In short the answer is “yes, you can claim compensation for minor injuries.”

Unfortunately in law it is never quite so simple. By that I mean that different law firms may have different criteria that need to be met for that law firm to take your case forward. In theory you can claim compensation for very minor injuries; however if your pain and suffering only lasted for a day or a week, or in any event less than a month, then the value of your claim could be less than £1,000. This ultimately may mean that a law firm cannot act for you in your case as a law firm may not be able to recover legal fees if the claim is worth less than £1,000. This is the reason why a firm may not take such a case forward. However this does not necessarily mean that you cannot claim; you may have a small claim which you can bring yourself, for example.

Read More

Wherever you work and whatever industry you work in, if you have to lift and carry anything at all, you should receive proper manual handling training and any manual handling tasks should be properly risk assessed and supervised. Everyone in our office is trained – the rules apply to everyone.

But one such industry where manual handling training is often inadequate or not carried at properly, or at all, is the catering industry. There are a lot of temporary and part time workers, and a lot of staff come and go in short periods of time. But this is no excuse. In fact, there is never an excuse.

So if you are injured when lifting and carrying in a restaurant, cafe, bar, or other catering environment, can you make a claim for personal injury compensation?

Read More

Stairs, for fairly obvious reasons, are a common cause for accidents and potentially serious injuries if you fall down quite a considerable height. Navigating stairs and steps is made much safer with the use of handrails and banisters to hold on to in the event we lose our footing. I suffer from a condition called foot drop which means I can be fairly unstable when walking, so I’d be in a lot of hot water if there are no handrails.

But back to the question at hand here – what if you trip or lose your footing and you’re injured specifically because there is no handrail or banister to grab hold of? What if you fall down a full flight of stairs because you were not able to grab hold of anything to save yourself from falling?

Read More

A suspended sign in a supermarket, a wall mounted sign on the side of a building, or perhaps a sign erected on a pole – if either of them fall and hit you, it’s likely you will end up with some form of injury; normally to the head.

So if you are the victim of a falling sign that has caused an injury, what are you rights when it comes to making a claim for personal injury compensation? Is there any way you can make a claim against whoever is responsible for the sign or the premises you are in?

Read More

Toilets are prime locations for slipping accidents and people making a claim for personal injury compensation having being injured in an accident. As you can imagine, water (and perhaps other liquids!) are spilled on the floor and can naturally result in a person slipping and falling.

So if this has happened to you, what are your rights for making a claim for personal injury compensation?

Read More

Winter is what I like to call “pothole season” because they’re far more likely to occur in the colder months. Generally speaking, a pothole is formed when water seeps in to cracks in the surface and then freezes and expands in low temperatures. This causes an extreme amount of pressure to build up in the concrete and can cause it to crack and break.

Over time, the hole normally will deepen and deepen. As such, cold weather is a common catalyst for the creation of pothole, divots, and other defects that cover our highways and paths.

So what happens if you trip and / or fall because of a pothole? Or what happens if you drive over a monster of a hole and end up with an injury?

Read More

If you have been injured after tripping over a raised manhole or drain / grate cover, you may be entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation.

Perhaps the cover was loose and had raised up, or was defective and a lip has been created. Either way, if it is not properly flush with the ground and it’s an obvious tripping hazard, there is a duty on whoever is responsible to take reasonable steps to prevent this from happening.

So what are your chances of winning a case?

Read More

Not only is it extremely embarrassing, but the injuries that you can end up with if you sit on a chair or a stool and it simply collapses beneath you can be serious. If this happens in a public place like a shopping centre, supermarket, cafe, restaurant, bar, or pub (to name a few), you may be able to make a claim for personal injury compensation.

What we need to do is get to the bottom as to exactly how and why this has happened.

Read More

If you’re in a shop or a supermarket, or any other public place, if you get your foot caught on something sticky on the ground, it can easily cause an accident and an injury. Perhaps standing on some spilled product in a shop could suddenly cause your foot to stick and result in you losing balance and falling to the ground, or perhaps twisting your knee.

If this has happened to you, you may be entitled to make a claim for personal injury compensation.

Read More

Whilst it of course all depends on the actual circumstances of an accident, there are certain common scenarios where it’s normally easy to establish who is to blame.

The basic principle of a junction is that the driver established on the road should expect to be able to proceed without anyone pulling out from a junction in to their path. At the same time, a driver merging on to the new road from a junction must give way to vehicles already on the new road.

If someone pulls out from a junction and ends up either in your path or pulls out in to your vehicle, causing a collision, you should be able to make a full claim for personal injury compensation from the other drivers insurance.

Read More