Whiplash is a common injury arising from road accidents. It’s caused by the sudden movement of the neck or head in a jolting fashion which is normal after an impact. Unfortunately, whiplash is a much more complicated injury than you’d think. In fact, if you are reading this and you are having the symptoms, you may be in for a bit of a shock. Here’s a guide on how it all works:

Whiplash Symptoms

• Pain / stiffness / inflammation of the neck, back, and shoulders. Pain can radiate in to other areas as well (arms, legs etc).
• Headaches – normally common directly after the accident.
• Reduced movement in the affected area, and / or muscular spasms.
• Pins and needles and / or numbness in the hands and arms.
• Dizziness and tiredness – even vertigo in some cases.

A whiplash injury is generally hard to predict in the early stages. It affects different people in different ways, and is often subject to the force of the impact you have been involved in. You could be suffering for a couple of weeks, or you could be suffering for months and months.
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In the past when purchasing car insurance for me, the buying the extra of Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI) was just as important has having a courtesy car.

However, my life in legal practice has provided me with the truth about LEI and the scam that thousands are caught by each year.

In May 2009 I was injured in a car accident which involved four vehicles. After the accident my instinct thoughts were ‘thank god I have bought LEI on my insurance policy’. Unbeknown to me and thousands of others, I was another victim of the Legal Expenses Insurance Scam.
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Accidents at work are unfortunately common. The worst part can be the initial stages for the victim; as well as the pain of being injured, you could be facing extensive medical treatment, and could even be facing time off work. Personally, I hate having time off work. I’m fortunate enough to be able to brave through most illnesses, but I was forced to take two days off last year with a sickness bug which literally made it impossible to get in to work, and that was bad enough! So I’d be at panic stations if I broke my leg at work and was told I can’t come in for four weeks or so!
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It is a well known saying that a dog is a man’s best friend.  This in many cases is true as we spend much of our time tending to their every need – walking them, feeding them and grooming them. To many they are not only a source of friendship but a lifeline – for example to the blind, or even necessary in order to complete our work – for example a sheep farmer or for a Police dog handler.

A dog is one of the most common pets to own in the UK and the number is increasing, it is therefore no surprise that in recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of dog attacks across the UK.  We see more and more news items reporting shocking incidents involving dogs.  One of the most shocking being that of a news item reporting a woman being killed by her neighbour’s dog.  It was new items such as this that encouraged the government to put into place the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

The Dangerous Dogs Act was put into place in order to protect the public.  Of course, any dog can cause an amount of harm to a person if it decides to bite.  However, there are four types of dogs named in the act which there is a ban on owning within the UK – these are the Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Braziliero. These dogs are classified by type, not breed, which means that an animal can also be included within these banned categories if they display the physical characteristics of the above types.
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Certainly not the Ghostbusters! But it can be a confusing time when you’ve had an accident to know exactly what to do. With so many law firms out there all promising to deal with your claim in the best way, who should you go with? If you’ve had a road accident, you’re probably being inundated with calls from the other driver’s insurers offering you quick cash settlements, and your own insurers are probably calling you to make you go with their own appointed legal team!

It’s confusing!

So, here’s a little advice on what to look for in a law firm, and what to avoid. But first things first; take a breather, and do your homework!

Injury Lawyer – Get Your Own!

Never let another company, especially your own insurers, a breakdown or garage service, or any other company whatsoever offer to “pass you to the best lawyer”. Avoid them at all costs! The clue as to why you must avoid them is in the statement: Costs!

If you let your insurers appoint their own “in house”, or “appointed”, or “recommended” lawyers, you’re in for a rough ride.  All the insurance companies do is sell the claim on to the highest bidding law firm on their panel. It’s often known as Legal Expense Insurance, or Legal Protection, and it’s an absolute scam. The money the lawyer wastes on buying your case comes straight from the running costs of your claim – leaving you with a poor service, and a lawyer with less money to fight harder for a top payout.
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Many of us will at some point have visited a doctor, seen a nurse, or have gone to hospital.  In the majority of cases we will be able to walk away after appointments knowing that whatever our problem was, it will clear up in a few days, or with a prescription enabling us to get the medication we need to treat our symptoms.  After a few days or even a few weeks we will be fine and able to get on with our everyday lives.  However, some people do require further treatment that can end up being more serious – e.g. an operation.  When we go for an operation we place our complete trust with the surgeon that is going to undertake the operation.  In many ways, we put our lives in the surgeon’s hands.  Why do we do this?  Well, naturally we want to get better and we realise that this is the only way to get better.  But we also place our trust in the surgeon because of the fantastic reputation our medical facilities hold.  Unfortunately, as The Daily Mail reports, not every operation goes according to plan.

The Daily Mail writes that Michelle Richards, a 43 year old mother, has recently received compensation totalling over £10,000 from the NHS after she had the wrong leg amputated.  The Daily Mail states that Michelle had been diagnosed with a rare bone infection called osteomyeltitis which required her left leg to be amputated to prevent the potentially fatal condition from spreading.  Much to the shock of Michelle, as I can imagine many of you would understand, she was informed after the operation, ‘Sorry there’s been a mistake’, and was informed her right leg had been amputated instead of her left.  As a result, Michelle now has to wear a prosthetic leg.

As was admitted by the hospital in question, amputating the wrong leg of a patient constituted a breach of the duty of care the hospital owes their patients and amounted to medical negligence.  Most of us will only be able to imagine the impact this has had on Michelle’s life, and the distress it has caused her.  If you have similarly had an operation that has not gone according to plan, then it is important that you seek the advice of an injury lawyer with experience in medical negligence claims.  Medical negligence can cause the victim long term distress and other future problems.  As Michelle herself said ‘I went in for the amputation and believe I was making the right choice – I never really questioned it’.  As such she did not expect to have the wrong led amputated and was therefore entitled to compensation.  You similarly could be compensated where you have had an operation that has gone wrong.  To ensure that you get the maximum compensation you deserve, ensure you contact a medical negligence expert within three years of your injury.

