Had an accident and suffered an injury through no fault of your own? Here’s a quick step by step guide as to what you need to do to make sure you have the best chance at making a successful claim for compensation.

Do you have a claim?

If you have been injured through no fault of your own, you might have a claim for compensation if there is someone else, or some company, responsible for what has happened to you. Give us a call on our free claims helpline on 0800 634 75 75 and we can usually assess your claim in minutes of the call starting.
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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is caused by compression of the median nerve which goes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist. Sufferers are likely to experience tingling, numbness and pain in their hands.

Other less specific symptoms can include loss of grip strength which is more characteristic of arthritis. The National Centre for Biotechnology Information say that the most common cause of CTS is typing, but there are other causes. It is strongly believed that genetics are a factor.

People who suffer from CTS may note that the tingling and numbness in their hands often occurs at night. Sleeping positions such as sleeping on your side may be an associated factor. Some sufferers note that the pain caused disturbed sleep.
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Historically the law did not always allow any claim for wrongful death, or any claims by the dependents, as the right of action was held to have died with the victim.

The right of dependents to bring an action was first brought into being by the Fatal Accidents Act 1846. The law was consolidated with the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 and significantly amended by the Administration of Justice Act 1982.

The executor or administrator of the estate can claim for the losses suffered on behalf of the estate. Such claims would relate to the following:

1. Pain and suffering of the deceased prior to death;
2. Any financial losses incurred by the deceased prior to death;
3. Funeral expenses.

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Losing a loved one is a harrowing experience. This can be intensified when the incident involves an element of negligence on behalf of a third party. In the event a loved one has lost their life as a result of negligence (e.g. some sort of preventable incident), the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (‘the Act’) may apply should the need arise to make a claim for compensation.

The Act allows a claim to be brought against a negligent third party, if that act caused or contributed to the death of your loved one; despite the fact that your loved one has passed. To be successful, under the Act, it would need to be proved that any ‘wrongful act, neglect or default’ occurred which would have given your loved one entitlement to maintain a claim and recover damages from that third party.

By way of example, this could be circumstances relating to a work place accident; a negligent act made on behalf of a medical professional, or a road traffic accident attributed to negligence.
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Everyone knows that patience is a virtue; but a very common question we get here at The Injury Lawyers is how long will my claim take?

There is no absolute right or wrong answer to this question as every claim is as different as the person making it; in fact even if the same person makes two claims they won’t necessarily have the same facts or get the same amount of compensation.

While it is difficult to say that a claim will last an exact amount of time, we are able to give guidelines as to how long your claim should take if all goes well. When you claim with us at The Injury Lawyers we will always work as quickly as possible to progress your claim toward the best settlement possible for you, and we say that on straightforward claims this can be done in as few as 6-9 months.
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Industrial deafness is a form of industrial disease. If you are suffering from industrial deafness then you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Noise in the workplace is a significant hazard. Historically employers were not aware of the dangers of noise exposure. This led to a cut off date in terms of bringing a claim for industrial deafness. The Courts have ruled that you cannot bring a claim for compensation for industrial deafness where the exposure to noise occurred solely before 1963. Where exposure occurred partly before 1963 and partly after 1963 then may be entitled to bring a claim, however any damages would have to be apportioned accordingly.

To give an example of this consider that Joe Bloggs was exposed to noise between 1960 and 1966. The first period (i.e. between 1960 and 1963) would be classed as non negligent exposure and therefore Joe Bloggs will probably not be able to recover compensation for exposure to noise during this period.
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Health and safety is of course vitally important. But it is also incredibly frustrating at times as well. We can all see that health and safety rules are necessary, such as in the workplace or at certain attractions (such as theme parks etc).

However health and safety rules sometimes seem ridiculous and this had lead to numerous people commenting that we are a society that has gone “health and safety mad”. When you contrast the workers of previous decades to the workers of today, you can see how things have changed. Obviously a lot of changes such as having protective clothing, hearing protection, hard hats etc have been welcomed and rightly so.

Health and safety rules have recently surfaced in the press again. In fact the BBC published an article on the 10^th September 2012 regarding ministers’ plans to exempt thousands of businesses from health and safety inspections.
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If you are suffering from Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) caused by your employment then you may be entitled to make a compensation claim. Note that HAVS is also commonly referred to as Vibration White Finger (VWF).

VWF can be caused by excessive exposure to the use of vibratory tools. The symptoms of VWF differ depending on the severity of the condition. Some symptoms can be quite severe, such as loss of grip strength, resulting in sufferers being unable to hold a cup for example. Sufferers also experience increased difficulty with cold weather including whiteness of the fingertips.
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The Government have recently advised that in April 2013 routine health and safety inspections are no longer to continue on business premises that are considered to be of low risks. This new suggestion is part of the Government’s plans to remove or change more than 3,000 of the current health and safety regulations.

In the reformed plans, businesses that are deemed as high risk such as construction sites and food productions, or businesses that have a poor track record, will still be inspected for the purposes of health and safety. It has been said that establishments such as pubs, clubs, shops and offices are no longer to be subject to the inspections.

The new plans have been backed by the business minister Vince Cable stating that the reforms to health and safety will allow businesses to focus on creating jobs and wealth rather than “being tied up in necessary red tap”.
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Slipping on a wet floor may seem to some people like a sketch from a slap-stick comedy film but for those people who have ever had the misfortune to be the victim of a fall on a wet floor, it is not a source of humour. In fact the instances where accidents of this type happen can be the cause of a lot more than embarrassment or bruised ego and can cause serious injuries.

If you are the visitor to a public place then the owners of the building in which you are visiting have certain responsibilities to keep you safe from harm under the Occupiers Liability Act. This includes not exposing you to the danger of being harmed – a good example of this danger would be a wet tiled floor on which you could slip and fall.

The Occupiers Liability Act says that building owners have to take proper measures to protect you from these risks – in the case of a dangerously wet floor you should expect to find warning signs, cones, cordons or other means designed to stop you walking across the surface of the floor until it was dry and safe to do so. Although a claim may be more difficult to progress if these measures were in place the fact that a sign was put up would not necessarily prevent you from claiming if for some reason it was not clearly visible to you or there was more that should have been done. In any event if you feel that the measures taken to protect your safety were not adequate you should contact The Injury Lawyers for expert personal injury advice.
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