Claims against the hospital – commonly medical negligence claims – are bound to be more sensitive that most personal injury claims.

We are fortunate in our country that we have access to the National Health Service (NHS) but we are still entitled to make a claim if we have sustained injury or have been adversely affected as a result of medical negligence. A first thought is that it can seem harsh to sue the NHS, given that it provides medical treatment free of charge and in theory it is only there to help people who need treatment.

On the other hand people pay taxes and in effect it is these taxes which run the NHS – so ultimately it is a debate in itself whether it is a free service. Another point is that the NHS, as with a private company, has insurance in place for the sole purpose of paying out compensation to injured victims. The fact is that there is no shame in making a compensation claim; if you have sustained a genuine injury as a result of medical negligence then it is your right to claim. The insurance the NHS has is actually more of a self insured department called the NHS Litigation Authority.
Read More

To begin with, it may be best to consider what a whiplash injury actually is. Whiplash is an injury to the soft tissue in the neck, back and shoulders area where the tissue is stretched and strained after the body is thrown or jerked in a sudden, forceful movement. This is most common in car accidents.

The symptoms of whiplash commonly include pain in the neck, back, shoulders and arms. Other effects include dizziness, nausea and more often headaches. Although whiplash can be quite minor and resolve after a few weeks, more serious circumstances mean that you could be suffering for up to a year.
Read More

Let’s get straight to business on this one – a Pre-Medical Offer is not something that should be taken lightly. As the name may or may not suggest to you, in the world of personal injury claiming, this is an offer made to a Claimant (you if you are making a personal injury claim) to accept a sum of money in settlement of a potential claim.

It is usually made by the other parties’ insurers and it is an offer made before you have been for a medical assessment of your injuries. By medical assessment, we mean a legally, organised one – not a visit to your own GP! The aim is to get you to settle your claim before you have had your medical report.

Right now you should be asking yourself the question, “if I’m claiming for an injury but I haven’t had a specialist look at it then how do I know how bad it is?” The answer is that you don’t.
Read More

How do you know who the best injury lawyers in the UK really are? Well luckily we can answer this question for you – because we know exactly what it is you should be able to expect from a quality injury lawyer to make sure you get the best service and the maximum amount of compensation possible.

Naturally, as we are The Injury Lawyers, a firm of specialist personal injury only lawyers with years of compensation claiming experience behind us, we do all we can to make sure that what we do is better than the rest. And to be honest, we can prove that it is (in our opinion).

It’s easy to start by simply understanding what it is a person needs when they are making a CLAIM for compensation.
Read More

Supermarket cages (also known as roll containers, roll cages, roll pallets etc) can be a danger to you, whether you work in a supermarket or simply shop in one. Unfortunately many accidents involving supermarket cages have happened in the past and continue to happen to date.

The Research Report 009 titled “Safety of roll containers” describes a roll container as follows:

“Roll containers are half pallet-sized platforms, with four running castors and with a wire cage used to contain goods during transport. They may be used to transport goods in a lorry between a warehouse and a retail store for instance or within a supermarket to transport goods from the store room to the sales floor.”
Read More

Most people would agree that the manufacturing industry is not what it once was – certainly not in the Steel City where I grew up. However, that is not to say that there is no heavy industry anymore and many people still go to work in factories every day. Most modern factories will of course involve certain types of machinery which the law calls “work equipment”.

Work equipment is any machinery, appliance, apparatus or tool that you use at work for your role. This may be something that your employer has provided or something that you have brought to work yourself. If you are using it as part of your employment then it is classified as work equipment. Work equipment is not the same as personal protective equipment (i.e. gloves, boots and safety helmets) and the two are dealt with by separate regulations.

There are specific rules and regulations that your employer must follow to make sure that you are safe when using various types of work equipment. These regulations are the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and these set out all the responsibilities that an employer has toward his employees.
Read More

Everyone looks forward to their summer holidays – sun, relaxation and usually a healthy dose of alcohol! There aren’t many things that sound better to me personally.

However, while holidays abroad are all well and good, if something goes wrong and you are a long way from home, what can you do about it?

If you have booked a package holiday in the UK and have suffered an injury in your accommodation or in a place where the company that you booked with were looking after you then you may have a right to compensation through the Package Tour Regulations 1992.
Read More

Last month the Government has been advised by the Transport Select Committed that there has been a rise in fatal deaths from road traffic accidents for people aged 18-25 years old. This has been the first increase of death in over 10 years and has therefore put the issue in the media.

Fatal road traffic accidents are the main killer amongst the 16-24 year old bracket. The rise of deaths has been shocking – an increase of 12% in pedestrians and a rise of 6% of cyclists and motorcyclists.

The rise in figures has been blamed on the current Government for scrapping the national targets and comments have gone so far as to say that the Government is not dealing with road safety as a top priority.  As a result of these comments the Government has announced that they will publish their road safety strategy later this year.
Read More

The two words in the title of this blog are often used by insurance companies in personal injury claims; they can be seen as accusatory and are often misunderstood, and many people bringing a claim see them as two very big words.

Contributory Negligence is often used by insurers or Defendants (any person who a claim is brought against) in order to try and reduce the damages that they will have to pay to the innocent victim.

The way it works is that the Defendant will admit that they were at fault for the accident BUT allege that the Claimant (the injured person bringing the claim) was at least partly responsible for their injuries. To clear a common misunderstanding a Defendant cannot use this to say that the accident was the Claimants fault – there is no such thing as 100% Contributory Negligence. In fact the law was altered as long ago as 1945 to stop this happening.
Read More

We all know how unpredictable life can be and that – especially with accidents – it is very difficult to know what is going to happen next. This doesn’t mean that we can’t try and prepare though and we should all take care to minimise the potential effects of any accident; this is especially true in the workplace.

If your job involves any type of risk to your health then your employer should issue you with items that will minimise the risks where possible – these items are known as Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE. Types of PPE include: Respirators, Protective Gloves, Protective Footwear, Goggles, Hi-visibility clothing and any other item designed to be worn or used for your health, safety and protection.

In cases where the risks to your health and safety cannot be adequately controlled through other measures then PPE becomes a legal requirement under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992. These regulations say that employers are responsible for providing, replacing and paying for personal protective equipment as well as training you in how to use it safely and effectively.
Read More