooner you do it, the better! Even though you have three years, if you leave it too long, vital evidence in the hands of those responsible may disappear over time. CCTV footage is normally retained for 2 – 4 weeks at most nowadays. Witness information is always great to have – but you don’t want to risk losing touch with a witness (say, if they move address) or the witness forgetting the key information over time.

The first thing you should always do (to protect your position a great deal more!) is see your GP or attend a local walk in centre or hospital ASAP. Explain to medical staff in considerable detail how your injuries were caused. They should note the details down on to your medical records – which is great for evidence later on down the line of the claim.
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Accidents at work are unfortunately not uncommon as we at The Injury Lawyers know only too well.  Despite stringent health and safety laws, it would seem that employers are not always doing all they can to ensure that their workers are protected when at work.  Although they have a duty of care to look after the welfare of their workers, whether that is through the provision of proper and thorough training, or by making sure the right equipment is available and in a safe working order, it would seem that on some occasions employers do not take the right precautions.  This means that accidents at work occur.  It was only this week that it was reported across several media sites, in particular the Harrow Observer, that Raakesh Patel, a factory worker who produces bagels in Harrow, was involved in a serious accident at work whereby he lost the tops of two of his fingers when they were sliced off by the machinery he was using.

The Harrow Observer reports that Mr Patel’s employers knew that the machinery he was using was faulty, but still allowed him to use it.  As such, when Mr Patel was trying to unblock some dough from the machinery, one of the rotating blades used to cut the dough came on and cut the tops of two of his fingers off.  This was despite the fact that the machine’s safety device should have stopped the rotating blade moving, demonstrating that the machinery was clearly faulty.  As many of you would agree, this is something that no-one would wish upon themselves.  Somewhat fortunately, the local hospital Mr Patel attended was able to save one of the tops of his fingers and re-attach – he was not so fortunate with the other finger.  He will now have a visible reminder of this accident for the rest of his life.

Clearly the machinery was faulty.  The rotating blade used to cut the bagel dough had been allowed to operate when it should not have been able to do so.  Worse though was the fact that Mr Patel’s employers were aware that the machinery was faulty, and yet did not remove or replace the machinery.  The accident report book at the company Mr Patel worked at had entries regarding the faulty machine and yet they did not act.  This meant that this sorry accident occurred and now Mr Patel has to live with his employer’s negligent decision for the rest of his life.  Although Mr Patel did receive compensation, this will never replace the lost top of his finger.
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We all love to go on holiday to maybe get some sun, relax, and have a change of scenery. We also love to go on holiday to experience the local cuisine – it maybe a paella in Spain, or a tagine in Morrocco.  Whatever the reason, we all would hope that our holiday runs smoothly and goes by problem free and easy.

The above may be true for the majority of us; but incidents such as food poisoning whilst on holiday are becoming more and more common.  This may come as no surprise as many hotels abroad may not have the same health and safety standards we have in the UK – which coupled with high temperatures can cause food to be easily contaminated.

For many, food poisoning can be mild, with the symptoms lasting 24 – 48 hours.  However, serious cases of food poisoning can result in longer periods of discomfort for the sufferer, which could culminate in being taken into hospital, or even, in extreme cases, be life threatening.
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