Going to school is part of growing up.  Almost all of us will have attended school during our younger years and some may in fact have children who are currently in education.  Love it or hate it we all know that going to school is or was essential to our futures.  After all, it helps educate us in so many different ways.  Not only do we get to learn the basics of science or the beginnings of history, we also learn how to interact with different people who may come from all sorts of different backgrounds.  In some cases it may be through school that we meet friends who remain so for the rest of our life.  Indeed, some people will look back at their school years with much joy and be able to reminisce about all those funny events or when ‘Mr so-and-so did that’.  Although some of us may have been unfortunate to have been involved in one of these not so uncommon playground scuffles, or have hurt themselves falling over in the playground, for many of us going to school will have been an injury free experience.  However, here at The Injury Lawyers, we are hearing more and more of accidents at schools.  It would seem that this is an environment in which children are unfortunately getting injured through no fault of their own.  In fact, it was only yesterday that I read on the BBC News website of twelve pupils being injured whilst at school and that seven had obtained compensation for their injuries.

BBC News reports that twelve teenagers in a Kent school were injured when part of a heating system collapsed onto them. The BBC claims that the victims were doing examinations in the sports hall when they began to hear funny noises, and shortly after, part of the heating system fell from the ceiling.  It has since been stated that the wires keeping the heating apparatus aloft had been faulty.  As a result the unlucky teenagers suffered injuries to several body parts including their neck, head and back.  In fact, one pupil, Rhys Sullivan, had to have metal plates inserted into his jaw which had been broken in two places as a result of the accident.  According to the solicitor who has represented seven of the twelve children, settlements have been reached, but settlement figures were not to be released.

It goes to show that accidents can occur to anyone at anytime, and in a whole host of places.  If you have a child that has been injured when at school, he/she may be entitled to compensation.  Whether the child has sustained injury when taking part in lessons, or has sustained injury during their lunch period, they may be in line to be compensated. It is important that you seek the advice of a professional and quality injury lawyer who can advise you as to whether a claim exists.
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Here at The Injury Lawyers we are only too aware of the frequency of which accidents happen.  We receive numerous calls each day informing us that people like you and me have sustained some form of personal injury through no fault of their own.  In many cases the unfortunate individual may have been involved in a road traffic accident, slipped or tripped while walking, or have sustained an injury when carrying out their normal duties at work.  Typically, these accidents occur within the United Kingdom.  So, what happens if you sustain a personal injury which is not your fault whilst you are abroad?

Just imagine that nightmare scenario.  You have booked the holiday of a lifetime.  You have waited to go on this holiday for the best part of a year.  The time to go on that dream holiday has come around.  You arrive at your destination, settle into your hotel, and go about those usual holiday activities.  Unfortunately, only days into this dream holiday you are unfortunate to have injured yourself by tripping over some defective paving situated only metres away from the pool you intended to spend much of your time in.  Are you able to make a claim for compensation?  After all, you have sustained a genuine injury that, should you have sustained while at home, you would have been entitled to claim for compensation.  If you have been involved in an accident abroad it is important that you seek the advice of a quality injury lawyer.  It is only by doing this that you can find out whether you can make a claim for compensation, and it is also the first steps to you getting that compensation you may deserve.

If an accident has occurred while you are outside of the United Kingdom, it does not restrict your ability to obtain compensation.  If you have been injured at your resort, have been involved in a road traffic accident when using a hire car, or have gone on an excursion, and any of these have been organised by your holiday company  as part of a package, you can make a claim against the holiday package provider right here in the UK!  Most UK based lawyers will be able to assist you with this. If the claim is against a party directly abroad, you may need to enlist the help of a lawyer specialising in foreign injury cases.
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Many of us go on a night out maybe once every couple of weeks, or maybe even once a week if the pennies allow.  For many an evening out could consist of dinner, a night club, bar or anywhere really where we can go out to let our hair down, relax and socialise with friends.  It is the last thing on our minds that we could have an accident and end up being injured!

It will probably come as no surprise that personal injury claims resulting from a night out are very common occurrences.  This is probably due to the fact that there are many hazards in night clubs and bars – such as spillages of drinks on the floor which cause a slip hazard and, broken glass on the floor which could exacerbate a fall injury or cause a direct injury.  If someone slips on a spillage which was negligently left as a hazard, and in doing so pulls you down to the floor with them, there could potentially be a personal injury claim for both victims’ injuries.

You may not think it, but pubs, clubs, and bars have the same duty to keep their patrons safe as anywhere else.  Many venues prohibit drinks on the dance floor to avoid spillages, or they provide plastic cups to avoid broken glass causing injury.
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Many careers are obviously ones which entail working at a height; these include those in the building trade, TV aerial installers, or tree surgeons.  Working at heights, however, can cover any one of us – for example a receptionist being asked to change a light bulb at height or a librarian attempting to reach items high up on shelving.  So we can see that this type of situation can affect any one of us, so personal injuries resulting from working at height situations are becoming increasingly more common.

If an employer asks or expects their employee to work at a height then they must comply with the Working At Height Regulations 2005.  You do not need to know the full detail of this legislation, but it is useful to know a few key points.  Working at height should be properly supervised and planned – the correct safety gear and equipment should be checked prior to use and should then be used accordingly.

An employer that oversees employees working at height should know at least the minimum requirements of the Working At Height Regulations.  If these regulations are not followed correctly then there is a high chance that an accident could occur: the most common of these accidents being falling from ladders, falling from scaffolding, or falling from a roof.
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