Vibration White Finger, or Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), has been diagnosed in many workers where there job involves working with hand held power tools such as drills and chain saws.

It is thought that the condition is due to the vibrations from the power tools causing minor injuries to the nerves and blood vessels in the hand.  These minor injuries then build up over time causing the condition of Vibration White Finger.

The condition may be known more commonly as Vibration White Finger, however, since the symptoms involve much more than simply having white fingers, the name has been altered to a more all encompassing term –Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome.  These symptoms can vary in different people, but may include cold sensations in the skin of the fingers with discolouration of the fingers, numbness and/or tingling sensations in the fingers, and general aching in the arms, hands and fingers. In more serious cases the sufferer may experience a complete loss of feeling in the finger which can radiate throughout the hand.  These symptoms may come and go or they may be a permanent frustration to the sufferer.
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If you have fallen down a manhole or stepped on a defective utility cover and ended up injured, you may have a claim for compensation.

Personally, I’m rather cautions when it comes to walking over manholes and utility hole covers. It’s nothing superstitious – I just don’t like the idea of walking over a hole in the ground; that, and I have seen a fair few claims involving defective manhole / utility covers which have all ended up with nasty injuries to the victim.

The companies responsible for the manhole covers – whether it be the electricity board, the water board, any other utility company, or the local council – have an important duty to ensure the hole does not pose any hazard to any passersby. Manhole covers must be adequately secured, and the surrounding areas must be free from defects that could affect the cover. The companies responsible must regularly inspect and maintain the area to ensure the cover does not become a hazard.
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Now the term ‘no win, no fee’ is a term which most of us are familiar with. This may be due to personal injury advertisements on the television and radio or from someone on the street stopping you for marketing purposes.

So, ‘no win no fee’ may be a term we are used to hearing, but do we really know what it means.  Well at The Injury Lawyers we are here to inform and educate our blog readers in all aspects of personal injury and so to fulfil our duty we write this blog to educate you on one of the most important parts of bringing your claim – the no win, no fee agreement.

No win no fee means that if you do not win your case you do not pay any of the solicitors costs in dealing with the claim.  So you may think – ‘How do we get paid?’ Well, in the event you lose your claim we have insurance which covers anything we paid out as a result of your claim – however, we lose being paid on any of the time we spent on your case.  So it is a risk to the solicitor in taking on a case – however a solicitor will only ever take your case on if they believe there are genuine prospects for success.  However, even if you win your case, you still pay none of our costs – you get 100% of your compensation and no bill from the solicitor.  This is because the other side pay our costs and we take nothing from your compensation.  Compensation is meant to put the claimant back in the position they would have been in had the accident never happened, therefore if the solicitor took a portion of this, the victim would not have been fully compensated.
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Personal Injury claims are on the increase and this may be for a number of reasons, one reason being that more people are aware of their rights and what they can claim for.  However, this does not mean that everyone who comes to us is fully confident in the fact that their injury can give rise to a claim.  The Injury Lawyers are open from 9am – 10 pm and we have experienced staff on hand to explain there and then whether you have a claim – this advice is also free of charge whether you have a claim or not.  You have nothing to lose by trying.

At The Injury Lawyers we are approached by clients who have suffered injuries in a variety of accidents.  I will list some of the sorts of claims which we deal with here at The Injury Lawyers:

1. Accidents at work – these can include injuries from heavy lifting, slips and trips, and falling from a height.  If you feel your employer has been negligent in some way and this has led to your accident then you may have a claim for compensation. Industrial disease cases can also come under this with cases such as Vibration White Finger and Beat Knee.
2. Road Traffic accidents – these are extremely common types of claims and include all means of transportation – whether your accident is in a car, on a motor bike, or even if you were travelling on a bus, you can claim for compensation if the accident wasn’t your fault.
3. Clinical negligence – if you feel that you have not received adequate care from a clinical professional and it has lead you to suffer in some way, then you may have a claim. This can include care whilst in hospital, a walk in clinic, or whilst visiting your General Practitioner. It also covers any private care you have as well.
4. Accidents at school – we have a vast amount of experience in dealing with accidents within schools.  You can act as an agent on behalf of your child by becoming their Litigation Friend and dealing with the claim on their behalf if they have been failed by their school.
5. Accidents in a supermarket – Supermarkets have a duty keep their customers as safe as is reasonably possible.  There are many possible hazards in a supermarket from slipping on a spillage to tripping on an item left in an aisle or having items fall on you from a poorly stacked shelf.

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After a tough winter our highways have been left in somewhat of a state.  The freezing temperatures have meant that potholes are now a common feature on our roads and pavements.  Potholes can be particularly dangerous to road users as some of you may have found out.  Damaging you vehicle is bad enough, but suffering an injury yourself is far worse.  Despite local authorities attempting to deal with the problems caused by potholes, at The Injury Lawyers we are only too aware of the pitfalls of those remaining potholes.  It therefore came as no surprise to learn that a young cyclist suffered a broken jaw as a result of cycling into a pothole.

