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If you have had an accident at work, what are the ins and outs of making a claim? Do you have the right to make a claim? Are you worried about what your employers will say if you make a claim? Will you have to pay to make a claim? Here’s some general advice about all three of those very common issues.

Do You have a Claim?

There are loads of workplace regulations. If you have been injured because one of these important regulations has been breached, you may well have a claim for compensation. Your employer has a very important duty of care to look after your health in the workplace. If you are injured through no fault of you own, we may be able to help you make a claim for compensation.

So to find out if you have a claim, you will need to call us on our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75.
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Most people nowadays try and do their little bit to be as green as possible. In our office we have a policy of naming and shaming those who leave their monitors on at the end of the working day – it’s something we check each night before we close up. With our continued efforts to be greener, and given the ridiculous price of fuel, many are taking to the streets on bikes as a cheaper and more environmentally friendly mode of transport. And I guess it’s healthier too.

But in the stressful streets of the UK as one of the hardest working countries in Europe, our roads are bursting at the seams with traffic during the rush hours as busy commuters rush to get to work on time. Many drivers don’t keep a proper look out for cyclists as it is – but at 8am in the morning when we’re tired and grumpy, we’re even less alert than we should be and accidents can easily happen.

That’s why we have a pledge to fight as hard as possible to make sure that any innocent cyclist who is hit by a negligent driver receives the compensation they deserve. We often find that injuries can be fairly serious given that you don’t have the protection a car offers when you are riding a bicycle.  That’s why our bespoke way of working is designed to not only compensate you for your injuries, but to get you the best private medical care we possibly can.
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Well, actually its 110% compensation for you! I’ll explain how that works:

April 2013 saw the biggest shake-up to the personal injury claiming world in its entire history. For a long time now we have been able to recover all of our legal fees directly from the other side, meaning you keep all 100% of your payout. Sadly the government in their infinite wisdom decided to change the rules…

The rule changes mean that we are no longer allowed to recover a success fee or ATE (After The Event) insurance premium as part of the fees from the opponent. The success fee is a fee that reflects the risk of the case, as we ultimately take on many claims on a No Win, No Fee and do not get paid as the other side can successfully defend them. The ATE is there to protect you from having to pay your own disbursements if you can’t recover them or your opponents costs.
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In case you’re not aware, insurers don’t want to pay you out! In fact, they’ll stop at nothing to try and either prevent a payout or limit a payout as much as possible. That’s why we injury lawyers are needed to make sure that the justice you are entitled to is fair. Dealing with an insurer for a claim directly is therefore a massive no no.

So if you’re wondering why an insurer may not pay you compensation, or wondering whether they will believe your claim, here is a little advice about the way insurers think and what reasons they may use to try and stop you from receiving compensation.

Firstly, if there is evidence that could be used in their favour to try and defend a claim, they will rely upon it. Even if it is weak they may still rely upon it because a lot of courts nowadays are more in the favour of Defendants than Claimants. That’s a bold statement, but it is my personal opinion. Also, most people don’t want to go to court. Whilst most cases are settled outside of court, we can never guarantee whether you may need to attend or not. Insurers can use the fact that you may be shy or nervous about court action to their advantage. If you don’t look credible in court, the Judge is likely to side with your opponent.
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A lot of people use specialist equipment at work to help them do their jobs as efficiently as they can. For the topic of this article I’m going to focus on those of us that use equipment like cranes, or hand tools as opposed to us office folk who rely upon the trust stapler and pen.

What happens when you are at work and you are injured by faulty equipment? Can you make a claim for compensation?

The responsibility of all work equipment lies with your employer. So if something goes wrong with it, it is your employer’s responsibility. In fact, there are regulations that say that an employer can be strictly liable for faulty work equipment. What this means is that if you are injured because work equipment becomes faulty, even if there was absolutely nothing your employer could have done to prevent it, they may still be liable.
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We take on a lot of claims for people who have tripped up whilst out and about. It’s fairly common for people to ring us up and ask for our help because they have tripped over a raised drain or manhole. The injuries can be devastating – in the majority of occasions you land on a hard floor and end up fracturing something.

Because fractures are typically fairly serious, most people end up facing time off work and therefore lost earnings, a serious lack of mobility means you need lots of help around the house, and a stint of physiotherapy. It’s a serious enough situation to be in to warrant making a claim.

The big question is, as always – do you have a claim?
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So you have had an accident, instructed a firm of Solicitors, established an admission of liability, and you are ready to settle your case.

As soon as your solicitor has finalised the value of your compensation claim, they will immediately send the evidence, including a schedule of special damages and medical evidence to the insurer of the person at fault for your accident.

The third party representatives will review all documentation in support of your claim. Judicial college guidelines are used to correctly value your injuries along with previous case law.

Your legal representative has a duty to inform you of any offer put forward and will manage the entire negotiation process on your behalf in order to settle your claim fairly and quickly.
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If you are pursuing a personal injury compensation claim then you probably want to know the possible value of your claim (i.e. how much compensation you will receive). You may receive something called a “pre-medical offer” from the Defendant.

A pre-medical offer is simply an offer to settle your claim before you have been examined by a qualified and professional medical expert. It’s important to note that the Defendant is not being nice or amicable by making a pre-medical offer; it’s more than likely they’re only trying to save themselves some money.
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If you have fallen down a manhole or stepped on a manhole cover that was defective, sustaining injury, then you may be able to make a claim for compensation. Some people tend to walk around manhole covers for no apparent reason. Considering the number of claims we deal with involving manhole covers, this is probably not a bad idea. However at some time or other we have all walked over manhole covers. We expect the cover to be safe as it forms part of the pavement.

The companies responsible for the manhole cover are under a duty to ensure that the cover is safe. There is a duty to ensure that passers-by are not injured due to a defect or missing manhole cover. It is often the water board, electricity board or local council who is responsible. To ensure that the cover is safe and remains safe, a system of inspection should be in place. This means that the manhole cover should be inspected regularly and if necessary, repaired or replaced. As soon as a defect is found it should be repaired as soon as possible. Obviously if a defect is found and it cannot be rectified immediately, there should be some warning of the hazard. We would expect the manhole cover or manhole itself to be cordoned off.
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I’m not much of a fan of train stations. There are too many people rushing around to catch their train in time, and they’re way too cold in winter when you need to stand around and wait for your (probably late) train. As a specialist firm of personal injury lawyers, we’re used to dealing with a wide range of claims for compensation; accidents in a train station are fairly common.

When you break it down, there are some strikingly obvious reasons why they are so common:

• People are rushing around.
• There are no bins in train stations to prevent terrorist threats; means most litter ends up on the floor!
• Most stations are not fully covered; the floor can end up easily wet in periods of bad weather, or it can be walked in by rushing travellers.
• The sheer volume of people means there is a likely greater chance of spillages and floor hazards; baggage on the floor can be a tripping hazard as well!

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