The Sale of Good and Service Act – you may be aware of this important piece of legislation we have in place to protect us from poor products and shocking services. When we buy a product or invest in a service, we expect that the outcome provided will be of a satisfactory standard. In fact, that’s precisely the reason the Act is in place.

Know Your Rights!

Under the Act, a product sold must primarily adhere to three main factors. The product must (under the Sale of Goods Act 1979) be:

• As Described – The product must fit any description of it, whether written or verbal from the seller. If the product is clearly not as described, you should be entitled to a full refund or replacement (if appropriate).
• Fit for Purpose – The product must do what it is intended to do. A can opener should open cans; a phone must make and take calls; a car must drive. If the product cannot do what it is intended to do, you should be entitled to a refund or a replacement.
• Of Satisfactory Quality  -The product must be free from defect, have a good appearance, and be, most importantly, safe to use. If a product is not of a satisfactory quality, you again may be entitled to a refund or replacement.

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It seems we are forever in a traffic jam – we sit in traffic going to and from work and even heading to the shop on a Saturday.  This is all symptomatic of people’s lives being busier and generally more people having cars.  Today, despite the heavy cost, many households may have up to three cars sat in the driveway.

In view of the above it is no surprise that road traffic accidents are on the increase.  Many of the victims of these accidents are then left with a whiplash injury.  If you are one of these such victims and the accident was not your fault, then you may have a claim for compensation.

Whiplash can occur from a road traffic collision. It may even occur as a result of a fall from a height.  It is caused when the head is suddenly and violently jolted away from the body.
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You may hear the term ‘no win, no fee’ on a regular basis. Whether it be on advertisements on television, being stopped on the street by marketing people or whilst completing your preliminary research on which firm to take your claim.

So, the term ‘no win, no fee’ is common. However the term ‘Conditional Fee Agreements’ I can guess is not so familiar with our blog readers.  The Conditional Fee Agreement is a document which sets out the terms of the ‘no win, no fee agreement’.  Depending on the solicitors, these can be fairly lengthy documents and there is always the temptation to simply trust your lawyer and not read the small print.  However, I cannot stress how much we at The Injury Lawyers advise against this.

At The Injury Lawyers we have many clients who have transferred their claim to us due to poor service from their previous solicitors. We are always amazed at the different sorts of Conditional Fee Agreements we see our clients have entered into before coming to us.  This is why we like to inform and advise our readers to READ THE PAPERWORK.
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Road accidents are a common occurrence – they really do happen all of the time, every single day. There are so many ways you can end up injured through the negligence of another driver out there on the roads; but there are also ways in which you can claim for compensation even if another vehicle is not involved.

A few road accident examples:

Rear End Collisions

If another car crashes in to the back of you, unless you broke suddenly without good reason, it’s pretty much safe to say that you have a successful claim for compensation. If someone goes in to the back of you, they have not allowed enough distance between their vehicle and yours. They are likely at fault for the accident.

Roundabouts

Accidents on roundabouts can so easily occur! The simple and easy rule to follow is – always give way to your right. If another driver pulls on to the roundabout and hits your vehicle, they are at fault if you were already proceeding on the roundabout. If you and another vehicle to your left approach the roundabout at the same time, you have the right of way – the other vehicle must give way to you on their right. If they don’t, it’s likely you have a successful claim for compensation. Unless you’re driving abroad of course…
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One of the most common, if not the most common, questions we face at The Injury Lawyers is: ‘How much is my claim worth?’  This, however, is not a question we, let alone anyone, can answer with certainty straightaway.  It is impossible to immediately value your claim.  How come?  Well, we don’t know when your injuries will heal for example.  An injury that lasts two years will be worth more than the same injury that lasts one year, for example.  But we do not know when you will fully recover at an early stage.  What we can do however is give you a guideline figure as to the value of your injury.

So how do we do this?

A good starting point is the Judicial Studies Board (or ‘JSB’) guidelines on general damages (compensation for your injury alone) for personal injury.  These provide an excellent indication of the value of your claim.  These guidelines allow us to begin to value your injury by providing examples as to how much a head injury, facial injury, back injury, neck injury, leg injury or foot injury may be worth.  The guidelines are based on previous compensation awards made by the courts.  Importantly, the JSB guidelines are not law.  If you receive £4,000 and the JSB guidelines suggested you may be entitled to £4,500, it is not a matter of fact that you should have received that extra £500.  However, what can be said with certainty is that the professional injury lawyers at The Injury Lawyers will always seek the maximum compensation for you.

Here are some examples from the JSB guidelines:
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Work accidents are a common occurrence – especially if you work in construction or the manufacturing industry. But a lot of people don’t know they can claim for a work accident when they’ve had one; in fact, there’s probably thousands – if not, millions – of pounds worth of unclaimed compensation because people unfortunately just don’t know when they’re entitled to make a claim.

So – here’s the answers for your convenient digest:

Q: Can You Claim?

If the accident was not your fault, then perhaps you can. If the accident is a direct result of your employers’ negligence, then you can definitely make a claim for compensation. If you’re at work when the accident occurred, it’s definitely worth contacting an injury lawyer for advice.
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Modern daily life is chaotic, rushed, and busy.  Therefore, supermarkets have become a close friend and ally. They have all of life’s essentials under one roof; so with one quick trip you have got all the fuel to get you through another busy week.  Not only this, but prices are low and discounts are numerous.  You may think that I am promoting the perks of supermarket shopping, but I’m actually pointing out why personal injury within supermarkets is on the increase.  It is the furthest thought from our mind that we may have an accident in a supermarket that is not our fault; however, the statistics for it are surprisingly high.  This is why at The Injury Lawyers we like to write blogs to inform our readers about when you can and can’t claim for compensation.