This is the story of 17 year old Miss Wilkinson who has recently been awarded over £7,000 in compensation having broken her jaw cycling home after work in 2006.  The York Press reports that Miss Wilkinson went flying head over heels over her handlebars after her bicycle wheel went down into a pothole.  In a subsequent court case, the judge found that York Council was liable for her injuries – that is her jaw broken in two places and the trauma resulting from the accident.  This was because York Council, who are responsible for their highways, had failed to carry out their duty to properly maintain their roads and paths.

Your local council has a duty to ensure the safety of its highway users.  In other words, it must maintain its roads so that they are safe to use.  As the judge in this case said himself – ‘The obligation to maintain the highway is a fundamental obligation of very long standing’.  So how can the council do this?  Well, by carrying out regular inspections of their highways.  For example, at least every 6 months, or better still, every 3 months.  Then, should any faults be identified, urgent action be taken to fix them.
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We all love going on an evening out, whether it be going to the pub after work, going for a dance in a night club, or at a bar for a chat with friends.  We get all dressed up and excited about the forthcoming evenings events.  It is the farthest thing from our minds that we may have an accident that was not our fault causing us an injury.

Well, we at The Injury Lawyers have many clients come to us after having an injury on a night out, and so in view of this we write this blog to educate and inform.  Many of our clients think that they cannot claim for their accident as they had consumed alcohol on the evening in question; well, our answer to that would be that we assess your claim free of charge so there is nothing to lose in trying.  Depending on the circumstances, consumption of alcohol does not mean you cannot bring a claim.

There are many possible hazards whilst on a night out which could cause you an injury.  These include spillages on the floor causing a slip hazard, broken glass on the floor which could cause lacerations to the foot, or exacerbate a fall injury, or even if an injury is caused through the club/bar/pub being overcrowded.  If someone slips on a spillage and pulls you down with them you may also be able to bring a claim.
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We all love to go on holiday. It may be for the sunshine, the change of scenery and culture, or simply just to spend quality time with your loved ones.  However, the last thing on your mind whilst you are filled with excitement is that you will fall victim to an accident that was not your fault.

If the unthinkable happens to you and you suffer an injury from an accident whilst on holiday that was not your fault, you may have a claim for compensation through your holiday package provider if the accident is in some way linked to the service you have bought. For example, if your accident is in the hotel that your package provider organised for you, you may be able to claim through the provider rather than against the hotel (due to differences in the law, going through the provider is the feasible option).

Now, one of the differences about claiming for an accident that happened abroad through a package provider is that the defendant is allowed a longer amount of time within which to investigate the matter before they admit or deny fault.  Now this can be seen as an obstacle or you can think – well, is it better getting a compensation pay out a little later rather than never at all?
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People are injured all the time; there are many companies wanting their business.  This makes it difficult for the average person, especially after having gone through what may have been a traumatic accident, to make an educated decision on which law firm to go with.

In view of the above we at The Injury Lawyers compile these blogs to inform and educate accident victims to help to make this choice as stress free as possible and with a good outcome – that outcome being getting the best law firm to deal with your claim.
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Personal injury claims are increasing year upon year.  This may be due to the fact that the no win, no fee system enables victims of accidents to bring their claim with no financial hardship to themselves. It may also be that people are more aware of their rights and what they can claim for.  Whatever the reason we know that many of our clients come to us needing advice on what they can claim back.

In view of the above we at The Injury Lawyers feel that we must inform our blog readers of the different types of losses they can claim back in the event the other side admit fault.

Firstly, the most important loss to many of our clients, is a loss of earnings claim.  If you have had to take time off work due to your accident then you may be able to claim back for any loss of earnings you have incurred.  In order to support this claim we would normally request 13 weeks pay slips from you as evidence of your earnings.  In the event you are self-employed we would normally ask for 3 years of profit and loss accounts and would take an average of these earnings.  Even if you have not taken unpaid leave off work and have taken them as holidays, these may also be claimed back.  Depending on your employer, you may get a buy back arrangement for your holidays then simply claim this money from the other side.
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I read with interest today, in the Westmorland Gazette, that a worker from Kendal has received £300,000 in compensation having had his hand compressed and permanently damaged by some machinery whilst at work back in June 2008.  It would appear that the unfortunate Mr Miller will never recover from his injuries having had his hand pulled into a work machine.  He suffered burns and ripped nerves and has had to have reconstructive surgery.  The Westmorland Gazette reports that Mr Miller was attempting to fix the machine when he got his sleeve caught in the machine and was subsequently pulled towards it, suffering this horrible injury.  Mr Miller states that his hand swelled up like a boxing glove and turned green, burned, and bloody while I waited for the air ambulance.

Mr Miller would have been due £375,000 in compensation, but his employers successfully alleged contributory negligence.  It was said that Mr Miller had chosen to work by himself and also chose to remove the guarding off the machine which was contrary to health and safety policy.  As such, because the accident was partly his fault, Mr Miller received £75,000 less compensation.

Contributory negligence is a term that we often come across here at The Injury Lawyers.  If the other side believe that you are in some way responsible for your accident then they will allege contributory negligence.  As such they may attempt to settle your claim for less than the whole compensation you would normally be entitled to.  It is therefore of key importance that if the other side allege contributory negligence, you seek the advice of an experienced injury lawyer.  They will be able to advise you as to whether you should accept a reduction in your compensation.  At the end of the day, should you not seek advice, you may get less compensation than you deserve, which surely you would not want?
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