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A big decision is on the horizon in terms of bringing personal injury claims. This week the Ministry of Justice is expected to reveal whether it will reverse a landmark judgement that currently prevents people who have suffered illness related to asbestos to sue for compensation.

If the decision is overturned it will mean as many as 90,000 people a year who have been diagnosed with pleural plaques may be able to make a claim. Currently the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council has decided against adding the condition to the approved list of “compensatable disablement” schemes.
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Often, where a dependent of a deceased visits a solicitor to discuss a potential claim for damages, they may ask about claiming damages for the grief and stress they have suffered following the death. Shock or grief alone is not sufficient to make a claim. However, that is not to say that a claim cannot be considered where actual recognised psychiatric injury has been suffered.

 Psychiatric injury can be difficult to prove and in order to bring a claim the claimant must have:

1)      Suffered a recognised psychiatric illness.

2)      Brought the action within one of the recognised categories for a claim
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Drunken pedestrians who are involved in accidents are usually found partially responsible for the accident and usually have there compensation reduced accordingly. However, every case is dealt with differently and how much the drunken pedestrian is held at fault depends on the specific circumstances surrounding the accident. The court will have to look at how at fault the driver is for the accident and also how intoxicated the drunken pedestrian was and how this affected his or her injuries.

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So you are attempting to cross the road without using the crossing made for you because you don’t want to walk the distance to the crossing! Your waiting in the middle of the road as the traffic is coming thick and fast when all of a sudden BANG, right out of nowhere a bike having overtaken a few cars by pelting down the middle of the road crashes right into you.

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The Highway Code states that a cyclist should wear certain things when cycling, those being:

* A helmet which is the correct size and is fastened correctly

* Appropriate clothing for cycling ( so no baggy trousers that could get caught in the chain)

* Florescent clothing which is appropriate for the time of day and weather conditions ( so that other road users can still see you no matter the weather!)

Although the highway code has set this advice for cyclists, there is no requirement by law to actually wear the items.
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A helicopter crash in the North Sea could have been prevented after experts investigating the crash revealed that an earlier problem with the aircraft’s gearbox was not correctly identified.

According to the BBC website, a metal chip was found in the gear box of the Super Puma aircraft a week prior to the incident and engineers did institute extra checks. However, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) state that if the importance of the chip had been identified correctly then the module which failed could have been taken out of service. The experts indicate that a full review of the design and operating life of parts on the machine should be instigated.
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Where there has been a fatal accident a dependant may be able to make a claim on behalf of the deceased. So it is important to consider who might qualify as a dependant.
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Before bringing a claim for medical negligence it is important to consider the NHS complaints procedure. If this is not followed by prospective claimants then it can be difficult to obtain funding for a claim from the Legal Services Commission. This is a procedure which is constantly being revised and reviewed, but the idea of the complaints system is to encourage greater openness between patients and clinicians, increase patient satisfaction and consumer confidence in the NHS. Furthermore it allows the NHS to identify potential risk areas which may invite further protective measures being put in to place.

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A man is in hospital with life threatening injuries after a crane collapsed on to a ship at a container port. According to the coastguard, the crane toppled on to the ship Nyke Themis and the injured man, thought to be in his 30s, suffered crushed legs as a result of the accident and was being treated at Southampton hospital.
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Where a loved one has been involved in an accident which has led to their death, it is likely that compensation and damages will be the last thing on the minds of those who cared about them. However, where the deceased left behind people that they looked after, supported or were dependent on them, then those dependents may be able to claim damages.

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