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I read today of the terrible story of an Alan Underwood who sadly died having been involved in an accident at work.  On March 17th 2008, Mr Underwood, who was a driving instructor in Northampton, was killed when a lorry, driven by one his pupils, hit him.  The Northampton Chronicle & Echo reports that Mr Underwood was giving a driving lesson and was testing his pupil’s braking skills when the accident happened.  The Northampton Chronicle & Echo suggests that Mr Underwood had instructed his pupil to go around some cones and then come to an emergency stop.  However, his pupil failed to stop and Mr Underwood was subsequently hit and killed by the lorry.

At the High Court in London, it was heard that Mr Underwood’s pupil’s foot had become stuck underneath the brake, and therefore she could not stop.  As such, the family of Mr Underwood was awarded £180,000 in compensation.  It was held that Mr Underwood’s employers were liable for the accident.  However, and interestingly, Mr Underwood’s family only received 70% of the compensation.  The compensation Mr Underwood’s family was due would have been £250,000, but the judge held that Mr Underwood was 30% liable for the accident.  In other words, there was a judgment of contributory negligence.  Here, the judge held that Mr Underwood had been stood in front of the lorry in ‘misconceived faith’ that his pupil would be able to bring the lorry to a halt.  As such he was partly responsible for the accident because he did not allow himself enough time to get out of the way and avoid a collision.

Contributory negligence is a term that we frequently come across here at The Injury Lawyers.  If the other side believe that you are in some way partly to blame for your injuries, they will allege contributory negligence.  They will try to settle for less than a full amount of the compensation you would be entitled to should you not have been partly responsible for your accident.  It is therefore of vital importance that if an insurance company tries to settle a claim with you, and in doing so alleges contributory negligence, that you seek the advice of a quality personal injury lawyer.  They will be able to advise you as to whether you should be held partly responsible for your accident and your subsequent injuries.  If you do not seek the advice of a specialist injury lawyer, you may end up getting less compensation than you deserve!

Our backs are probably the most important part of our body. Without them, we couldn’t do anything. The strain your back goes through on a day to day basis can be immense – so injuring this vital part of the human body can leave you in agony – and there are several ways you can injure your back at work, going about your daily business, or from having a fall.

Back Injury Symptoms

Well, it’s quite easy to diagnose back pain! Not so easy to find out the root cause; but if your back hurts, aches, feels tight, inflamed, has reduced movement, or you are suffering from chronic bouts of back problems, we suggest you see your GP immediately.

Back Injuries from Falls

• A fall from a trip or slip can leave you with severe back pain. If you land on your back, then you’ll know about it! But even twisting as you fall can stretch the muscles and leave you in pain.
• If you fall fast, you can even end up with whiplash. Whiplash is normally caused by the sudden jolting your neck – whiplash pain can easily radiate down in to your shoulders and your back.
• If you fell through no fault of your own, you can make a claim for compensation. Whether you tripped over a raised paving slab, stumbled on a gap in the kerb, or slipped on a wet floor with no warning signs present, you should always speak to an expert injury lawyer and find out about your right to claim.

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BBC News reports that a family has been awarded compensation after becoming seriously ill whilst on holiday.  It is said that the Palin family, who hail from the West Midlands, were hit by outbreaks of salmonella and cryptosporidium – in other words sickness and diarrhoea – at their hotel in Majorca in 2003.  As a result, the Palin’s dream holiday was ruined.  They could not leave their hotel room and this meant they could not do those usual holiday activities like going to the beach or going on one of the many excursions on offer.  As Mrs Palin said herself, ‘We have no happy memories of what was supposed to be, at the time, a dream holiday.’

It would seem that the Palin’s were not the only ones to have their holiday ruined either.  BBC News states that there were another 10 victims from the West Midlands, and that in the end 49 people that caught the bug whilst at their hotel in Majorca were also able to obtain compensation.  At the Birmingham County Court it was held that Thomson, the tour operator for the holiday, was liable for their customers becoming sick.  It was said that Thomson had breached the duty of care they owed their customers by failing to warn them of the bout of sickness that was going through the hotel.  It would also appear that this is the first time that a tour operator has been found liable for the illnesses of its customers.

