The building industry can be a dangerous place to work and many workers in this industry are contract workers meaning that they work on numerous sites from week-to-week which they may not necessarily be familiar with. When builders are contracted to work on a particular site they must adhere to the health and safety rules and procedures on that site.

For example, builders may be responsible for making sure any scaffolding erected is safe. There is also a responsibility to keep tools and equipment out of traffic routes where they may cause obstruction for other people to trip on – whether it’s a colleague or a member of the public. When working on site there may be other firms of contractors on site or other workers who work at that particular site on a permanent basis. This is why contractors are required to have an induction and health and safety briefing before commencing work.
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A concertina collision is a collision commonly involving three or more vehicles in which one vehicle shunts in to another with such a force that the same vehicle is in turn forced into the one in front. It isn’t a scenario where Car 1 hits Car 2, and then Car 2 Hits Car 3 – it’s a collision where the force of being hit in the rear causes a vehicle to be pushed in to one in front.

Therefore, generally speaking, if you are the front or middle vehicle, you shouldn’t be at fault. As the middle vehicle, if you are stationary and you are hit in the rear and in turn pushed in to a car in front, you are not at fault. Your stationary vehicle has been pushed in to another – the driver that hit you is liable for damages for both you and the vehicle you have been forced in to.
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If you go to a public place like a supermarket or a bar, restaurant, or a shop, the occupiers of the premises have an important duty under the Occupiers Liability Act to take all reasonable steps to look after your health and safety as a visitor to their premises. When it comes to slipping hazards, this is generally achieved by having a system of inspection and maintenance which aims to reduce the risk of someone slipping on a wet floor hazard.

Claims under the Occupiers Liability Act are inherently difficult to win because most places nowadays do uphold their duty to take all reasonable steps. As I said earlier, a system of inspection and maintenance can be classed as taking reasonable steps.
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Just this week I wrote about almost being in an accident when a driver cut me up on the exit of a roundabout. Last night the same sort of thing happened – but more to do with the wet weather. So I thought I’d do a quick blog about compensation claims and wet weather.

All drivers ought to know that extra care needs to be taken during periods of wet weather. The road surface is slippery and water may have accumulated in puddles or fords which pose a serious risk of skidding or aquaplaning, losing control, and crashing. A driver cannot really use the excuse that of ‘the weather’ to defend a claim – if a driver fails to stop due to skidding or losing control of the vehicle in wet weather and hits you, they are still at fault.

Last night a driver decided to cut me up and change lanes in front of me to avoid a ford that had accumulated in the road in his lane – he obviously didn’t realise that, firstly, I was there, and secondly, the water was in my lane anyway! So when I had to almost slam my brakes on and completely lost all vision as his car kicked up a tidal wave that covered my entire windscreen reducing my vision to literally nothing (it was like being in a car wash), I think avoidance of a collision was left to fate.
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How much are you entitled to claim for if you sustain injury to your knee? Well it all depends on the nature and severity of the injury. When it comes to knees, they can range from a simple twist and strain that leaves you uncomfortable and limping for a few weeks, to ligament ruptures requiring surgical reconstruction and a permanent weakness. It really all does come down to the nature of the injury.

The only way to properly value a knee injury compensation claim is to instruct an expert lawyer and see a suitable expert for a medico-legal appointment. A report from the appointment will then be used by the lawyers to value the injury.

But in the meantime, here is a little guidance based on the official guidelines that are used to value knee injury claims:
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I’m going to discuss the duty your employer has when it comes to working in an environment where a wet floor is common in the workplace.

Say you work in a car wash, or a water plant, or somewhere where the floor is likely to be wet. If this is the case, then can you claim for compensation for slippingon a wet floor at work?

After all, if the floor is wet because of the nature of the business, what can your employer do to prevent an accident occurring? For that answer, we turn to the relevant legislation…
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Roundabouts are natural hotspots for accidents. Even the most confident of drivers can struggle with staying in the correct lane on a roundabout they’re not familiar with, and drivers also have a tendency to join a roundabout without correctly checking for oncoming traffic.

The major problem with roundabout accidents is that, on occasions, it can be difficult to tell exactly who is at fault. If someone goes in to the back of you on the entrance to a roundabout, or someone pulls out on you whilst you were already on the roundabout, the other driver should be at fault. But what about if the other diver changes lanes on a multi-lane roundabout and hits your vehicle? Or what if you go in to the back of someone because they sharply pull across you and cut you up?

In these circumstances, you may need to rely upon any of the following to prove your case:
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.For the purposes of this article I am going to discuss the law that is applicable for an accident involving a works vehicle. I’m going to cover what happens if you are injured because the vehicle is broken or defective as oppose to a general road accident – unless the accident was caused due to a defect.

A vehicle provided by your employer is classed as work equipment, and is therefore subject to The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. This hugely important piece of legislation puts an important duty on your employer to make sure that work equipment that is provided to you is, in essence, safe to use.

I will quote some of the important parts of the regulations:

5.1 – “Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.”

5.2 – “Every employer shall ensure that where any machinery has a maintenance log, the log is kept up to date.”
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Whilst the majority of road accidents are fairly easy to resolve when it comes to establishing who is at fault, accidents involving roundabouts and lane changing can sometimes prove to be difficult. Unless you have an honest Defendant driver who is willing to hold their hands up and accept they’re wrong, or unless you have an eye witness evidence or CCTV on your side, it could end up being one word against the other.

For the topic of this blog I will discuss people cutting other drivers up on roundabouts at exits. It came to me because just this morning a lunatic with a caravan decided to stick to the outside lane when going right round a roundabout. He/she therefore drove straight across my exit. Thankfully, being what I’d class as a fairly experienced driver with a keen eye for hazard spotting given my line of work, I clocked that he/she was going to do it way before the vehicle cut across my path. I had more than enough time to come to a halt and bang my horn in frustration at him.
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By this, I’m talking about where an insurer approaches you directly to settle a claim, but you are wise enough to get a lawyer and make a claim the proper way. If you do this, could you end up with less compensation with the lawyer?

It’s never guaranteed whether the pre-medical offer could be beaten, but here are the facts surrounding pre-medical offers based on industry knowledge and our clients own experiences…

Why make a low offer?

Pre-medical offers are offers made by insurers to save themselves money. An insurance company’s duty is to their shareholders – that’s to maximise profits to maintain their shareholders return on investment. To do this, they need to save money; and to save money, they need to pay out as little as possible to accident victims. So don’t let them fool you in to thinking that they are doing this to get you a quick settlement right away.
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