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It’s so common for people to want to know how much they might be awarded for making a claim for compensation. The fact is, it’s very hard to tell right from the start of the claim, as it’s all based on medical evidence and losses. So, to help you out, here is a quick guide on the sorts of things we look at when valuing a claim for compensation.

The Injury

You can, of course, claim for the injury. The amount is based on the severity and length of any pain, suffering, and loss of amenity. Generally speaking, the more you suffer the more we get for you. We value the claim based on medical evidence which we obtain from a suitable qualified expert. If you suffer a broken bone, you will normally be seen by an orthopaedic expert. If you sustained a laceration or a burn, you would commonly see a plastic surgeon.
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We get a lot of enquires from people who have been injured in an accident on a bus. Whether you have a claim or not can commonly come down to one simple question: was there a collision?

If there was a collision with another vehicle, you should have an excellent claim. The reason is because the fault should lie between either or both of the parties involved. Vehicles don’t just crash in to each other for no reason… not normally anyway. As such, someone, or both drivers, are at fault.

What if the collision was with a building, or a lamppost or other object? Well if the bus driver is at fault, you have a good chance of making a claim against the bus company. Essentially, as long as someone is at fault, and there is viable insurance to potentially claim from, we should be able to pursue a claim for you.
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When it comes to personal injury claiming, we are the experts! As an actual law firm dealing with claims (not some claims management company passing you over to the highest bidding lawyer!) our expertise in whiplash claims spans over decades. Whiplash is the most common injury involved in a road accident, and when it comes to road accidents, they’re usually fairly straightforward when it comes to proving who is at fault. Most people can normally work out right at the start that they definitely have a claim, but they’re not sure how much they can claim for.

Given that, our busy new claims team are often asked the question “how much is my whiplash claim worth?” Now, it’s important to understand that this isn’t something anyone can just easily answer. Each claim is different and is assessed on its own merits – so we can’t just say to you “Oh, that’ll be worth £3,000 mate!” Then comes the next question, “Well, just give me a ball park figure or an average – I won’t hold you to it!” The last bit usually makes me chuckle a little.
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It’s been a cold few months – and the roads are littered with defects and potholes. Common defects arise from the areas around drain covers, manhole covers, and similar such holes in the ground will often have defects around the edges due to adverse weather conditions. As soon as a cover like this gets sunken in to the ground, a tripping hazard ensues due to the surrounding sunken ground. That or just the general ground being rough and defective which causes instability and a hazard as equally as dangerous.

So the big question is this – can you make a claim for compensation if you end up injured due to sunken ground around a drain or manhole cover? It all depends on who has the responsibility and whether they have complied with the law.

Commonly its local councils who have the authority. If the hole in the ground is for utilities and therefore “privately owned” so to speak, then it is common that they allow the authority for it to rest with the council in any event. When it comes to the highways, whoever is responsible has a duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the highway is safe to use. Councils usually uphold this with regular systems of inspection and maintenance. If the company who owns the hole and the cover has a deal with the council to include their hole and cover within these inspections, then it may well fall within their responsibility.
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In a workplace environment, there are strict rules in place that mean your employer must adhere to important health and safety legalisation to keep you safe in the workplace. The rules are vast, and they range from general workplace health and safety, covering traffic routes for example, to manual handling, protective equipment, general equipment, etc.

As specialist injury lawyers we deal with all sorts of personal injury claims. Accident at work claims are fairly common; especially ones involving slipping over in the workplace. As the title of this article suggests, we will be focusing on leaks at work that cause accidents.

Leaks in the workplace could arise from all sorts of things – water leaking from the roof, or leaks from faulty fridges, equipment, or anything like that. Normally a leak is a hazard that is easily picked up on. You notice some water accumulated on the floor, most people either investigate it or at least mention it to a manager or supervisor. Either way, as soon as your employer is made aware of a leak, an important duty is born for them to make sure that something is done about it!
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I’m not much of a fan of train stations. There are too many people rushing around to catch their train in time, and they’re way too cold in winter when you need to stand around and wait for your (probably late) train. As a specialist firm of personal injury lawyers, we’re used to dealing with a wide range of claims for compensation; accidents in a train station are fairly common.

When you break it down, there are some strikingly obvious reasons why they are so common:

• People are rushing around.
• There are no bins in train stations to prevent terrorist threats; means most litter ends up on the floor!
• Most stations are not fully covered; the floor can end up easily wet in periods of bad weather, or it can be walked in by rushing travellers.
• The sheer volume of people means there is a likely greater chance of spillages and floor hazards; baggage on the floor can be a tripping hazard as well!

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Accidents at work involving roll or stock cages are very common – we take on a lot of accident at work claims from defective cages and the like. One such example of these sorts of claims involves overfilled cages.

In today’s economic crisis, all businesses are trying to be as efficient as possible to cut costs and keep themselves afloat in these difficult times. You could say that a lot of Britons are somewhat overworked; I heard some statistics on the radio recently saying that we are one of the hardest working nations in the world, and we work much longer hours.

Sadly, with cost cutting comes corner cutting. Corner cutting can lead to health and safety breaches and subsequent injuries. As the topic of this article suggests, I’m discussing overfilled stock cages here. In these difficult times, packing as much stock on to one delivery lorry as oppose to two could save hundreds or thousands of pounds in the long run for a business.
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All manual handling activities at work require at least two key things: training, and risk assessments. Any employee who is instructed to undertake manual handling activities at work absolutely must receive quality training from the employer in safe and correct lifting techniques. On top of that, any activities must be fully risk assessed to make sure that the task is safe to carry out. These are legal requirements.

Even with proper training, if a task is not safe due to some form of other risk, then the task needs to be looked at carefully. Common examples are the size and weight of an object, obstacles on the route of the lift, and whether the objects are in a location that is safe to lift from. A classic example is that of the beer barrel deliveryman who in the past may have been subjected to lifting heavy kegs of alcohol in a basement whilst crouched down low due to a low lying roof. This can be a killer to your back!

Another example as the title of this article suggests, is that of stacked boxes or loads being on a shelf or at any other form of height. If you need to lift a box from stomach height, you can normally apply the manual handling regulations and safely lift the load so long as it is of a weight and size that is suitable to do so. However, if the box is above head height, you are at risk of injuring yourself as you try and lift the load from the height due to the position of your back.
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Manual handling is important to get right. Getting it wrong can result in serious injuries; so it’s key for employers to make sure that they deal with manual handling activities in the correct way.

The two key things are training and risk assessments. Anyone, no matter what industry or working environment you are in, must have manual handling training if manual handling tasks are encompassed in their role. This training is not just a one off thing; there must be ongoing training to ensure that people receive refreshed training on a continual basis.

The second key thing is risk assessing a task. An employer should fully risk assess a manual handling activity to look at things such as:
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If you know the basic rules of the road, you should know that when you are emerging from a parked position, you need to make sure that the road is clear in both directions so that you don’t pull out on anybody. That means checking your blind spots as well as your mirrors with a good gaze over your shoulder, and looking ahead to make sure the entire road is clear.

So what happens if you are happily driving along and another driver ignorantly pulls out of a parked position and collides with your car? In theory you have a fairly straightforward claim for compensation. The damage areas to your car should show that your version of events is correct, and it’s always wise to whip out your smart phone and take some snaps at the scene of the accident, and call the police if necessary. If there are any witnesses to the accident, please make sure you take their information.
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