I dodged yet another pothole on the way to work this morning – it’s getting to be rather tedious if I’m honest. OK, so I know the councils budgets are rather stretched thanks to the giant pair of scissors that are David Cameron’s hands; but something needs to be done about it. In fact, if anyone watched Channel 4’s Selling Off Britain on Monday night, you might agree that there is room for a bit of financial redistribution to help us sort out the meteor craters littering our roads.

But – Where does the genuine duty lie? What are the councils and highways authorities responsible to do? You’d be tempted to say “naff all” given the current state of the roads; but there is a duty there.  Under the Highways Act 1980, local authorities responsible for the highways have an important duty to ensure that the highway is reasonably and regularly inspected and maintained. What is classed as “reasonable” is largely down to the authorities themselves; they can range from monthly inspections, to three monthly, bi-annually, or even annual only inspections. It’s all about what is deemed to be reasonable and practical.

If a pothole or defect is reported, the rules change a little. The council now must make the area safe – either by reparations or cordoning off of the area etc, as soon as is reasonably possible. Again, that lovely ambiguous word “reasonable” is in there. How this can be measured is hard to tell. At the end of the day, it’s likely the local authority will put forward the “public purse” argument as to why they are not able to satisfy the safety of highway users.
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Many clients that approach The Injury Lawyers with a potential claim are aware that they may be entitled to compensation for their injury. This heightened awareness may be due to the increasing amount of personal injury related advertisements on television and the radio. Many of these clients, however, are not aware that they may also be entitled to other losses they have sustained as a result of the accident.

When we advise clients we also advise and enquire as to their losses. These losses are then compiled in a document known as a Schedule of Loss which can then be disclosed to the other side and claimed for. There can be many items included in this Schedule and I have listed some of these below:

1. Care and assistance: – if you have needed care and assistance as a result of the accident then this may be claimed back at an hourly rate.  This means that, where you have required a carer or family or friend to assist you with personal care, such as dressing and washing, household chores such as vacuuming and cleaning, preparing meals or shopping (this list is not exhaustive), this may be claimed back. It must be of note however that due to the nature of the claim you may not get all of which you claim and whatever you receive is payable to your carer/carers.
2. Loss of earnings:- if you have suffered a loss of earnings as a result of the accident then you may be entitled to claim this back – it may be that you have had no pay at all or simply a reduced rate of pay such as Statutory Sick Pay.  If you are employed then a solicitor would usually ask you for 13 weeks of wage slips prior to the accident. Your loss of earnings is then calculated over an average of the 13 week period.  If you are self –employed this average is usually calculated over 3 years of profit loss accounts.
3. Treatment costs: – for many clients who come to us at The Injury lawyers we are able to arrange private treatment such as physiotherapy at no cost. This allows our client to have treatment quickly compared to the potential wait for the NHS treatment. This treatment can then be claimed back in the Schedule of Loss.
4. Other types of loss which may be included in the schedule could be travel expenses to medical appointments etc or even prescription costs – as long as they are a result of the accident.

The above list is not exhaustive so to find out more about losses The Injury Lawyers may be able to provide advice.

If you have been unfortunate enough to have been involved in a road traffic accident and have sustained an injury as a result, you may be entitled to compensation.  Importantly, this is still the case even where the other driver is uninsured or where the other driver is ‘untraced’ – that is where he or she has driven off without providing you with their details.  So, if you are one of around 23,000 people a year who are injured as a result of a road traffic accident with an uninsured or untraced driver, please do get in touch with a professional injury lawyer who will do their utmost to obtain the maximum compensation you may deserve.

At The Injury Lawyers we understand that those who have been involved in a road accident may find themselves extremely frustrated by the thought that the other driver may have ‘got away with it’.  After all, they either have no insurance and would seemingly be unable to compensate you for your injuries, or they have fled the scene and left you with no one to obtain compensation from.  However, this is where an expert lawyer is able to properly advise you and progress your claim for compensation through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (‘MIB’).  Founded in 1946, the MIB is funded by you through your insurance premiums.  Around £15-30 of your insurance policy goes to the MIB who are then able to compensate victims of uninsured and untraced drives.  In 2008 over 60,000 claims for compensation were settled through the MIB.

