Prior to April 2010, if you had been involved in a road traffic accident and you were pursuing a claim for compensation, the other side were allowed a period of 21 days to acknowledge your claim, and a further three months in which to investigate it. 

What this meant was that a straightforward low value road traffic accident could potentially take 9 months or more, when in truth, it could be resolved far sooner – possibly within a month to 6 months.  The Ministry of Justice acknowledged this, and in April 2010, introduced a new system to deal with low value road traffic accident claims with a value below £10,000.  The new protocol means that the negligent third party’s insurer must now admit or deny liability within 15 days of you making your claim – once the final claim pack is submitted to the insurers, a period up to 35 days is the normal amount allowed for the claim to be settled.  Ultimately, claims that were taking up to 9 months to finalise can now be settled in around four to six.

A year on from the inception of this new protocol for low value personal injury claims, it has become apparent to us at The Injury Lawyers that we are seeing earlier admissions of liability and we have been able to settle our clients claims much more swiftly.  So, if you have been involved in a road traffic accident, this should be encouragement enough should you be having any doubts about making a claim for compensation.  Here is a brief guide to the process.
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Whiplash can be an extremely painful and frustrating condition. Sufferers can also have a lack of understanding from others – this may be due to the fact the condition is not so plain to see as a head injury or a broken bone. At The Injury Lawyers, however, our approach is entirely different as we talk to many of our clients on a daily basis and hear how the condition is affecting all areas of their life.

Whiplash is caused by a sudden jolting to the head, which causes the neck to move beyond its normal range – thus damaging tendons, nerves and/or muscles in the area.  We most commonly see whiplash injuries as a result of road traffic accidents; however, it can also be caused by falls, especially those from a height.

Symptoms
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The Exeter Express & Echo has reported that a 54 year old employee of the Dolphin Fish Bar in Exeter has been injured whilst at work having slipped on some oil which had seeped out of the container it was in.  The unfortunate victim, Ms Susan Risk, suffered burns to 20% of her body.  As a result of the accident, the owner of the fish and chip shop, Ding Choy Yau, was fined £10,000 having been found to be in breach of health and safety regulations that are in place to stop this kind of accident from happening. 

It was found at court that the container holding the oil was not fit for purpose, and that Ms Risk had not been provided with any training, as is required by law, so that she knew how to properly handle emptying the oil from the fryer.  Furthermore, it was found that the Dolphin Fish Bar had failed to provide Ms Risk with work equipment and clothing for the role – again something employers are required to provide by law.

It is important and well worth knowing that your employer is under several strict legal duties to ensure that when you go to work you are fully and properly prepared for any tasks you are required to carry out.  This means that you must be fully trained in your tasks and that you must be supplied with the right work equipment where necessary.  Your employer is also required to ensure you work environment is safe.  This means carrying out risk assessments and making sure that any defects highlighted are remedied as soon as possible.
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Supermarkets can be one of those places where we end up spending a lot of our time. That is why it is so important that they are a safe environment for us to shop in, whether it is with children in tow or on our own. For the majority of people, shopping in the local supermarket goes by uneventfully – but for the small minority, accidents can happen. If you have been involved in an accident that was not your fault, then you may have a claim for compensation.

Supermarkets like anywhere else have a duty to protect their customers as far as is reasonably possible from harm. They must abide by strict health and safety standards and ensure that all the staff are also trained in maintaining these high standards.

You may feel that bringing a claim against a huge corporation such as a supermarket will be too difficult, costly, and time consuming to do; however, this simply may not be the case. All claims, whether they are against one person or a huge corporation, run in the same manner, and if you get the right solicitor on board, there should be no costs at all for you to bear.
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Whiplash can be a funny old injury – and I don’t mean “ha ha” funny, I mean strange and unpredictable funny, with many sufferers going through all sorts of weird and wonderful side effects and symptoms.

Whiplash really does affect different people in different ways. Yes – if you are involved in a high speed collision with a high velocity impact, it’s likely you will suffer more than if you were involved in a low speed, low velocity impact. But that being said, two different people in the same accident can end up with entirely different levels of whiplash severity and symptoms.
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We take on countless accident at work claims on a continuous basis. You’d think that with all the health and safety rules and regulations we have in place to protect us that there’d be far less of work accident claims being pursued through our legal system. One of the major problems and reasons they keep occurring is the lack of understanding and respect for the rules and regulations we have in place.

So, you’re injured in a work accident through no fault of your own, and you think you are entitled to some compensation. Firstly, contact a quality injury lawyer to find out if you have a claim. Secondly, and turning to our question at hand here:

YES – MAKE A CLAIM
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After what may have been a traumatic accident, you may feel too fragile to consider making the decision regarding which law firm to instruct on your claim; especially with the high number of firms out there all wanting your business. With the wrong law firm on board, the whole process could become more drawn out and a greater hassle than it needs to be – this is why it is advisable to do your research and choose the best law firm, for you, from the outset.

I have listed some important things to look out for when researching law firms:

1. 100% of your compensation – you should make sure that on settling your claim you obtain all your compensation with no deductions or hidden charges. This is an item which can be checked on a firm’s website, but also should be checked before agreeing any no win no fee contract. If you are unsure you, should ask your lawyer directly.
2. No fees to you – you should make sure that you are not solely responsible for the solicitors’ costs. Solicitors’ costs are the fees they charge for the time spent on your case. A good place to check this can be to see if the solicitor’s costs are restricted. Solicitors’ do not always get all of their costs on a claim – so, if it doesn’t specifically state that your lawyers costs are restricted to whatever they recover from the other side, they can come to you for the remainder.
3. Service Standards – firstly, check to see if the law firm even has any policies on client care – if not, this may tell you a lot about the firm. If they do have policies, then ask about them, and they should be happy to tell you. At The Injury Lawyers, for instance, we have a policy of updating our clients every 2 weeks and returning client calls within 24 hours, if we are unable to return it the same day.

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Many of you reading this will probably have a general idea as to what a claim for compensation entails. But do any of you really know what it is? I mean, what it really is?

The old stereotype of the man falling off the incorrectly provided ladders, or the lady slipping on the wet floor where no signs had been placed, is just microscopic view of the claiming world. There are so many ways you can end up injured, and end up having a valid claim.

So – to answer the question, I suppose it’s best to ask another question:
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Whiplash is one of those conditions which can be undermined and overlooked by many. One reason for this may be that it is not so plain to see as a broken bone or a laceration – so many people can discount it. At The Injury Lawyers, we take the exact opposite approach; we know the severe pain it can cause, as well as the devastating effect it can have a person’s professional, social, and domestic life.

Symptoms

The symptoms of whiplash can vary from person to person – they can include:

• Pain, stiffness and/or tenderness of the neck
• Swelling of the neck area
• Headaches
• Pain radiating to the shoulders or even down the back

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OK – so we do have a lot of health and safety rules and regulations to comply with nowadays. We have training manuals to read, instruction videos to watch, and endless amounts of forms to sign to confirm we have thoroughly digested the information we are exposed to. But – has it really gone mad? Are we doing too much?

I think this is one heck of a hot topic for debate. Personally, I side with the sensible approach, whilst maintaining the importance that even the “little things” simply cannot be missed. Yes – we all have an obvious duty to look out for our own personal wellbeing – so there are instances when an accident really is the fault of the injured person (or just no one at all!) through a lack of common sense. But, if the necessary checks weren’t in place, and the required training was never completed, people’s health and safety is easily at risk.

I agree – there is a lot of red tape around it – but it’s far better to have it there than to not have it in place. For example:
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