I was surprised to read an American court ruling involving the multinational household name “Apple” whom had been taken to court by some of their consumers over claims that iPods could cause hearing loss.

The Claimant’s in the case has sought to claim for not only financial damages but also to require Apple to provide ‘better’ headphones, improve safety features and also to test all iPod uses for hearing loss!

The two Claimant’s to the case, named as Joseph Birdsong and Bruce Waggoner, made claims that the iPod earphones were badly designed. They are designed to be placed directly in to the ear canal rather than being placed just inside the ear which they claimed increased the danger of hearing damage.
Read the rest of this entry »

Dog bite claims can be particularly serious and are seen more often than you would probably imagine.

If you are attacked by a dog that has not been appropriately controlled then you are entitled to bring a claim for the injuries you have sustained.

The owner of the dog has a duty of care to ensure that their dog does not cause harm to others around them.
Read the rest of this entry »

I write further to my last post regarding the importance of altering your driving technique in order to take in to account the road conditions.

The recent tragic death of 19 year old Louisa Marshall whom was involved in road traffic accident on Bakewell Road, Matlock highlights the severity of just how dangerous our roads can become.

The young girl had been to Harvey’s wine bar with some friends following work and offered to give them all a lift home. There were 5 friends and she agreed to take 4 and then return to collect the fifth member of the group. She took them to a friend’s home in Darley Dale and it was on returning to Matlock to collect the fifth friend that she crashed in to a tree.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you are familiar with our blogs you will know that we keep you up to date with all aspects of personal injury claims and provide regular advice with how to make a claim. We also keep you updated with road safety as road traffic accidents are the most common cause of personal injuries.

How serious are our roads though and how much of a threat are they to us?

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine carried out research on road traffic fatalities between 1971 and 2005. The results of their research is shocking to say the least, especially as they have revealed that approximately 590,500 people had been bereaved by a road traffic accident in that period of time!
Read the rest of this entry »

It is always difficult to read reports whereby young children have been affected by injury, especially when it is serious and life threatening.

A recent case was reported whereby a boy aged 6 years old has received a settlement figure of £1,320,000.00 after he suffered brain damage following a fall at his nursery in 2004.

The young boy, now known to be James Pitcher, was in the care of Headstart Nursery in Croyden, South London when he fell from a changing table.
Read the rest of this entry »

‘Whiplash‘ is the term used to describe a neck injury caused by the sudden movement of the head. This sudden movement causes damage to the ligaments and tendons in the neck. In a whiplash injury the ligaments are usually sprained, and although the ligament is not broken it usually takes a long time to heal.

A whiplash type injury usually causes the following symptoms:

• Neck pain or tenderness
• Neck stiffness
• Temporary loss of movement.

For more severe whiplash injuries the following symptoms can also be present

• Headaches
• Muscle spasms
• Pains in shoulders and arms
• Pins and needles in shoulder, arms and hands.
• Blurred vision
• Lower back pain
• Vertigo
• Ringing of the ear
• Sickness and more.

Read the rest of this entry »

The most common question asked by client’s who have suffered a personal injury is; ‘what is my claim worth?’ Everyone wants to know what their claim is worth, what they should expect to receive with regards to compensation but what many of them will not ask is; ‘how is my claim calculated?’

Clients, on occasion, will argue that their claim is worth more than is being advised because ‘Jo Blogs’ down the road received more or ‘someone’ told them it would be worth ‘X’ amount. Many clients believe that liable Defendant’s should pay out sums of money for general inconvenience caused or as an apology for causing the incident. Unfortunately, the system does not work in this manor…so how does it work? Are there rules and guidelines in place to aid when making valuations?

The answer is yes and the guidelines in place are the ‘JSB Guidelines’.
Read the rest of this entry »

We have previously discussed the risks of using sunbeds, especially to young children whom are continually exposed to them despite the laws in place.

The BBC has today reported on the case of James Hadley whom had been fined £6000.00 and given a community order for 90 hours of unpaid work.

Mr Hadley is the owner of Lextan Salon in Barry and following an incident whereby a schoolgirl was left badly burned after she had stayed on the tanning machine for 19 minutes, an inspection of his premises was carried out.
Read the rest of this entry »

We are all used to our mums telling us that if we watch too much telly we will get square eyes, but can your telly really cause you an injury?

Well, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (more commonly known as RoSPA) have issued a warning as sales of television sets peek prior to the new digital switchover!

The society has looked at research carried out in the US over an 18 year period. The US research looked in to accidents caused by furniture ‘tip ups’ and the most common furniture item was the television set.

They claim that approximately 7500 young children are taken to hospital each year due to televisions falling on to them. The organisation report that they were aware of four fatalities involving children aged between 13 months and four years of age all caused by television sets.
Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, you heard me right…good news for coffee drinkers.

Researchers have considered 18 different studies, involving over 500,000 people and have concluded that tea and coffee drinkers may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The risk can be cut by a fifth or more if you drink three or four cups of coffee (or tea) a day.

The protection is not down to the caffeine content in coffee as decaffeinated coffee had an even bigger effect with risks being reduced by a third in these cases.
Read the rest of this entry »