If you have been involved in a road traffic collision involving an uninsured or untraced driver and you have suffered injury and loss through no fault of your own, it is key that you get in touch with an experienced injury lawyer.  They will be able to give you the advice you require and take you through the process of submitting a claim through the MIB which will involve your lawyers submitting a claim form on your behalf.  Importantly though, you should seek any necessary medical attention for your injuries, make sure that your accident is reported to the police, and see if you can get hold of any witness details.  This is important to ensure your well-being and to assist in efficiently progressing of your claim with the MIB.

You may guess the general topic of this blog is accidents at work – but more specifically accidents stemming from a lack of/inadequate personal protective equipment (or PPE for short).

PPE is safety equipment which is given to workers to either wear or use to protect them from risks to their health and safety. These are risks which cannot be limited in any other manner and PPE is the last resort.  PPE can include protection for eyes – i.e.goggles; protection for the ears – i.e. ear defenders; gloves; respirators or masks; or even protection from adverse weather conditions. This brings me onto a news story which I have recently read whereby a former army chef who could no longer work within this field due to contracting a non freezing cold injury. The chef worked at temperatures as low as minus 14 degrees Celsius and was not given the correct PPE for these conditions. The chef successfully sued the MOD for £150,000.

It is also noteworthy that an employer should not ask for you to pay for the PPE, or ask you to make any contributions towards it. Regulations in the UK state that it is the duty of the employer to provide the appropriate PPE to their employees. Furthermore, employers should check that the PPE is properly maintained and stored, and properly issue instructions through training as to the correct use of the PPE. Employers should then keep a check that the PPE is used correctly.
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I think that most I us are realising that the roads are getting busier and busier. I only started driving a few years ago and I can see a marked difference in the number of cars on the road.   With this increase in the volume of traffic comes the potential increase in the amount of road traffic accidents that are taking place. If you have been in a road traffic accident that was not your fault, you may have a claim for compensation.

Road traffic accidents tend to happen most predominantly at traffic meeting spots such as junctions and roundabouts – it is these places where a lot of people may be fighting for space, thus causing a collision, or they are simply not paying the necessary care and attention to the road and fail to notice that traffic is slowing in front of them. Whilst driving in an areas such as large, multi-laned roundabouts, it also becomes apparent those drivers who do not know where they are going and trying to change lanes at the last moment or are too busy looking at their map/sat navto take heed to the traffic around them are a clear danger.

If you have been involved in a road traffic accident it is important to report the accident to police if necessary, who may want to compile a report. It is important to seek medical attention for your injuries; this not only assists with the injuries but allows the medic to place a note in your medical records. Check for witnesses to the accident and if they are present obtain their contact details as they may be able to provide valuable support to any later claim you may have.  Ensure seek the advice of a specialist injury lawyer; many law firms will give a free assessment to your claim whether they are able to take it on or not. It is advisable to seek advice directly from a law firm as there are many referral agents out there wanting your business to simply sell your claim on to a paying law firm rather than the firm who will give you the best service.
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Many of our clients when they first approach us with a claim have many questions surrounding which losses they can claim for. All our legally trained advisors are able to answer these questions; however, we always feel it necessary to inform the wider public who may be sat at home equally unsure.

Losses from a claim can be wide ranging and can form a large part of any personal injury claim.  Compensation in personal injury claims is applied for in separate parts – there is the claim for compensation and there is the claim for losses suffered as a result of the accident. The latter is compiled in a document known as a Schedule of Loss and disclosed to the other side.

Below is a list of some of the types of losses you may claim in a Schedule of Loss:
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This is one of the most common questions I hear at The Injury lawyers when speaking to new (and existing) clients. It’s something that most claimers want to know right from the outset of the case.