If you have been ill whilst on holiday abroad you may be entitled to compensation.  Just because you were not back home in the United Kingdom when you sustained an illness does not mean that you are unable to claim compensation.  A claim can be made against your tour operator back home.  It is necessary to establish whether the tour operator breached their duty of care.  Currently tour operators must do all they can to ensure the health and safety of their customers.  If there is an outbreak of illness at your hotel, your tour operator must ensure that you are aware of this and give you advice about the outbreak.  That said, simply because you have fallen ill whilst on holiday, does not necessarily guarantee that you are entitled to compensation.  If it is considered that the tour operator did everything it could to ensure the health and safety of its customers, then you may not be able to make a claim for compensation.  After all, illnesses are a fact of life, and sometimes, despite all we do to contain them, we are still affected by them.  It is important that if you have suffered an illness whilst on holiday, you get free legal advice from a professional injury lawyer.  They will be able to assess whether you have a claim for compensation and set you on your way to getting the compensation you may deserve.

The Letter of Claim is an essential part of your personal injury claim.  It is the first significant piece of correspondence between your lawyers and the Defendant, and lets the Defendant know, by way of writing, of your accident and the injuries you have suffered.  It is therefore of vital importance in order to get the ball rolling on your claim that the Letter of Claim contains sufficient and clear information about your claim.  It means that the Defendant can start their investigations of the claim and then come back to your lawyers with their position on liability as soon as possible.

Your Letter of Claim must contain ‘a clear summary of the facts on which the claim is based with an indication of the nature of any injuries suffered…’  In other words, the Letter of Claim must tell the Defendant exactly what your accident was, and the injuries you have subsequently sustained.  We at The Injury Lawyers are experts in the field of personal injury claims and always produce a thorough Letter of Claim on your behalf.  Producing the Letter of Claim is a task that does not take long in itself, especially when it is being created by a lawyer with years and years of experience.  However, there is nothing like a helping hand.  We can only produce your Letter of Claim when we have all the clear facts of your case.  The more you can help us establish the facts of your case at the earliest opportunity, the quicker we can get your Letter of Claim produced sooner.  And in the end that means that you are likely to receive the compensation you may be entitled to faster!  So, what can you do to help?  Here are a couple of examples:

• If you have tripped on a piece of defective pathway, we need to know the exact location of this piece of pathway.  The name of the street on which you tripped is always a good start.  But it is even more helpful if you can tell us where on the street the piece of defective pathway is.  For example, is the defect ‘directly outside the gate of 12 Baker Street’ or ‘right next to the manhole which is adjacent to the phone box outside the Golden Lion pub’?  Alternatively, both photographs and Google maps marked with an ‘X’ are great ways of demonstrating where an accident took place.

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Making a claim for compensation where you have been involved in a relatively straightforward road traffic accident is an uncomplicated and fast process.  The Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents deals with personal injuries sustained from road traffic accidents on or after the 30^th April 2010 which are valued at less than £10,000.  In most cases, your road traffic accident will be worth less than £10,000, and so the procedure I am about to outline will be applicable to your case.

The Pre-Action Protocol is designed to settle claims speedily and without the need for court proceedings.  As such, it sets out several simple steps which allow for you to be compensated fast.

Firstly, a Claims Notification Form (‘CNF’) must be filled out and submitted to the other side’s insurers.  This is done online at The Injury Lawyers specially created portal and records your details and your accident details.  Don’t worry if this sounds daunting, our specially trained personal injury lawyers are always on hand should you have any questions, and we will always review your CNF before it is submitted to ensure everything is okay!  Once this is submitted the other side’s insurers, they must acknowledge receipt of the CNF the day after they receive it.  They are then entitled to a period of 15 days in which to come back to you with their position on liability.  This could be an admission, or denial of liability, or it could be an allegation of contributory negligence.  By contributory negligence, we mean that they are suggesting you are in some way partly at fault for your injuries – for instance, if you were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, the other side may suggest you made your injuries worse by failing to help protect yourself.
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Due to our busy lifestyles and fast food culture, many more of us are eating out at restaurants, pubs and cafes.  It may be for a quick breakfast such as a bacon sandwich before work, it may be grabbing a quick bite at lunch, or it may be an evening meal to celebrate a special occasion. Whatever it is, we would hope that the food has been cooked correctly, the food is of a high quality, and the premises in which it has been cooked has a high standard of cleanliness.  This, however, is not always the case.

In many cases of food poisoning the symptoms are mild and we may suffer for a period of 24 – 48 hours, then feel fully recovered.  However, in some more serious cases involving food poisoning, the symptoms can go on for a longer period of time, be more aggressive, and ultimately land the victim in hospital seriously ill.  In groups of people such as the very young, very old, or people already suffering with an illness, contracting a serious case of food poisoning may even become life threatening.

