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Injuring ourselves can be quite an easy thing to do – there is a lot out there we can cut and bruise ourselves on! And of course when the injury is through no fault of our own, then a claim for compensation can be brought against the person or company deemed responsible for the incident.

But what exactly does this cover? Well, to be honest, it can cover absolutely anything we injure ourselves on! I would never have thought a simple zip could be the cause of an injury to a young child’s face, but according to sources from the Daily Mail (source), it certainly can…
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A woman died in a London health club when a lift that she was exiting suddenly fell and stopped between 2 floors, dragging her between the wall and the side of the lift. The woman was freed by the fire crew and rushed to hospital however she later died from her injuries.

The BBC reports that Mrs Katarzyna Woja was killed in the accident which happened in 2003 and the trial was due to begin on 09/03/10 at Southwark Crown Court. However, the company responsible for the maintenance of the lift, Thyssenkrupp Elavator UK, have now pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that people not in their employment were not exposed to safety risks, failing to maintain the lift properly in accordance with their obligations and failing to adequately investigate the cause of previous failures; offences which fall under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
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It’s always sad to hear of instances where people are seriously hurt in accidents or incidents that were not their fault; and even more so when the victims are infants or children. But what’s nice to hear is when justice is finally served, and the victims of negligence receive the payouts they duly deserve!

So in a combination of the above, does anyone recall the Maclaren buggy cases? We at The Injury Lawyers have actually authored a few blogs on this story, and we are pleased to report that according to sources from Sky News, UK victims of the defective pram – that caused the infant users to sustain serious lacerations, fractures and in some cases complete amputation at the end of the finger – from the dangerously exposed hinges of the fold up push chair will receive compensation for their suffering!
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My colleague today wrote an article on this very same subject – dog attacks and the consequences they have on the lives of the victims involved. They seem to be quite common in the news recently, and today I came across a story of a violent dog attack in which the owner and his accomplices actually joined in the assault!

According to sources from The Mirror (source/), 41 year old Scott Lomas suffered severe injuries when he attempted to stop a Staffordshire bull terrier from fighting with a dog tethered outside a newsagents when this vicious and unprovoked assault began. The unleashed animal ran up to the tethered dog when the owner and his accomplices, rather than stopping the fight, approached the tethered dog and proceeded to kick it, according to the wife of the victim, Michelle. “My husband tried to stop them and told them to get their dog on a lead.” She said, “As he got in the car, they slammed the door on his leg. He confronted them. My husband was jumped on by one as all three moved towards him. He bit Scott’s face on the eyebrow, almost ripping it off.”
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We think we’ve seen it all when it comes to strange mishaps on the road and then you read something else that makes you think in amazement…”Just how did that happen?”

One of my fellow colleagues wrote an article just a few months ago regarding the scary incident whereby a woman’s vehicle became trapped on the front of a lorry and was pushed along for 1 mile before the lorry driver noticed what had happened!

Well, on browsing today’s news pages I couldn’t help noticing a small article on the BBC News website titled “Mystery of US dangling vehicle” (BBC News Source).

How could you not be intrigued to have a look at the latest road wierd and wonderful road mishap?!
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The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) are looking at proposals for reducing the cost of NHS claims over the next year. Muiris Lyons, was quoted as saying, “We as lawyers owe a wider duty to society to ensure that the cost of claims remains both proportionate and reasonable… We can’t ignore that there are significant costs to the NHS. We know how the system works and can improve it without restricting access to justice for our clients.”

A recent report by the NHS Litigation Authority highlighted that in 2008/09 the NHS paid out over £807million in compensation claims.

It is also claimed that costs spiral because the NHS takes too long to settle claims. Medical negligence lawyer, Russell Levy, spoke about the NHS unwillingness to speed up claims in a recent BBC news story (source). “They (the NHS) hope the harder they make it and the more they discourage people, they will go away,” he said. “By the time they accept the inevitable, it costs much more than it should.”

It will be interesting to see what action APIL proposes to help speed up the process in the coming months ahead.

Several High Street retailers have been ordered to pay compensation, by a High Court Judge, to customers who suffered chemical burns after purchasing their leather sofas.

It is expected the total compensation amount to be paid will be around £20 million. Around 2,000 people made claims against Argos, Homebase, Walmsleys and a clutch of other, smaller high street retailers after the goods they had bought were found to contain high doses of the chemical Dimethyl Fumarate or DMF.

Unfortunately, those who had similar problems after purchasing their “toxic sofas” from the now defunct ‘Land of Leather’ could not claim after their former insurers, Zurich, argued that Land of Leather had breached the terms of its insurance policy.
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A young soldier, who had his leg blown off while serving in Afghanistan and had received around £200,000 in compensation for his injuries, witnessed his own Mother appear in court yesterday over fraud charges that she allegedly stole more than £10,000 of his compensation payout.

Angie Woollard, 43, was given power of attorney over her son’s compensation payout. Private Matthew Woollard, 20, of 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, was awarded around £104,000 and £42,000 in compensation plus £45,000 from an insurance policy.

Private Matthew Woollard received his compensation payout after standing on a landmine during a patrol in Helmand Province back in May 2007 which tore off his right leg below the knee.

Magistrates bailed Angie Woollard on condition that she did not contact her son or any other witnesses. The case will resume case on June the 8th at the Crown Court.

You may be aware of this next story; an event that set the scene for a moving battle for 19 families whose children were subject to birth defects due to the poor clean up of a former steelworks site, causing toxic chemicals to affect pregnant women. Well according to sources from the BBC, the fight is finally over as the long legal battle between the families and the council has been settled successfully out of court (BBC news story).

So here’s a quick analysis – a case study if you like – of this story from the contents on the BBC article:
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Remember the Toyota recalls that have plagued the news in recent months? I myself wrote an article on the subject, given the relation to the business of personal injury we at The Injury Lawyers are the experts in! Well according to sources from the BBC, Toyota is facing further recalls in the midst of news about the Lexus manufacturing halts, which are again manufacturing defects in  nature (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8626668.stm)

According to the report, the Japanese car giants have recalled more than half a million Sienna Minivans in the US over fears that the spare wheel is liable to corrosion! This latest recall of around 600,000 is said to affect models between 1998 and 2010 where the spare tyre carrier suffers corrosion, meaning in the “worst case scenario” the wheel could come detached from the vehicle.
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