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So – can you make a claim for compensation for tripping over and ending up injured? If you trip over what you believe is a dangerous defect or hazard that should not have been there, and there is another person or a company at fault for the accident, you may have a successful claim for compensation.
Examples of Claimable Defects / Hazards:
- A raised section of flooring in a premises (a shop, supermarket, etc) – perhaps a loose section of carpet or tiling that has raised up – that you end up tripping over.
- A section of concrete raised or broken away in a car park for a premises (or in the premises) that you trip over.
- An item, or item of furniture, dangerously positioned or left on a floor that causes a tripping hazard; a stool for employees to reach high shelves in a supermarket is a good example of such a hazard.
- Uneven, raised, or broken sections of concrete out on the street, or a raised manhole cover.
Theme Park Accident in Alton Towers
I was thinking today about accidents at theme parks in general – namely Alton Towers, as one of the UK’s largest and most popular theme parks. It’s actually quite close to where I live, and I’m thinking of heading down with some friends before the end of summer (which seems to be looming way too quickly). As I’m personally still suffering from my whiplash at the moment, I was wondering how this may effect it given it’s full of fast rides that will inevitably knock my neck around. But it got my thinking about the many theme park accidents there have been in the past.
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Britain’s ‘Compensation Culture’ in the News
OK – so there is this whole thing about a ‘compensation culture’ in the UK that has hit the headlines on numerous occasions. In reality, if you read the Lord Young / Jackson reports of late, the whole idea of a ‘compensation culture’ was deemed a media fuelled myth, of which there really is no issue.
The most recent headlines have been those of our former justice secretary Jack Straw whom, after investigating how one of his constituents details were sold around for money between claims companies and insurers to solicitors, hit out at the frivolous profit making industry of personal injury referral fees; something which we never pay and have always been against.
The insurers themselves were blamed for the increase in our car premiums as it was uncovered that it was the insurers themselves that are a party to the referral fee system, in which their own policy holder’s details are passed over to solicitors who are willing to pay huge referral fees of up to £1000 per claim. This has, according to recent news, been responsible for an increase in ‘frivolous’ claims that have not only driven our premiums up, but provided the insurers with a millions of pounds in profit from passing the details of accident victims over.
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Personal Injury? Who Are You Going to Call?
OK – so you have had an accident through no fault of your own, and you believe you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and any suffering you have had to endure. Who do you speak to for advice, and who do you instruct for your claim?
In all honesty, it’s entirely up to you! I of course will suggest that you speak to us as we are a firm of specialist personal injury lawyers. We are an actual law firm, so we do not pass details over to anyone else to have your claim – it’s us that advise you, and it’s us that represent you.
But aside from my attempts to sway you over to our service, here is a quick guide as to what you should look out for when it comes to getting the right advice and getting the right lawyer for your claim:
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Do I Have a Claim for Compensation?
Well – me personally, I do. But what I’m talking about here is the common question accident victims ask me when they are looking for advice as to whether they are entitled to make a claim for compensation.
The best way to find out if you have a potentially winning claim is to speak with an expert at a specialist personal injury law firm. The guide below will hopefully help you out on your quest to find out if you are entitled to receive what could be thousands of pounds in compensation for any injuries you have sustained in an accident.
Who’s at Fault?
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How Much Does it Cost to Claim for Compensation?
This is a common question I am asked when I am advising accident victims about their potential claim for compensation. How much does it costs to have a lawyer? Will anything be taken away from the compensation?
Well, I have some fantastic news for you – so read on!
The No Win No Fee is rather self explanatory when it comes to what happens if your claim loses. With most reputable firms, it does exactly what it says on the tin. Your lawyer will only accept your case on a No Win No Fee basis if they believe they have a good chance of winning it. We don’t take on claims that we feel we cannot win. So, we guarantee that, if it loses, we do not charge you.
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Accident at Work – What Your Employer Should Be Doing to Keep You Safe
There are, literally, loads of acts, rules and regulations that employers must abide by to ensure the health and safety of their staff is always maintained adequately. If your employers have good practices and procedures in place to ensure all of these are followed, there should rarely be any accidents or incidents taking place.
Your employers, for example, have a duty in the following common areas of regulation:
Traffic Routes (Floors, walkways, paths etc)
Your employer must ensure that all traffic routes and walkways are free from defects and hazards. To uphold this, there should be a regular system of inspection and maintenance in place to ensure that any defects are rectified or cordoned off, and any spillages or other material hazards are removed as quickly as possible. The simple example is that it must be someone’s job to look out for spillages on a regular basis, and make sure to cordon them off and clear them away as soon as they are spotted. A regime should be in place to check for these – e.g. every half an hour for each area or so.
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Making A Whiplash Claim The Process Explained
Ever wondered what you actually have to do to make a whiplash claim for a road accident? Here is a guide on the process, and what you should look for when making a claim for whiplash compensation.
Making a Claim – The Process
If your road accident happened after 30th April 2010, your claim will likely fall under the new Road Traffic Accident Protocol for personal injury claims if your injuries are not classed as too serious. This new process was brought in to play to make the process much quicker, and allow injury lawyers and insurers to exchange information over the Ministry of Justices’ secure online internet portal.
Your lawyers will complete an online Claim Notification Form and submit this to the other side. The other side then has 15 working days to accept liability for your accident for the claim to remain in the new, faster system. So long as the claim stays in the system (i.e. deadlines are met by both lawyers and insurers), your claim can be resolved in a matter of months. The claim may ‘fall out’ of this new faster system for a number of reasons. For example:
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The Injury Lawyers: Proud to never pay insures, claims companies, or other companies money for claims; all of our clients come directly to us, meaning we can dedicate all of our resources on to our fantastic service, and fighting tooth and nail for a maximum payout!
How do you make a claim for whiplash? Here is the best advice on what to do, and what to avoid.
What to Avoid
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Insurers Referral Fees Exposed – The Insurers “Dirty Little Secret”
Legal Expenses Insurance, Motor Legal Protection, and the practice of insurers allocating you a solicitor after a road accident is a topic we regularly cover as an independent firm that refuses outright to get involved in this practice. We have been advising people about the downfalls of letting your insurers refer a solicitor to you for years, and it now transpires that former Justice Secretary Jack Straw has done some investigation into the matter, and has spoken out against what he has labelled as the insurers industry dirty little secret.
Following complaints from his constituents, which Mr Straw followed up aand he has publically brought to light and blasted what he has termed as the “huge racket” of insurers passing on details to personal injury lawyers for extortionate fees; a practice we have been speaking out against for years. The BBC and The Guardian are currently reporting on the matter as we speak (http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9524000/9524476.stm), (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/28/jack-straw-insurance-customer-details).
The reports confirm that Straw has said that “the practice had driven a surge in no-win, no-fee claims this year which put up premiums – all with the insurers’ knowledge”. We often see the insurers complaining that personal injury claims are driving up premiums – as you can see, it’s the insurers themselves that are akin to this apparent problem.
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