Any injury can end up being debilitating – but when it’s a vital limb we use as part of our everyday lives, the things we are normally able to do can end up being severely restricted.

A trip over a dangerous hazard or a slip on a wet floor can leave you falling to the ground, and doing what we all do when we are falling – instinctively put out your arms to break your fall! Whilst this vital instinctive defensive mechanism can minimise the damage to your body, you are likely to suffer a hard knock at the very least, if not a break in any area of your arm caused by the impact of the fall.

The common injuries we see here are fractures and dislocations to the wrists, fingers, and elbows, unless you’re luck enough to escape with soft tissue damage instead. The soft tissue injuries you can get can be equally as damaging and may leave you feeling tender for quite some time. If you suffer from ligament damage you could be in an even worse position as many ligament ruptures can be impossible to repair, leaving you needing some from of reconstructive surgery.
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If you’re reading this article I’m guessing you are wondering what on earth the pre-accident protocol stage of my personal injury claim is?

The pre-accident protocol is designed to make straightforward PI claims quicker, easier and more cost efficient to settle, and avoid the necessity of going to court where possible. The protocol helps govern how claims are processed by the solicitor handling the claim until settlement or going to trial.

Once a lawyer is instructed to act on your behalf, and we have informed you that there is a good chance your claim will be successful, a letter of claim is sent to third party who we believe to be responsible for your injuries. This letter contains details of the circumstance of your accident, the allegations of what the party did wrong, the injuries you sustained in the accident, and that we are acting on a No Win, No Fee basis, and finally a list of documents they will need to provide us in the event the claim is disputed.
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The Commons Health Select Committee debated the question as to whether the PIP implants are actually classified as ‘unsafe’ remains unanswered. Two reviews are looking in to scientific evidence of any risk the implants pose, as well as assessing the regulation within the cosmetics industry, and also reviewing the reaction and steps that were taken following the notification that the implants were dangerous back in March 2010.

As many of you are fully aware, we have only really been finding out about all of this n the last few months – two years on from the initial notification!

The conclusions from the reports remain unclear. According to the Committee, there is “no evidence of likely long term negative health effects attributable to PIP implants.” However, the advice goes in to say that “the quality of evidence available does not allow definitive conclusions to be drawn.” Further research is therefore a requirement to confirm whether the use of the silicon in these implants poses any health risk to the victims who have them.
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Yes – the clinic director who said that women were simply being “whipped into a frenzy” and claimed that the PIP Implants were not unsafe is now having her own set removed, according to sources from the Daily Mail. Mrs Beryl Atkins, the director of the Transform clinic, one of the big users of the implants, said there was “no evidence in the UK that PIP implants could rupture or cause cancer.”

In January this year she said “I have had PIP implants for five years and I’ve never had any problems. We’ve used them on a number of women and we haven’t had any complaints. People are being told they rupture and cause cancer but in the UK there’s no evidence for that. As a result there’s a mass panic. We have had no ruptures though.”

She added “it seems wrong that women with PIP implants are being whipped into a frenzy even though there’s no evidence they are dangerous.”
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We are already aware that many clinics have not been too friendly or helpful with the PIP victims to date – our source of information on this is dead on as well; our very own clients. It also seems that the idea of legal waivers is not only a growing concerns amongst victims who want their implants removed as soon as possible, but also an increasing trend amongst the clinics according to our clients.

But what is just as hard to stomach as this whole scandal is the idea of any clinics taking advantage of the worried victims to increase their profit margins. According to British Association for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), some clinics are trying to bully the PIP victims in to further unnecessary surgery, sources from the BBC have confirmed.

Clinics are cross-selling other procedures and services to PIP victims using scare tactics to convince them that further treatment could be a necessity.
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Whiplash injuries can cause people much distress, pain and an inconvenience. Here at The Injury Lawyers we know too well about the terrible effect whiplash can have on our clients. The injury does not only affect your health, but it can also affect any aspect of your life which can sometimes cause great difficulties. If you have suffered or are suffering from whiplash I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about.

Most people do not realise that they can claim compensation for a whiplash injury, they just think that the pain will eventually go away and everything will be ok.

However, most of the time whiplash injuries can last up to 6 months and if you have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligent actions you are entitled by law to claim for compensation.
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In April 2010 a new system to deal with road traffic accident claims was introduced and has made claiming quicker and more straightforward.  Before April 2010 the claims process could be a little bit slow – it could take nearly 4 months for the Defendant to admit liability in the most straightforward of cases, and then could take several more months, maybe a year or so, to get settled.  Now you could have your claim settled in just a few short of months!

Under the new system, if you have been involved in a relatively straightforward road traffic accident you will need to submit what is called a Claim Notification Form.  If you have the right injury lawyer on your side they will do this for you.  In any event it is quite straightforward and just outlines what happened in your accident and details those involved.

Once ready, this gets submitted online via the Ministry of Justice Portal to the Defendant’s insurer who has just one business day to acknowledge it.  The Defendant’s insurer then has a further 15 business days to come back with their position on liability – in other words, whether they admit or deny fault for the accident.  Compared to the old system which could take several months, this is a vast improvement.
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If you are a passenger in a motor vehicle which has been involved in a road accident and you have been injured, we have a little good news for you; you are entitled to compensation and your claim has one of the best prospects of success and should not take long at all.

It is very unlikely that as a passenger you were to blame for the accident you were involved in.  You would have had to have been distracting the driver or doing something along those lines to be considered in any way at fault.  If you were in the vehicle whose driver was not at fault for the accident, you are almost certainly going to have a successful claim. 

Likewise, even if you were in the car that caused the accident, you probably won’t have been at fault and again are almost guaranteed a successful claim.
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A lot of people rent properties nowadays – and a lot of people end up with difficulties with landlords. Whilst I am sure there are many decent and upstanding landlords out there, my experience with many of them is that they will try and charge you for anything that goes wrong in the house – even if it’s not your fault!

But one of the really important things is the health and safety behind renting a property. Your landlord has an extremely important duty to ensure that your health and safety is not jeopardised whilst you are living in the property. Regular systems of inspection and maintenance should be carried out by your landlord in order to uphold this.

Anything that is associated with the agreement you have is covered by the laws. If you rent a fully furnished place, then it’s not just the building itself that has to be safe for you to live in – it’s the fixtures that came with the property as well! What is your responsibility and the landlords responsibility should be clearly identified in your tenancy agreement, so you know who is responsible for what.
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You should know from the outset of your claim that without medical evidence and without knowing precisely what losses you have suffered as a result of the accident your were injured in, it is nigh impossible to properly value your claim.  This is because a medical report is the only source of information that an injury lawyer can value you your claim from and because your related losses can have a significant effect on the value of your claim.

A medical report provides a diagnosis of your injuries – in other words, what your injuries are and the extent of these, and also provides a prognosis – an idea of how long a medical expert believes you will suffer from your injuries for.  The general rule is that the more severe your injuries and the longer they last, the more your claim will be worth.

In terms of losses, there are many heads of losses that you can claim.  For instance, if you have had to have time off work because of your injuries then you can make a claim for any monies that you have lost out on.  Likewise, if you have had to pay any travel costs getting to and from a medical appointment or have had to pay for medication, these costs can be claimed from the Defendant. 
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