But unfortunately, answering this question is a little trickier than you might think!

As a pioneer of the online compensation calculators, we know that they can help – but only as a guideline. Ultimately, the information you put in to the calculator dictates its response. The calculator (or at least ours) matches the information you put in to it to something called the JSB (Judicial Studies Board) Guidelines, which are official guidelines we as lawyers and judges at court use to value claims.

To value your claim properly, you need:

• A good quality medical report from a qualified medico-legal expert in the field of your injury (e.g. Orthopaedic for muscular / skeletal, Plastic Surgeon for cuts and burns, Dermatological for skin etc).
• An experienced, fully qualified and specialist personal injury lawyer.

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The Bristol Evening Post has reported that a gentleman who suffered a serious head injury after falling out of a taxi has won his claim for compensation.  It is stated that Grant Parfitt was using a black cab to make his way home from a night out when the accident happened.  As a result Mr Parfitt was left fighting for his life having suffered brain injuries and was in a coma for the best part of a month.  Fortunately Mr Parfitt’s emergency surgery was a success; however, he has subsequently been unable to return to work and can no longer play football and attend the gym.  His life has changed forever.

Because Mr Parfitt suffered life changing injuries that have had effects on him other than those directly related to his injury, the compensatory award that he was awarded would have reflected this.  For example, he would have received what is known as ‘General Damages’.  This is compensation in respect of your physical and psychological injuries.  In this case it would be for the horrific brain injuries that Mr Parfitt suffered.  Further, because Mr Parfitt was unable to resume his usual routine activities, such as playing football and going to the gym, he would have received compensation in respect of this consequence of his actor.  This is what is known as ‘Special Damages’ and is compensation relating to all your other losses which result from your accident.

The aim of a compensatory award is to put you back in the position you would have been in had the accident not have occurred.  This is typically through a monetary award that takes into account all the injuries you have sustained as a result of your accident, and all the losses you have suffered as a consequence of this accident.
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Supermarkets can be a bone of contention for some, whilst for others they are an essential part of life.  Many people can’t stand the thought of the ‘big’ weekly shop due to the hassle of queuing in traffic to get in and out of the shop car park, and the queuing at tills.   This being said however many people like supermarkets as they have everything under one roof, discounts galore, and lots of choice. Whatever your feelings on the supermarket shop I can hazard a guess that many of you would not anticipate having an accident whilst shopping in one; an accident that was not your fault. If you have had an accident whilst in a supermarket that was not your fault then you may have a claim for compensation.

You may think, like many of our client’s first think but later succeed in their claims, that claiming against a supermarket is a David v Goliath sort of situation; by this I mean it is the small individual v the large corporation. This may be true, but the outcome for many is successful and this is why firms like The Injury Lawyers are here – to use our know-how and expertise to help you and support you in getting the a successful result.

There are many potential hazards in supermarkets. These can include a spillage that has been negligently left uncleaned on the floor causing a slip hazard, an item left on the floor negligently causing a trip hazard or a poorly stacked shelf causing an item/items to fall on someone.
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With the roads being such a busy and chaotic place – everyone rushing to get somewhere, be it to work, to the shop, or taking the children to school, the importance of wearing a seat belt is and should be ever more pertinent. Thus the policing surrounding the use of seat belts has also heightened since the law was introduced.

Most people know the importance of wearing seat belts. We know that wearing a seat belt greatly improves our safety in the event we are involved in a road accident. We also know that it is illegal to not wear one. As drivers we must ensure we ourselves are wearing a seatbelt as well as the passengers in our vehicle.

In view of everything we know about the use of seat belts, there may be one thing you do not know, and probably have not considered – what are the implications of not wearing a seat belt in a road traffic accident for which you want to make a personal injury claim?  Well, in answer to this, if you were not wearing a seat belt and you make a claim, any compensation which you may be entitled may be reduced by up to 25%. In legal speak this is known as contributory negligence.
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