We took instructions from Mrs R after she was hit by an air vent that staff at a mainstream fast food franchise were cleaning directly above her which fell and hit her whilst she was dining. She wasn’t aware that the staff were cleaning the vent which was positioned behind her on the roof – not that it would have mattered in any event.
Conducting such an activity with customers in the vicinity is clearly a dangerous thing to do, so we were more than happy to act for her on a genuine no win, no fee basis.
It’s thought that a central section of the vent fell as a direct result of the staff that were cleaning it. With staff having failed to secure the area, she was unfortunately hit by the vent section resulting in painful and debilitating back and neck injuries which exacerbated pre-existing conditions.
In this kind of scenario were employees are negligent, the employer is ‘vicariously liable‘ which means they must accept such failings on behalf of their staff. It’s a useful tool in law to stop a Defendant dodging a payout on the basis that an employee acted negligently beyond their control.
For unknown reasons it actually took the restaurant franchise responsible over a year to accept liability for the case. We had to take them to court for failing to provide their response in time which, for a case like this were liability could clearly be established, resulted in unnecessary delays.
Our client had to undertake a significant amount of treatment as a result of the injury which further delayed the settlement of the claim – it’s normally advisable to only settle once you are fully healed or healed as much as you are going to. There came the need to issue court proceedings and we formally served the case on to the Defendant with the view to achieve a settlement prior to any need for a trial.
In cases where liability is admitted and we need to issue and serve the proceedings – which basically means we lodge a claim form with the court and then we formally collate our case with all evidence and information and provide it to the other side for response – it’s unlikely the case will ever need to go for a trial. Where it does, the purpose of the trial is often if there is a dispute for the valuation of the case only.
It’s far more likely for offers to be negotiated during this period to avoid a trial and keep costs to a minimum. In the case of Mrs R we received an offer for settlement which she was happy to accept. Whenever an offer is made, it is solely the decision of the Claimant to decide whether it’s accepted or rejected. Our role is to correctly advise on what we think our client should do.
Due to the Defendant delay in accepting liability and the need for lengthy periods of treatment, some cases can take a little longer than others – but it’s always worth it in the end when you get the settlement that you’re happy with – and £10,000 is a good amount of money for most people’s standards!
Nowadays most claims are dealt with much faster using an online portal system which is designed to stop Defendants from taking too much time and delaying cases.
