Tripping over can be seen as a minor mistake which may, if you are with friends, be the cause of much laughter. Now, in the event this trip is not your fault and is brought about by the negligence of another, with this negligence causing you to not only fall but to injure yourself in the process, it is not a joke, and it could be the basis of a claim for personal injury.

Many clients have to come to The Injury Lawyers after having suffered the unfortunate injustice of tripping over due to another’s negligence. These clients may have suffered serious injuries such as fractures, lacerations to areas such as the head, or perhaps concussion.

Trips can happen in all sorts of places – for example they may happen whilst walking down the street and there may be a defect on the walkway which causes you to trip. It may happen whilst shopping in a supermarket as an item has been negligently left on the floor of an aisle, or the trip may even take place at work. Whatever the location, if the trip was not your fault and has caused you injury, you may have a claim for compensation.
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The term ‘Product Liability’ may at first seem like legal jargon for which you do not know what it means, and it may seem too complex to be bothering with finding out what it means. All it does mean however is that within a personal injury context, it is a product which has in some way caused you harm.

Products which appear on the shelves of our shops should go through a series of checks to ensure they are safe for the public to use. Now, for a product that causes you harm – these checks may not have been completed thoroughly, or the product may have been missed some how and not checked at all.

There are many potential claims for product liability. One of the first is due to faulty products. If you have received an injury due to a faulty product then you may have a claim for compensation. Examples of such an injury could be burns from a faulty hot water bottle bursting, an unsafe chair which causes it to collapse, or a child’s toy which may have not been suitable for that age group, and thus small parts have detached causing injury to the child. It may also include food items which have been contaminated and as such has caused you an injury or illness – an example of this may be that small pieces of glass has entered your product – this could be due to a fault at the manufacturers and their packaging process.
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For any drivers out there, you probably know where I’m coming from for this article. I do a lot of driving on a weekly basis which involves a long 40 minute to an hour commute on motorways to and from work twice a week when I visit my partner (she doesn’t drive – so it’s always me clocking up the miles!). In my time of driving I have had my fair share of near misses (me being blameless in all), and I unfortunately happen to go across a few roundabout well known in my area to be a bit of a hotspot for accidents and traffic jams.

Every time I see an accident or avoid one myself, it really hits home just how easy it is to end up involved in a road accident. For many it can be a little scary and confusing, as you just don’t know what to do, and you may have already been inundated with calls from your insurers, claims companies, and even solicitors you have never even spoken to offering you money and services.

Well – step back, take a breather, and have a read of this article for what you should be doing if you end up involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault.
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At The Injury Lawyers we deal with all sorts of accident at work claims. The focus of this blog, however, is personal protective equipment; or PPE as it is known for short.

PPE is equipment that is needed at work to wear or use in order to protect workers from risks to their health and safety. If you have suffered an injury due to a lack of/insufficient PPE, then you may have a claim for compensation, just like a worker I read about some time ago. This worker was employed by a car manufacturer to pick out metal debris from a coolant at the base of a drill. Now, due to this, the claimant suffered irritant dermatitis on his hands – an extremely sore and painful condition which meant he had to take time off work. The claimant successfully sued his employers for £5,500 as it was found the claimant was supplied with inadequate gloves for the work as they were pierced by the metal cutting. The employer could also have provided a better procedure of clearing the debris from the machines by implementing a vacuum extraction procedure. So, not only was inadequate PPE provided, but a better procedure all round could have even prevented the victims suffering.

PPE is only really meant as a last resort, whereby the employers have no other way of protecting their employees against the risks to their health and safety.  Regulations in the UK state that this PPE should be provided to employees free of charge and without any contributions having to be made at all. It is also the duty of the employers to ensure the PPE is correctly used; i.e. by way training, and to check that the PPE is maintained regularly and stored correctly.
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If you have unfortunately been involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault, and you have suffered a personal injury as a result, you may have a claim for compensation. During the period after your accident you may have incurred some expenses which we at The Injury Lawyers feel you should not be responsible for. After all, the accident wasn’t your fault, so why should you bear the brunt of any costs?  

Whilst we try and recover most of the costs back that you have incurred, all claimants must adhere to mitigating their losses: this means that claimants must make a genuine effort to keep their costs to a minimum. One example of this – if you have been involved in a Road Traffic Accident which has left you without the use of your vehicle and you need to travel, instead of taking a taxi, where possible, try and see if there is a cheaper option; for instance, taking public transport.  Also, make sure to keep any receipts that can back up the use of alternative transport. This then makes it easy for us to justify the expense to the Defendants insurers.

There are certain circumstances where the losses are justified – a common one we can claim back is your loss of earnings resulting from any time off work you have had to take from the injury, or  from attending medical appointments etc. This is seen as a reasonable expense to claim back. We would normally request that you send us at least 13 weeks’ worth of pay slips as evidence of your earnings.
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I bet a lot of you out there feel embarrassed or silly if you have a slip or trip in a public place; I know I do. But if the reason for your accident was caused by someone else’s negligence, we at The Injury Lawyers believe you may have a claim for compensation.

An accident can occur at any place or at any time and can cause serious injury. An innocent trip to the supermarket can sometimes end in a trip to A+E due to the carelessness of the supermarket! For example: failing to mop up spilt liquid on the floor can cause you or anyone else to slip on the hard floor and end up with a serious injury or broken bones.
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Shopping in supermarkets can be a chore for some and a point of enjoyment for others. People may enjoy the weekly visit to the supermarket to complete the ‘big shop‘ as there are a cheaper prices, a great many discounts, and everything is under one roof. Many people may dread that ‘big shop‘ due to the hassle of queues at the tills and traffic upon entering and exiting the expanse of the car park. Whatever your feelings on supermarkets it is the last thought on your mind that you will have an accident in one that was not your fault.

