Archives

If you have been injured in an accident at work, such as by slipping on a wet floor, you may be able to claim compensation. Ordinarily the claim would be against your employer presuming that they own the premises in which the accident occurred. This could differ in certain circumstances. For example if you worked in a council building which let offices out to various companies. Under the terms of the contract your employer is likely to be responsible for the offices which they let. Say for example your accident occurred in the corridor or in the communal kitchen area – this may be an area which the council are responsible for. However if the accident occurred at your place of work and this is your employers own building, any claim would be against your employer.

In terms of slipping on a wet floor at work, we would consider whether there was any warning of the danger. Was there a wet floor sign in place? If a wet floor sign was not in place then it would be more difficult for the Defendant to deny liability. Even if there was a wet floor sign, this does not necessarily mean that you cannot claim. We would query whether the wet floor sign was clearly visible or whether it was obstructed. In law you often hear the phrase “every case is different”. Well this is true and this is the reason you need to speak to a team of experienced and dedicated personal injury lawyers.
Read More

Accidents in supermarkets are one of the most common types of accidents we see as personal injury lawyers. I suppose we can all see why this is the case. Supermarkets can be extremely busy places – the sheer volume of people coming through the doors, the sheer amount of products, the numbers of staff – accidents are bound to occur. We have come across a wide range of supermarket accidents including accidents involving roll cages, accidents caused by spillages, accidents caused by items falling off shelves etc.

Accidents at supermarkets come under the scope of occupier’s liability. Basically the supermarket owes you (as a lawful visitor) a duty of care. This is a duty to keep you safe and free from harm while you are on their premises. This duty means that the store must be kept safe to prevent visitors from sustaining injury. If a spillage occurs on the floor then this clearly poses a slipping hazard. A wet floor sign should be erected and the spillage should be cleaned up as quickly as possible. Of course other factors are important such as whether the wet floor sign was clearly visible, if erected at all at the time of the accident, the time between the spillage and the clean-up operation etc.
Read More

In a personal injury compensation claim you can claim for your injury (general damages) and you can claim for any losses that you have incurred as a result of the accident/injury (special damages). Special damages cover a wide range of losses from loss of earnings, treatment fees, care and assistance, damaged items etc. In this blog we will look at a claim for loss of earnings.

You can claim for lost earnings if you sustained injury in an accident which was not your fault and if, as a result of your injuries, you have taken time off work and therefore lost earnings. Depending on your contract of employment, you may be off work and still receive pay in full. If this was to happen then you cannot claim lost earnings as there has been no loss. If you are not paid during your absence then you are entitled to claim for lost earnings. There is no guarantee that the other side will meet this claim, although it is much stronger if you can provide proof of the loss. This can be done by producing wage slips, showing the drop in earnings, or perhaps bank statements etc. If your wage is not “set” (i.e. you receive a different amount of money from your employer each month) then we would calculate your loss based on an average; perhaps looking at your pay slips from the previous 3 to 6 months before the accident.
Read More

Lifts are one of the common phobias that people have. Some people don’t think twice before entering a lift but other people do have a genuine fear of them. While in the most part lifts have proved to be safe and necessary, they have also been the cause of accidents resulting in serious injury and even death. I would argue that lifts are perfectly safe providing they are regularly checked and maintained by suitably qualified and experienced engineers. A simple internet search will give you examples of injury and death caused by lift accidents.

We all probably accept that lifts are necessary, especially for disabled persons or people with a trolley or pram. However I do think they fuel laziness in some people. Personally I would always choose to walk up a flight of stairs unless I had a pram with me. However I can understand using a lift if you are required to go up multiple flights of stairs, in a hospital for example. I don’t agree with taking the lift purely out of laziness but that is just me. I feel that lifts should only be used by people who need to use them.
Read More

We deal with all types of personal injury claims and we are often asked about likely time scales for settlement. After you have been medically examined the medical expert will prepare a detailed medical report. Some cases may be brought to settlement shortly after obtaining medical evidence whereas other cases could drag out for some time.

