A whiplash injury is caused when you experience a sudden jolt or movement in your neck and it causes the soft tissue in the neck to be stretched and strained. Although whiplash does normally just affect the neck area, it can also cause great pain and discomfort in the shoulders and back.

Physiotherapy treatment is the most common rehabilitation treatment for this type of injury and is usually recommended by your GP if your symptoms are persistent as taking painkillers long term is not an effective way of treating a whiplash injury. However, in many cases, a course of painkillers will be sufficient for minor whiplash injuries and will see the client through until they have recovered. Therefore not all clients will need a course of physiotherapy.
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Now, this may seem bizarre, but there has been an increase in the road traffic accidents which are caused by either no road markings or faded road markings.

The maintenance of the roads and road markings are usually the responsible of the local highways authority and therefore an accident caused by lack of or insufficient road markings would normally be directed to them.

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 the road must be reasonably safe to its users. If the road markings, or lack thereof, has caused an accident then the highway authority has not carried out its duty to the proper standard. The Highway authority must institute a proper system of inspection and maintenance of the carriageway and ensure there are sufficient warning signs or other items to warn the public and road users about the hazard caused by the defective carriageway.
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Being a passenger in a vehicle that is being driven by a person who has been drinking does not mean that you can’t make a claim for personal injury if the trip ends in an accident.

In general, as a passenger in any vehicle which has been involved in an accident, you are an “innocent party” in the accident in that you were not driving either vehicle and therefore cannot be held in any way responsible for the accident. Unless you did something daft like pull on the handbrake or purposefully make the driver have an accident.

However, in circumstances where you have got into a vehicle, knowing the driver of the vehicle is under the influence of alcohol, you can be held contributory negligent (partly responsible) for any injuries you sustained as a result. It is seen that you have knowingly put yourself at risk and therefore should be in some way responsible for the injuries which have been sustained.
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Well there are two notable things to point out here; firstly, as it’s an injury at work, if it was caused through no fault of your own then it is likely you have a good chance of succeeding with a claim. The reason for this is that there are numerous health and safety rules and regulations that employers must abide by, and if we can prove that they have breached at least one of them, making a successful claim is a possibility.

The other thing to point out is that it’s nigh impossible to value a claim for personal injury accurately without proper medical evidence and a fully qualified personal injury lawyer, like us, to value the claim. Other than that, the other thing to note on the topic of the injury and its potentially worth is that ligament injuries to the knee is a very broad term.

Basically, the more you suffer and the longer you suffer the more compensation we get for you. If you are suffering for 9 months, you will likely receive more compensation than if you were suffering for just one month. If you have ruptured multiple ligaments in your knee, requiring you to have reconstructive surgery, months on crutches non weight baring, and a heavy stint of physiotherapy, you will likely get more compensation than if you have just strained ligaments in the knee that required you to hobble, albeit painfully, for a few weeks with the hope of a full recovery in a couple of months.
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Really, the best advice we can give is for you to just be honest! The point of the medical appointment is to allow a suitably qualified expert to produce a medical report that confirms the nature, extent, and impact of the suffering that has been caused to you as a result of your accident / injuries. It should also confirm how long you will be suffering for as well.

So really there is no right or wrong answer – you just need to advise the above. The expert will judge what’s reasonable; i.e. don’t try and cheat the system by saying your whiplash stopped you from being able to go to work because it was too painful to move! Whilst this can happen in severe cases, you would need medical proof that it was silo bad it stopped you from even being mobile!

The expert will know what to ask you anyway, so you shouldn’t need to worry too much. They will look at your relevant medical history and records, and ask how the injury has affected you in all aspects of your life; socially, domestically, at work, etc. They will also examine you to see if there are any noticeable symptoms that they can write about in their report as well – like your back still being stuff, or limited ranges of movement.
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Accidents at work can be extremely serious- especially if you work with dangerous equipment. Injuries can be extremely debilitating and can even affect future employment opportunities. Although many people know they are entitled to compensation and may be in desperate need of it to cover loss of earnings, medical expenses and other such losses, many are hesitant to claim against their employer.

However, employers know that, unfortunately, accidents are a part of life and although all steps can be taken to avoid them, it is sometimes unrealistic to think that one is never going to happen. For this reason, employers are obliged to have Employer’s Liability Insurance under The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 and they can be fined if they are not found to have a valid policy in place – (this is different to Public Liability Insurance which is sometimes optional).

This ensures that, if an employee is injured in the workplace, the employer will be able to meet the claim for compensation should they be eligible to make one. Usually, this means that the claim is between us and their insurance – for example the majority of the time the employer will receive the letter of claim (this is the first letter that is sent from us detailing the claim) and pass it straight across to the insurance and then it is them that we will correspond with- not your actual employer.
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With the ever increasing number of vehicles on the roads, the most vulnerable road users are more and more at risk. Some of the most vulnerable are probably motorcyclists, and often, when involved in a road traffic accident, their injuries can often be serious and very painful.

It is important to remember that compensation should be sought not just for personal injury, but also for related losses.

We are aware that riding a motorcycle is an expensive form of transport, and accidents could result in damage to the rider, the motorcycle itself, and the rider’s safety equipment, such as Helmets, which should always be replaced if they are damaged in an accident, and leathers, which are often invaluable in providing protection against additional injuries which could be incurred in an accident.
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Chemicals can be inherently dangerous to all of us. One of the world’s most famous industrial disasters occurred in Bhopal, India in 1984. In this disaster toxic gas leaked from a pesticide plant and the actual number of resulting deaths is disputed.

Government figures state that around 3,700 people died as a result of the incident, although some estimates claim that as many as 8,000 people have died since as a result of the toxic gas. This alone is an example of just how dangerous chemicals can be.

A chemical accident refers to an event resulting in the release of a substance or substances that are harmful to our health and or to the environment. Such events include explosions, leakages or the release of toxic materials that can cause illness, injury and death.
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Very common question we get here at The Injury Lawyers; but the answer is not so easy to give you. I will try and be brief with this blog so you can get an insight in to how we find out what your claim is worth, and why I can’t tell you now!

There is only one foolproof way to value a claim for personal injury compensation – by seeing a qualified medico-legal expert who produces a report, and by having an expert personal injury solicitor to assess the report and value the claim.

This is the way to truly find out how much the claim is worth.
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Your claim for compensation will consist of two types of damages. General damages are the part which covers the compensation for your actual injuries, pain, suffering and loss of amenity. Special damages are things that you have had to pay for as a result of the accident. These are recovered as part of your claim.

There are lots and lots of things that clients can claim for, with the most common losses incurred as a result of an accident being:

• Loss of Earnings
• Travel Expenses
• Medication Expenses
• Care & Assistance

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