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Most people falsely believe that the reason our car insurance is rising so rapidly is as a result of personal injury claims for compensation. We’ve been telling people for years that there are deeper, darker secrets in the insurance world that are truly responsible for the huge increases we have seen over the last few years.

We were delighted when former Justice Secretary Mr Jack Straw brought the insurance companies ‘dirty little secret’ to light about referral fees as the real reason why our premiums were constantly on the rise; and even more delighted that the papers were passed through parliament and we are set to see referral fees banned sometime next April.  Now we have another factor brought to light – again, something we have been fully aware of for a long, long time.

The Background of Referral Fees
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Falling from a height can rather obviously end up with some serious injuries sustained. I’m sure everyone knows that the higher the height, the more serious the injuries; and depending on what you’re falling on to could also make a huge difference.  For this reason, health and safety rules and regulations surrounding working at height, or accessing high places, or in areas where risks of falls are there, are numerous.

For example, anyone who has to work at height must have appropriate training, guidance, and supervision for the task they are doing at height. If you must use high catwalks, or perhaps access scaffolding, rails should be in place to prevent anyone from falling. If you need to access a height using a ladder, the correct ladders must be used to ensure you do not end up falling and seriously injuring yourself.

In a none workplace scenario – I’m sure you’ve all noticed that bridges have rails and guards in place: to stop you from falling over the edge. Staircases and stepped areas will normally have handrails to hold o to as well, which is all in the name of preventing a fall from height.
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There are a lot of rules and regulations in place that employees must abide by to ensure that their employees are not injured during the course of their employment. These regulations range from general health and safety at work, use of equipment at work, personal protective equipment at work, manual handling at work, and much more.

Whilst we have a good array of rules and regulations in place to protect employees, there are still high volumes of compensation claims that we deal with here that we often cannot understand how the employer has allowed it to happen. Simple things are missed, and employers fall foul of not taking health and safety in the workplace seriously enough to ensure people are not hurt at work.

Take for example a supermarket, that employs people to use delivery cages to distribute stock on to the shelves from the delivery lorries. The cages are work equipment, and must be regularly inspected and maintained by the employer to ensure they are safe to use. Staff should know to report any issues or difficulties in using them t prevent anyone from coming to harm. It’s simple enough to do, right? Why then does John Smith end up injured because the shelf on the cage he was using was being propped up by a surplus box of crisps and collapses as he innocently tried to remove the box to place it on a shelf? How has the employer allowed the cage to be in such disrepair that staff are using boxes to prop up shelves; and why weren’t staff more vigilant to report those kinds of problems? Normally because the employer isn’t doing enough to ensure it doesn’t happen.
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Depending on the type of industry you work in, workplaces can be very dangerous. If you work with machinery or plant equipment for example, the potential dangers involved are numerous. For this reason, health and safety rules and regulations for the use of machinery and equipment at work are numerous.

If you work with machinery and equipment, your employer is responsible for training you as well as supervision of its use; and inspecting and maintaining machinery and equipment to ensure that it is continually safe to use. Machinery and equipment must be safe to use at all times – so appropriate guards, rails, or emergency stop buttons should be in place at all times to ensure no one is harmed through the use of the equipment.

If you are injured at work due to machinery and equipment, you may be covered for compensation with your employers insurance if the accident was caused through no fault of your own. Unfortunately, injuries involving machinery and equipment can be often significant – so you need to make sure you have a specialist personal injury lawyer representing you for your claim for compensation.
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For a man who is responsible for looking after our new clients in a busy, leading, personal injury law firm, as well as writing informative articles for you folks to digest, you may not have thought I’d be the sort of guy who has done my fair share of work up on a scaffold rig!

A fair few years back, as a recent graduate in an economic meltdown, I did a little light renovating work for a family friend that involved scaffolding to reach the high ceilings in a former swimming hall being turned in to a modern dance studio. It was good work – I enjoyed getting my hands dirty – but as a former rock climber as well, with a little instructing experience, my knowledge of dangers at height is pretty good!

This hands on experience combined with my hands on legal knowledge allows me to write a nice little blog about scaffolding injuries and whether you can claim compensation for them.
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Any bodily injury can be a pain to live with. Certain injuries will always be more of an inconvenience to people than others – for example, as is the topic of this article, foot injuries.

If you injure your foot, you are likely to end up with considerable issues walking around. Your mobility is restricted, meaning your independence is compromised and your quality of life can be seriously reduced. Just imagine trying to get upstairs to use the bathroom or go to bed when you can’t actually walk right – Sounds painful; all of them stairs. Imagine trying to prepare a meal whilst hopping around the kitchen, complete with steak knife in one hand and your sirloin sizzling in the oil on the gas hob – sounds rather dangerous, doesn’t it?

Normally people who end up with a foot injury that causes any difficulty walking will require some form of care and assistance from a householder, friend or relative. So there is that to take in to account, on top of the fact that commuting to work may be made somewhat difficult if you can’t drive with the injury to the foot.
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Compensation Claims Lawyer Advice

For us, it’s not just about getting you the maximum amount of compensation in the quickest time possible; it’s also about helping you get back on the road to recovery as fast as we possibly can.

Rehabilitation for many injuries is the key to a successful recovery in as quicker time as possible. However, whilst the NHS does a fantastic job, we know that the process for getting help with the NHS can often be slow. For a claim for compensation with The Injury Lawyers, you don’t need to worry about waiting around for medical help at all!
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The importance of Personal Protective Equipment (or PPE for short) at work is huge. There are certain risks and hazards in many workplace situations that mean the only form of protection from injury is with equipment employers must provide to their employees. The duty is on the employer to pay for and provide suitable equipment, as well as to maintain the equipment and replace such equipment as and when it is necessary to do so.

For example – if you need to manually handle dangerous material, such as sharp metals, hot liquids, chemicals, or anything that can cause any form of injury or suffering to you, your employers must provide you with the right equipment such as gloves to protect you from injury. Gloves in these kinds of scenarios must be appropriate as well – they must be strong enough to ensure sharp material cannot slice through the gloves, or heat retardant enough to prevent hot materials or liquids from burning through them.

The equipment must also be available and suitable for use as well. Taking the gloves example again – they’re no use if there aren’t any available to fit you, or if the gloves prevent you from working, or if there are only limited amounts leaving some employees without protection.
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The human body is a complex organism. I won’t even begin to try and fully explain (or even understand) how each and every little part of us works – and to be honest, we’re not medical experts here so we leave that to the professionals. What we do know however is whether you can make a claim for compensation for any injuries you have sustained, and we can represent you for a case if we feel we can win it for you.

As expert personal injury lawyers, we know exactly how to make the most of your compensation claim. So when it comes to nerve injuries, we know, appreciate, and understand that there is a lot to take in to account.

Nerve damage can be serious. For anyone who is suffering, or has suffered, with nerve damage, I’m preaching to the converted. The problem is that it’s very easy to end up damaging the nervous system, and the impact it can have can be potentially huge.
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For a variety of reasons, some people are more nervous or afraid of roundabouts than others.  This can cause accidents as we at The Injury Lawyers are only too aware. 

If you have been involved in a roundabout accident and have sustained an injury as a result, depending on the circumstances, you may be entitled to compensation. 

Here’s some quick advice if you were thinking of making a claim.
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