There are many possible accidents that could occur within a supermarket.  There could be a spillage on the floor causing a slip, an item left in an aisle causing a trip hazard, or the items on the shelf could be poorly stacked causing them to fall on top of you.

Supermarkets have a duty to look after their customers as much as possible and they must comply with important Health and Safety Regulations. All employees within a supermarket must be fully trained in maintaining these safety standards. This training could include simple things such as having a schedule to check for clear aisles, a cleaning process for spillages, or training in stacking shelves safely. 
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Almost everyone reading this blog will be aware of the term ‘No Win, No Fee’.  It is a common term nowadays and is featured heavily in the television advertising of personal injury solicitors.  But what exactly does ‘No Win, No Fee’ mean.  Well, unfortunately, for different law firms it means different things.  However, at The Injury Lawyers, it means only one thing –  Simply put, it means that if you do not win your claim you do not pay us a penny.  Not a single penny.  What then if you are successful?  Great news!  It also means that you do not pay us a penny.  That is what separates The Injury Lawyers from other personal injury law firms.  Even if you win, you keep 100% of your compensation; guaranteed.  After all, it is your compensation, and we genuinely believe you should receive every single penny for it.  We believe this because you are awarded compensation in order to place you in the position you would have been had your accident not occurred and you had not been injured.  So, for us to ask for even a penny of that compensation would be to your detriment – ultimately you would end up being under compensated.  That is something we at The Injury Lawyers could not stomach.

So, under our Conditional Fee Agreement (the technical term for our genuine No Win, No Fee agreement) if your claim is unsuccessful you owe us nothing.  It could not be any simpler.

Does that then mean that if I win my claim you will take a percentage of that or try and recover your costs from me?  Absolutely not! We recover our fees from the other side.  Even if we do not get all our fees back we will never come to you for those fees – that is our problem – and under our agreement we cannot seek these fees from you.  We enter into a contract which explicitly states we cannot get our fees from you – so you have absolutely nothing to worry about; which is what separates our agreement for the other law firms.  You keep all of your cash guaranteed.
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Go on, admit it – it’s quite nice to bite into a burger now and again (or even more regularly!)  We all know, in an age where eating healthily is rammed home on a frequent basis, that tucking into a burger isn’t the best thing for us.  But come on, that’s not going to stop us; they can be extremely tasty and that is probably because they are ‘bad’ for us.  Question is, which burger do you go for? Do you prefer a Big Mac from McDonalds, a Whopper from Burger King, a more ‘classier’ burger from Gourmet Burger Kitchen, or maybe one from a burger van or kebab shop for example?  I know which one I prefer and it certainly isn’t one from a kebab shop! That said, if you know a kebab shop that does a delicious burger feel free to get in touch and let me know.  Anyway, before I get totally distracted by the thought of burgers, I must get to the point of this blog.  It came to my attention today that someone was injured having eaten a burger from McDonalds.

I don’t know about you, but I imagine you would all agree, you certainly do not expect to sustain an injury when eaten a burger – especially from a reputable fast food company.  However, this is precisely what happened to Kev Smith according to the Cambridge News.  It would seem that Mr Smith who had bought a burger from a McDonald’s restaurant broke his tooth having bitten down onto a piece of metal in his burger.  Now I cannot imagine for one second that McDonald’s have introduced a new metallic burger range and it therefore does not come as a surprise to learn that Mr Smith was awarded £1,000 compensation for the injuries he sustained.

As a result of the accident Mr Smith has had to visit the dentist on five occasions to sort his dental problems.  Subsequently McDonalds has issued an apology and Mr Smith obtained £1,000 in compensation.  This was because McDonalds have a duty of care to their customers to ensure that the food they serve is safe for consumption.  Obviously, a burger containing a foreign object, in this case a piece of metal, constitutes a breach of this duty.  Mr Smith suffered a personal injury through no fault of his own, but because of the negligence of the McDonalds restaurant in question.  If you have a similar story you may likewise be entitled to compensation.  You expect the food you are served to be safe; indeed those who serve you food must ensure that it is safe to eat.  So, if you have sustained an injury due to a foreign object being found in your food, it is important that you seek free legal advice from a quality personal injury who will help you obtain the compensation you may deserve.

The topic of this blog may be bicycle and motorcycle accidents; however, this can include mopeds, quad bikes, and other similar forms of transportation.

It is easy to see why people like to cycle as it is cheaper (especially with these growing fuel prices), it’s a good exercise, and it’s better for the environment.  It is easy to see why people like to get about using a motor bike as it has the thrill factor and there is a great community within bikers.  However, along with all these great perks comes the sad news that accidents involving these types of vehicles are on the increase – and can often lead to fatalities.

The fact that these accidents are on the increase may come as no small shock to many readers as if we take the example of motorcycles – these can seem to come out of nowhere on the road.  Accidents involving motorcycles tend to occur most predominantly due to traffic meeting at junctions, cross roads or roundabouts, defects on the road surface, items left in the road, or bad weather conditions.
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