Some people will have you believe that making a claim for compensation is difficult and ultimately not worth the effort. Well, if you have been involved in a road traffic accident and sustained injuries, being compensated for these injuries is actually very straightforward – many cases can be over and done with in a few months.

The first stage of making a car accident claim is straightforward, as we submit all the details of your case to a ‘Claims Notification Form‘. 

This form, which is submitted online via the Ministry of Justice portal, outlines things like the accident date, details of the accident, vehicles and drivers involved. 
Read More

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; there really are countless rules and regulations that your employers have to abide by in order to uphold health and safety legislation in the workplace. Ultimately, your employers attitude towards safe workplaces and conditions has a significant impact on someone very important in the firm; you!

Your employer must do everything they can reasonably and practically do to ensure that your workplace and working conditions are safe and hazard-free. This comes down to everything – the floors you walk on, the desks you sit at, the warehouses you carry boxes round, the equipment you use, and the equipment provided to you to assist you to stay safe in your job.

The focus of this blog is the workplace itself.
Read More

Many would agree that a person under the age of 18 is not suitable to bring a claim for compensation on their own accord.  Sure, you may get a few mature 15, 16, 17 or 18 year olds who could probably do so; but a child of the age of 3 or 4 could not, nor a child of 10.  As such, a child, or a ‘minor’, i.e. a person under the age of 18, cannot bring a claim for compensation of their own accord. 

However, this is not to stop them claiming for compensation.  They can either wait until they are 18 and make a claim any time up until they are 21 years old, or a ‘litigation friend’ can do so on their behalf.  At The Injury Lawyers we would suggest that, where a child is particularly young or it would be a couple of years until they are 18, that they have a litigation friend to act on their behalf in making any claim for compensation.  This is because we consider that the longer you take to make the claim, the less fresh the events are in your mind; there is a greater likelihood that evidence will be lost or witnesses will be either untraceable or less reliable.

What is a litigation friend?
Read More

There are loads of different workplace rules and regulations that your employer is legally bound to follow. There are so many in order to fulfil their purpose of protecting employees in the workplace. It is the responsibility of your employer to take all the necessary actions to ensure these rules and regulations are upheld; this is achieved in several ways, namely the two most common methods:

• Risk Assessments
• Training

Risk Assessments
Read More

Personal injury and how to claim may seem like a daunting prospect to grasp at first; particularly when it’s riddled with crazy legal jargon and terminology. It will come as no surprise when I tell you that accident victims can be easily overwhelmed and disheartened at the idea of claiming. When paired with the substantially traumatising experience of the accident itself, victims are often left feeling angry, alienated, and cheated.

But fear not! Help is at hand, in the shape of our genuine No win, No fee agreement, shouldering the burden and pressures which accompany claiming for compensation, giving you the time and priority needed to focus your attentions on more important issues, such as your speedy recovery.

After information about your claim has been received, our primary action is the creation of a letter of claim which states the critical information surrounding your accident. This is sent to the third party defendant (person or company at fault). From here the third party defendant has a period of three weeks with which to pass this letter of claim to any relevant insurers, insurance brokers, or solicitors who represent them, or confirm they are dealing with it themselves.
Read More

After experiencing a brief ‘Indian summer’ in late September/ early October, the weather is now turning cold again and it surely won’t be long until we are reaching for those hats, scarves and gloves in preparation for the, if the past two winters are anything to go by, seemingly inevitable deluge of heavy snow and ice.

The past two winters of 2009 and 2010 are said to have been the coldest in the UK for over 100 years, so not many of us will remember many worse winters. The cold weather bought with it heavy snow and ice, which lead to a huge increase in accidents and resulted in extremely busy periods for personal injury lawyers, such as ourselves, who were inundated with new claims and advice enquiries.

But how easy is it to make a claim against a local authority for compensation following an accident as a result of snow and ice? Well, the answer is unfortunately not very easy at all and this is illustrated in the case of Rhiannon Pace V City and County of Swansea 2007. In this case the accident victim was injured in a Road Traffic Accident caused by black ice on the road. It was accepted by the Judge in this case that the accident was caused by the ice, however he ruled that the local authority had not been negligent. When considering this case, the Judge considered two questions, the first of which is: Was the local authority’s winter maintenance plan proper and reasonable?
Read More

Cosmetic surgery is on the rise, and that comes as no surprise given the media / social pressure on people and their appearances these days. In particular there is increasing pressure on celebrities to look their best at all times – God forbid them leaving the house without a face full of make-up and dressed in their scruffs – the ‘paps’ would have a field day!

I can certainly see the attraction of surgery, if I had the choice I’d look like Cheryl Cole … I mean, who wouldn’t?! But have the extremes people go to for that “perfect” look gone too far?

Take for example the new reality soap The Only Way is Essex; where cosmetic surgery is the norm as the majority of the female cast have had different work carried out including, nose jobs, teeth enhancements, breast enlargements, and more recently there is even talk of bum implants! Additionally a recent episode screened a botox party where the guests were encouraged to undertake the treatment.  Since the show there was reportedly a huge increase in surgical enquiries; presumably individuals wanting to look like the celebrities they see on screen.
Read More

I’m sure we all remember the lessons we were taught in school about crossing the road safely. Stop, look, and listen! Whilst there are several crossing we can use, there are still accident claims that we take on on a daily basis that involve innocent pedestrians being hit by vehicles whilst using a safety crossing, such as a zebra crossing.

The thing is, zebra crossings are perhaps not as safe as a crossing where there are lights to stop traffic moving. There are those lovely big orangey / yellow balls which are usually clear to see; but apparently, drivers still miss them.

So, what can you do if you have been injured from being hit by a vehicle at a zebra crossing?
Read More

At The Injury Lawyers, our experience of people who have been injured through no fault of their own in road traffic accidents is that they want to be compensated as quickly as possible. 

This is not because they are impatient, but because having a damaged or written off car is bad enough, and they are now further suffering as a result of their injuries, and just wish to get better and get back to where they were as soon as possible and forget about what happened.

Just short of two years ago, the compensation claiming process for road traffic accidents could be described as a little arduous.  This is because, even for straightforward accidents it could take nearly 4 months to get an admission of liability, and then several months thereafter to sort out a medical report and settle your claim.  Fortunately, since 30 April 2010, this has all changed: under a new protocol for low value injury claims arising out of road traffic accidents, being compensated has got a whole lot faster.  Here is a quick guide:
Read More

If you have been involved in a road traffic accident which was not your fault then it is highly likely that, if you have been injured, you will be able to make a claim for compensation. 

For instance, if someone has collided into the rear of your vehicle and you have sustained whiplash then you will probably have a claim; or if you were a passenger in a car which was involved in a collision, again you are likely to have a claim.  In most circumstances it would be the Defendant’s, that is the negligent third party’ insurer who would pay you this compensation.  But what happens if the Defendant was not insured? Does that mean you cannot be compensated?

Well there is always the option of suing the Defendant directly, but in all likelihood they won’t be worth suing – in other words, they don’t have any money to recompense you with, and so it would be a waste of time.  There is, though, another option – to make a claim from a compensation fund held by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (‘MIB’).
Read More