If you fear that you may have food poisoning, the common symptoms to look for are sickness, diarrhoea, stomach cramps, a high temperature, and a loss of appetite.  You may have all or some of these symptoms.
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Supermarket injury claims are a lot more common than most people think. There are so many ways in which you can end up being injured in a place full of liquids and food products; spillages and mess on the floors are extremely common. Just ask yourself the question – when was the last time you went in to a supermarket and didn’t notice something out of place on the floor?

So, what happens if you’re shopping along and you slip on a patch of spilt milk, or trip over a boxed up cheese cake lying on the ground? Some may say there’s no point in crying over spilt milk; but landing hard on a solid supermarket floor can easily leave you with a hefty bruise if you’re lucky enough to avoid a broken bone.
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Whiplash is a common injury arising from road accidents. It’s caused by the sudden movement of the neck or head in a jolting fashion which is normal after an impact. Unfortunately, whiplash is a much more complicated injury than you’d think. In fact, if you are reading this and you are having the symptoms, you may be in for a bit of a shock. Here’s a guide on how it all works:

Whiplash Symptoms

• Pain / stiffness / inflammation of the neck, back, and shoulders. Pain can radiate in to other areas as well (arms, legs etc).
• Headaches – normally common directly after the accident.
• Reduced movement in the affected area, and / or muscular spasms.
• Pins and needles and / or numbness in the hands and arms.
• Dizziness and tiredness – even vertigo in some cases.

A whiplash injury is generally hard to predict in the early stages. It affects different people in different ways, and is often subject to the force of the impact you have been involved in. You could be suffering for a couple of weeks, or you could be suffering for months and months.
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Certainly not the Ghostbusters! But it can be a confusing time when you’ve had an accident to know exactly what to do. With so many law firms out there all promising to deal with your claim in the best way, who should you go with? If you’ve had a road accident, you’re probably being inundated with calls from the other driver’s insurers offering you quick cash settlements, and your own insurers are probably calling you to make you go with their own appointed legal team!

It’s confusing!

So, here’s a little advice on what to look for in a law firm, and what to avoid. But first things first; take a breather, and do your homework!

Injury Lawyer – Get Your Own!

Never let another company, especially your own insurers, a breakdown or garage service, or any other company whatsoever offer to “pass you to the best lawyer”. Avoid them at all costs! The clue as to why you must avoid them is in the statement: Costs!

If you let your insurers appoint their own “in house”, or “appointed”, or “recommended” lawyers, you’re in for a rough ride.  All the insurance companies do is sell the claim on to the highest bidding law firm on their panel. It’s often known as Legal Expense Insurance, or Legal Protection, and it’s an absolute scam. The money the lawyer wastes on buying your case comes straight from the running costs of your claim – leaving you with a poor service, and a lawyer with less money to fight harder for a top payout.
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Here at The Injury Lawyers we are only too aware of the frequency of which accidents happen.  We receive numerous calls each day informing us that people like you and me have sustained some form of personal injury through no fault of their own.  In many cases the unfortunate individual may have been involved in a road traffic accident, slipped or tripped while walking, or have sustained an injury when carrying out their normal duties at work.  Typically, these accidents occur within the United Kingdom.  So, what happens if you sustain a personal injury which is not your fault whilst you are abroad?

Just imagine that nightmare scenario.  You have booked the holiday of a lifetime.  You have waited to go on this holiday for the best part of a year.  The time to go on that dream holiday has come around.  You arrive at your destination, settle into your hotel, and go about those usual holiday activities.  Unfortunately, only days into this dream holiday you are unfortunate to have injured yourself by tripping over some defective paving situated only metres away from the pool you intended to spend much of your time in.  Are you able to make a claim for compensation?  After all, you have sustained a genuine injury that, should you have sustained while at home, you would have been entitled to claim for compensation.  If you have been involved in an accident abroad it is important that you seek the advice of a quality injury lawyer.  It is only by doing this that you can find out whether you can make a claim for compensation, and it is also the first steps to you getting that compensation you may deserve.

If an accident has occurred while you are outside of the United Kingdom, it does not restrict your ability to obtain compensation.  If you have been injured at your resort, have been involved in a road traffic accident when using a hire car, or have gone on an excursion, and any of these have been organised by your holiday company  as part of a package, you can make a claim against the holiday package provider right here in the UK!  Most UK based lawyers will be able to assist you with this. If the claim is against a party directly abroad, you may need to enlist the help of a lawyer specialising in foreign injury cases.
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