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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To be honest, the thought of a chemical burn is pretty frightening. If you have ever seen the film Fight Club, you might know what I mean. But when it happens to someone, and you are badly injured as a result, what can you do?

As with any situation, if the injuries or accident were caused through no fault of your own, but through the fault of someone else, you may be able to make a claim for personal injury compensation. With chemical burns, this is particularly important as the damage done, both superficially and internally, can be significant.

We have seen many instances of what chemical burns can do to people. We have seen the devastating effects it can have on a person’s life; and that’s why we are here to fight for justice for anyone injured through no fault of their own. There are naturally a lot of things to consider:
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We get a lot of enquiries from people who have been persuaded by insurers to deal with their personal injury claims directly with them. It’s a common problem in the claiming industry, and it’s known as Third Party Capture. Basically, the insurers of the party at fault will contact the innocent victims direct and offer to deal with the personal injury claim without solicitors.

They will tell you that it’s quicker, easier, and you’re cutting out the middleman; and by claiming directly with them, they will give you a little more money as they will save themselves a fortune on not paying legal fees.

But what you have to ask yourself is, in the grand scheme of things – why would they do this?

It’s literally all about saving money. I doubt very much that they will offer you an extra £1,500, which is generally what the solicitors’ legal fees will equate to. In fact, it’s unheard of as far as I’m aware. But the main thing you have to realise, which is something you might not have considered, is the fact that you have nobody fighting your corner for the case. In fact, you entirely at the mercy of the insurers who are liable to compensate you.
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We all reply upon equipment to do our jobs; some more than others, depending on the type of work you do. One thing I can confidently say from personal perspective is that I personally cannot stand most equipment! We rely upon it to do our jobs, and then it never works right and always breaks! Yes computers – I’m looking at you!

I won’t pretend to know too much about computers, but what I do know is they love to crash, break, and cause an absolute nuisance to us guys who rely upon them! Although I must admit I’m currently sat at a colleagues desk with a huge chip on my shoulder, writing this blog because our server is having serious issues and it’s fallen upon my personal computer as the one that our techie server guys are using to try and resolve the problems.

But back to the point of work equipment claims – when I’m talking about compensation claims, I’m talking more about people being injured as a result of faulty or inappropriate work equipment; not the stress caused when your networks and servers go haywire! In many industries, work equipment can be very dangerous indeed; with exposed machinery, cutting tools, extremely hot heating machines, etc.
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Cosmetic surgery is becoming increasingly popular with youth today due to the ‘need’ to look good and therefore there has been a noticeable rise of claims resulting from cosmetic surgery.

The issue of cosmetic surgery has been in the media this week with the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons calling for a ban on advertisement for cosmetic surgery to those under the age of 18. The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons want to prevent celebrities advertising the surgery who may be idolised by youth and to prevent all special offers on surgery as a way of protecting the vulnerable and discouraging people with the full process. 

The Government has taken real note of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons request and has announced that the Department for Health will be reviewing the regulations concerning cosmetic surgery. Already there have been twelve recommendations which have been sent to advertising regulator, the Committee of Advertising Practice, to consider.
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Often at the outset of a claim people will want to know how much compensation they are likely to receive. Solicitors can sometimes give very basic and straightforward estimates but at the outset you should be aware that it is impossible to value a claim with any accuracy.

Any value given is simply an estimate which cannot be relied upon. If you understand how claims are valued then you will realise why Solicitors cannot give accurate valuations at the outset.

So how are personal injury claims valued?
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For many reasons I imagine – but all generally revolving around one thing – legal expenses insurance (hereafter referred to as LEI)! For actual law firms like us, there is nothing more disheartening than when clients are taken in by this system and ultimately potentially deceived. LEI is a straight forward system but benefits usually only two groups of people – the insurers and solicitors!

Legal expenses insurance involves your insurers (like your car insurers) SELLING your details across to a solicitor who will then use a percentage of their costs to pay for your details in the first place. For example: a solicitor may pay your insurers £1,000.00 for your details which is then taken away from the amount of funds they have to run your case. The next question of course though is how does this make your claim go slower?

Less funds =  less phone calls, letters and less work being done on the case. Importantly – less fighting for the highest payout and therefore LESS compensation for you!
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This is indeed a very important but tricky question. It is often best explained in the form of a scenario. Say for example you are in your local supermarket stocking up on those essential goods and you are unfortunate enough to slip on a wet floor.

Now, if there is a clearly visible wet floor sign in place which you should have seen, then it could be difficult to claim compensation for any injuries that you sustained. However, every case is unique and studied on its own facts. Say for example a wet floor sign was erected and was clearly visible but you failed to notice it because you were looking down at your mobile phone as you were walking. In this situation a Court would probably say that the store took all necessary precautions to warn you of the hazard and therefore there was no potentially negligence.
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