If the above is true and you have had an accident in a supermarket that was not your fault then you may have a claim for compensation. There are many potential hazards in supermarkets – these ranging from an item left negligently on the floor of an aisle to a spillage left negligently uncleaned on the floor. Supermarkets like anywhere else have a duty to protect their customers as far as is reasonably possible. Supermarkets must comply with strict health and safety regulations. Supermarkets must also train their employees in implementing safety procedures. These procedures could involve regular checks of aisles to make sure they are clear, a procedure for spillages, or training in how to safely stack food on to shelves to ensure they do not fall and cause an injury.

In the event you are unfortunate enough to suffer an injury within a supermarket there are a few important things to do. You should report the incident to a member of staff as they may need to fill in an accident book extract. You should check for any witnesses to the accident and obtain their contact details. Witnesses can provide valuable support to any later claim for compensation you may have. You should seek medical attention for your injuries as this not only assists with your injuries but also allows the medic to make a record of the incident in your medical notes. Lastly, you should seek the advice of a specialist personal injury lawyer. It is advisable that this is done directly with a law firm and not through a referral agent. This is because referral agents act as middle men and may simply sell your claim on to the highest bidding law firm and not the firm who will give you the best service.

With the roads seemingly becoming busier and busier it is no surprise that road traffic accidents are also on the increase. Once thing that can make the injustice of being involved in a road traffic accident that was not your fault even worse is when the other driver either reports he / she has no insurance, or he / she simply drives away.  This is a point of frustration for many of our clients here at The Injury Lawyers and very often we are approached by potential claimants who simply do not know if they will be able to bring a claim in these types of situations. It is estimated that approximately 23,000 people are injured and 160 killed as a result of an accident with an uninsured vehicle

Our answer to all these questions is usually YES. Many people are unaware that they can bring a claim when the other driver involved in an accident is uninsured or untraced; th claim can be brought with the Motor Insurers Bureau, or the MIB as they are known in short. This organisation was set up in 1946 and is funded by motor insurance companies which ultimately means they are funded by our motor insurance premiums – this has an estimated cost to us of between £15 – £30 per policy.

If you have been involved in an accident with an insured or untraced vehicle and it was not your fault, you may have a claim for compensation. If you have been involved in a road traffic accident it is important to report the incident to the police as they may need to compile a report; the MIB often request such details. It is important to check for witnesses, and if present, to obtain their contact details as they may well be able to provide valuable evidence for your claim. Seek medical attention for your injuries as this not only assists with the injury but also allows the medic to place a note in your medical records. Lastly seek advice from a specialist injury lawyer as they will be able to act on your behalf with the MIB on a no win no fee basis (always read the no win no fee agreement thoroughly before signing).

BBC News has reported that police forces across the country have paid out nearly £800,000 in compensation in the last three years to victims of dog bites by police dogs.  Astonishingly, one single dog bite victim received almost £50,000 alone in compensation.  The Greater Manchester Police faced the greatest payout, nearly twice as much as any other police force, with approximately £180,000 handed out in compensation.  In second place were the Metropolitan police with around £95,000 in compensation paid out.  The total compensation awarded compensated 2,725 suspects, 196 members of the police forces, and 155 members of the public who were bitten by police dogs.  The West Midlands police were accountable for the most amount of dog bite incidents, with 644 over the last three years.

Although these figures seem high, I imagine most of you would agree, and as the police themselves have suggested, that dogs are an important resource in the fight against crime.  That said, any incident which sees an innocent member of the public bitten by a police dog is far from satisfactory and must be avoided.  As the BBC News reports, one victim, Brian Kiddel, has described his dog bit as ‘the most frightening experience I ever had in my life’.  It simply is a position none of us would like to be in, nor would we want anyone to be in.  It is therefore welcome news that the Associations of Chief Police Officers Assistant Chief Constable Nick Ingram has stated that although ‘Police dogs are a valuable and essential resource which, when used effectively, make a valuable contribution to reducing and detecting crime and disorder and building safer communities’, the police are trying to ensure that ‘the training, deployment and management of dogs is constantly improved, devised and developed’.

Unfortunately it is not just police dogs that happen to bite innocent people.  In recent times there has been a substantial increase in the number of people being bitten by dogs throughout the United Kingdom.  Currently we have in place the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 which has banned certain, dangerous, categories of dogs, and it is well set out that it is the responsibility of the dog handler to ensure the safety of members of the public when the dog is unleashed.  That said, dog bites do still occur and it is important that if you have been unlucky enough to have been a victim of a dog bite, you do seek the advice of a professional injury lawyer who can advise you on a potential claim for compensation.
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I think many people feel that the process of claiming for an injury will be lots of hassle and will be too complicated and time consuming. If you choose the wrong lawyer, this may turn out to be a correct assumption. Our team here at The Injury Lawyers, however, aim to make this process much quicker, simpler, and hassle free to the injured victim.

At The Injury Lawyers our philosophy is that if you have suffered an accident and it was not your fault you are entitled to make a claim; and so you should be as you have suffered injury and what may be extensive financial losses due to the negligence of another person / company. We make this process hassle free by having a policy to update our clients every two weeks which takes the stress away from the client, allowing them to rest assured their claim is being dealt with as efficiently as possible.  This ensures our clients are updated and the claim is worked on a least every 2 weeks. At The Injury Lawyers we also ensure to return calls / e-mails on the same day or within 24 hours of receipt; thus again displaying high service levels we give to our clients.

On first approaching a law firm you should ensure that any initial advice given is free of charge – this is always the case at The Injury Lawyers. Just by enquiring about your claim you have nothing to lose.
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