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Most claims for compensation for personal injury in England and Wales must be brought within a 3 year period, with this time limit being known as the limitation period. This means that from the date of the accident occurring, you have three years to bring your claim. This means you must either settle the claim or issue the claim with a court within that time period.

The Limitation Act 1980 states that with regards to personal injury, that “the period applicable is three years from… the date on which the cause of action accrued; or the date of knowledge (if later) of the person injured.” (source)
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As soon as we agree to act for you in your case, we will look to correspond with the Defendant, or more commonly with their insurers, solicitors or representatives. Different types of cases are run in different ways. For example all road traffic accidents are submitted through a designated online portal. Most general claims where the date of the accident occurred after 31^st July 2013 are also through a portal. There are some set rules or guidelines (in law known as protocols) which we must adhere to. Equally there are set rules and guidelines (set out in the specific protocol) which the Defendant should adhere to. If the Defendant fails to adhere to the protocol then we can take the necessary action.
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Unfortunately, in the UK we tend to experience some pretty confusing weather; for example, one day it might be bright sunshine and the next we open the curtains to a blanket of snow! With the constant change in temperature from one end of the scale to the other, it isn’t really that surprising that our pathways and roads are in the state that they are with many holes, cracks and bumps appearing overnight.

However, this is the problem when you come to make a claim for injuries caused by these defects – as can the highway authority or council really be expected to know and repair defects that appear this quickly?

Injuries caused by falling on these types of defects can range from the minor cut to the knee and bruised elbow to broken bones and possible permanent issues so how come these cases can be so difficult and unfortunately can last for quite a long time?
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This isn’t a very easy question to answer. I can tell you that most straightforward claims can traditionally settle in around 6-9 months time. BUT – a new portal system that most claims are now pursued through is designed to allow for a speedy resolution to straightforward accident claims.

Before the new portal system, for most accidents the insurers would have almost 4 months to investigate a claim. Now they have just 30 business days. If your accident occurred on or after 31^st July 2013, it’s likely your claim will fall within this new portal system. There are a few exceptions, the biggest being road accidents as they have been under a separate portal system since April 2010.

So if your claim falls within the new system, it’s hard to say how long it can take as the whole process is so new.
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Public transport has grown in popularity over the recent years as the government has invested a lot of money in improving services to try and divert people away from using cars as much as possible. However, just because you are not in your own vehicle does not mean you won’t be involved in an accident and unfortunately you can find yourself sitting comfortably on a bus and still walking away with an injury.

So who is liable for a bus accident?

If the accident is due to another vehicle being careless then 9 times out of 10 you will pursue a claim against this person as they are at fault for the accident. Therefore, if you are involved in an accident with another vehicle at fault it is important to either obtain the other vehicles details at the scene of the accident (usually just the registration plate is required) or obtain the bus companies details and contact them afterwards to obtain them (or of course the police if the collision has required their attention).
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Claiming for personal injury can be quite a daunting experience for many people, especially if they are suffering from a serious injury that has now changed their lives for the foreseeable future. However, it really isn’t as scary as people may think. I won’t say that it is a simple thing to do as at the end of the day pursuing for compensation is commencing legal proceedings and consequently you do have to keep this in mind. Furthermore, a claim cannot be successful without the Client;s co-operation and therefore although we will do the majority of the work for you, sometimes you will be required to gather evidence, attend appointments and simply help out.

As of July 2013 there are 2 main protocols in place for personal injury claims depending on the type of accident that you have been involved in and the value of that claim. The first is if you have been involved in a road traffic accident, and in this instance your claim will likely proceed through the road traffic accident protocol that was brought in back in 2010. This protocol was put in place to speed up the process of claiming for a road collision. The stages in this protocol are as follows:
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There are commonly two types of compensation available to Claimants of personal injury. These are compensation for (1) General Damages and (2) Special Damages.

How does General Damages differ from Special Damages?

General damages compensates the Claimant with any loss which occurred as a result of the injury. This is straightforward and includes things such as pain and suffering, disadvantage in the labour market and where daily tasks can no longer be carried out. In a settlement the general and special damages are settled by the Claimant (or more likely their solicitor) and the Defendant’s representative to recover the costs. If a settlement is not reached, a court can award general damages by looking at all of the consequences of the case.
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The Work at Height Regulations 2005 made special provisions for working on ladders.

Are ladders banned?

The regulations do not ban ladders but attempt to make the use of them safer.

How are ladders safer than before?

Ladders can only be used at height where your employer has risk assessed it and found that they are low risk and that they will be used in a short amount of time (between 15-30 minutes) or there is a fixing on site which cannot be altered.

The ladders must rest on a surface which must be able to support the ladder. No surface which is likely to move or is unstable is acceptable. The rungs should be horizontal and remain horizontal when in use. Ladders should be placed so that they are stable when being used. Suspended ladders should be secured so the position cannot move and it doesn’t swing.
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I’m not kidding when I tell you that it’s genuinely quite scary that we take on such a huge volume of claims for personal injury compensation caused by people falling and tripping on defective or missing manhole covers. Personally I don’t walk over them in the street. I’m not superstitious – I’ve just seen the extent of the damage that can be caused.

If you are injured because of a missing or defective manhole cover, you may be entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation. But what about if the manhole cover is on your own property? Can you still make a claim? It all comes down to the circumstances, notice to those responsible, and the duty that is in place to make sure the area is safe.

Rented Property

Starting with a rented property, it’s normally the case that the duty to ensure that the cover is safe will fall with your landlord. They normally have the overriding duty to make sure that the premises is, from a structural perspective, safe to use. So if you injured yourself due to a defective or missing manhole cover on a rented property, you will normally pursue your landlord.
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Even if you have been lucky enough to never have been involved in an accident, you might still get calls and texts from companies claiming that they have now valued your claim and they can tell you exactly how much your claim is worth. But it’s generally worse after you have had an accident because somehow your information gets passed around.

It’s a lucrative business and there are claims management firms and lawyers out there who will not leave you alone until you use their services. They will call, and call, and call, and call, and call, and call etc. Our advice about this is simple – don’t panic, and just ignore them, and block their numbers.

How they get your information

It can be from anywhere. You may have used an online calculator to see how much your claim is worth. All it takes is a name and a phone number and you’re on their system. Perhaps you called a company to ask for some advice and they traced your number and they have passed your details around as well.
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