In this blog I will attempt to explain why some cases will still take some time to settle. We always try to progress a claim as quickly and effectively as possible. In addition we try to recover you the maximum amount of compensation that you deserve.
Read More

When driving a motor vehicle, whether the motor vehicle is a car, lorry, truck, motorbike etc – you owe a duty of care to other drivers and also to pedestrians. Equally, pedestrians owe a duty of care to motorists, albeit to a lesser extent. The standard of care is that of a reasonable, competent and experienced driver. Even a learner driver is subject to the same standard of care as a driver with a full license and experience.

Giving a lower standard of care would have been a risky move by the Courts, as we have to think about other areas, such as trainee doctors etc. The standard of care is to a competent and experienced driver (or a competent and experienced doctor). However with learners and trainees other measures are of course taken such as monitoring and in the case of learner drivers, the driving instructor ordinarily has foot controls so that he or she can intervene if absolutely necessary.
Read More

If you have sustained injury as a result of a pothole in the workplace then you may be entitled to claim compensation. Of course we deal with many claims in relation to potholes but many are in relation to accidents on the street in a public place. The difference is that if you trip or sustain injury due to a pothole in a public place then the council are probably the authority responsible. If you trip or sustain injury due to a pothole in the workplace, such as in the works yard, then any claim would be against the employer if the land is owned by them. If the land is rented then it could be the landlord’s responsibility. But usually it would be the employer’s responsibility to ensure the land is safe and to ensure workers are not injured as a result of any defect (such as a pothole for example).

When we are talking about the workplace, The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 apply. These regulations do contain a specific part in relation to the organisation of traffic routes. The regulations state:
Read More

The building industry can be a dangerous place to work and many workers in this industry are contract workers meaning that they work on numerous sites from week-to-week which they may not necessarily be familiar with. When builders are contracted to work on a particular site they must adhere to the health and safety rules and procedures on that site.

For example, builders may be responsible for making sure any scaffolding erected is safe. There is also a responsibility to keep tools and equipment out of traffic routes where they may cause obstruction for other people to trip on – whether it’s a colleague or a member of the public. When working on site there may be other firms of contractors on site or other workers who work at that particular site on a permanent basis. This is why contractors are required to have an induction and health and safety briefing before commencing work.
Read More

If you sustain injury due to falling, tripping etc over a defective or wobbly pavement, then you may be entitled to claim compensation. Ordinarily these claims would be against the local council if the accident occurred on a public footpath or road. However any potential claim could also be against a local shop for example if the accident occurred in front of a shop and that land is owned by the shop in question. Whoever owns the land (whether it be the council or a shop owner) owes you a duty of care. This is to ensure that you are safe whilst on their land.

To be successful with a claim of this type there must be some defect that has caused the injury. It is highly important that, should you wish to pursue a claim, you obtain photographs of the defect in question. This is of paramount importance should liability be disputed in the case. The depth and nature of the defect is likely to be extremely important in determining liability. Also note that the defect could be repaired at any stage meaning that you may lose the opportunity to obtain photographic evidence of the defect. Video footage showing the wobble of the pavement could also prove very useful to help show how dangerous it was.
Read More

If you have been injured and you were not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, can you still make a claim for compensation? In simple terms the answer is yes, you still may be able to make a claim. You should of course be wearing a helmet if you are on a bicycle or motorbike. The same concept also applies to work accidents in terms of wearing a hard hat where neccessary. There is a possibility that the Defendant (the other driver, an employer etc) may allege something called contributory negligence. This can reduce the compensation that you are entitled to; however this does not normally wipe out your compensation in its entirety.

It may be works practice or rules to wear a hard hat at all times whilst on site. Say you forgot to wear your hard hat and you sustained a head injury when an object fell. In this case it is likely that an element of contributory negligence would be found by a court. You can still claim and recover compensation, as there may still be negligence in that an object fell, putting employees at risk of sustaining injury. If contributory negligence is agreed or found by a court, your compensation would be reduced.
Read More